A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

I’ll probably do a reread soon to review everything it taught me. Too much information to digest on a first read, also I want to make sure I’ll start applying the learnings to my life.

Ehhh. Definitely decent. Definitely met me where I'm at. Or even a bit behind. 3.5 stars, maybe?

I've recently become interested in the meta of learning, and this book is a good summary of all the different, “modern” (to me, at least) techniques to, ahem, hack your brain.

Namely:
- Spaced repetition, and the value of memorizing in general
- Memory palaces (ok, this is not modern, this is apparently Medieval/Renaissance)
- Working memory slots (apparently we have average 4, not 7), and chunking
- The Pomodoro technique, and avoiding all those cognitive energy vampires/attention sucks of the modern smartphone (screw you, smartphone!!!)
- The interplay between focused and diffuse attention

So, I have been intimately familiar with - and actively using - everything in this list for the past few years, EXCEPT the focused/diffuse attention hack. That was quite charming, actually. The basic idea is that the brain has these two attention modes - focused and diffuse. Focused is when you're deep in the pomodoro, actively trying to figure something out. Diffuse is when you STOP trying to figure it out. You step away, go for a walk. Even sleep. Apparently our brains keep noodling on our last focused attention task while we're sleeping/daydreaming/whatever-ing.

I found this extremely charming and interesting because, intuitively, I had certainly been advised and advised myself to just “step away” when I was hitting a brick wall on some coding thing. And I have, like every human, had those “ah ha” moments, those r/showerthoughts moments, those esprit de l'escalier/spirit of the stairs moments, and just assumed that was some magical brain fizz - some AETHER - coming into my brain. I didn't realize it's actually super predictable/programmable. Basically, all you need to do is:
- Think hard about something (focused attention).
- Then very actively STOP and switch your brain to something more relaxing/zoning out.

I tried this with some stats stuff before bed. I ended up having vivid noodly dreams of pooled standard errors. Lots and lots and lots of dream-chewing over how a standard error is calculated, what a standard error MEANS, etc etc. I was amazed! Good job, brain! Thanks, Barbara Oakley!

So yeah. Super interesting and inspiring, in that regard. I've recommitted to my Pomodoro and Anki cards. I really need to clean up my Anki deck, it's a nightmare right now. I am not experiencing the Champagne-like brain fizz of good Anki in my life.

What I did NOT care for in this book - well, two things. One small and one larger.

The large quibble: This book is 100% geared towards undergrad students in STEM degrees. Fine. But, like, I'm not in college. Oh well. I could still apply almost everything since I am indeed a knowledge worker, I need to constantly study (and love it with a deep passion), and I am even tested periodically (those damn technical screens - curse you, CoderPaddddd!!!). So that was fine, but - oh, it's fine.

Smaller quibble but BOY THIS BOTHERED ME: Oakley uses many (many!) examples of various intellectual luminaries - her favorites being Feynman (who among us doesn't love him, especially as a paragon of how to learn - always learn irreverently!!) and this Nobel Prize winning biochemist, oh Lord I forgot his name. Anyway, one of her examples is William Kamkwamba, who she describes as being born “in Africa”, doing cool STEM stuff with windmills “for Africa”. Oh my Lord. This made me die. Africa is not a country. Can you imagine if she described Einstein as being born “in Europe”, doing STEM stuff “for Europe”. I just aaaghhh. Is it because Malawi is too exotic for the undergraduate STEM audience?! What in the. Anyway. That is a small quibble, but it did bother me so much I took a solid star away.

A must read for those forever learners. It gives some insights on how the brain works and how to use it effectively and efficiently.

By the same author as the “Learning how to learn” online course, the book delivers its contents with simple language and provides strategies to improve how we learn. Each chapter explains one aspect of learning and then offers exercises to test it in real life. The techniques explained in the book include:

- recall as much as possible what you studied right after a learning session
- “enlist” the help of the brain's diffuse mode, avoiding cramming
- solve a problem using different approaches, rather than sticking to one
- interleave subjects
- use cues to change habits and avoid procrastination
- use spaced repetitions and memory techniques (e.g. the memory palace) to consolidate memories

i took Oakley's Learning How to Learn Coursera course a few years ago and bought this book at the same time, and i've finally finished the book lol. i almost feel as if it's even better than the course!

i really enjoyed it and wish i had it while i was in school. there are lots of anecdotes and the conversational style is very easy to read. i'm currently studying programming self-paced, so will take the lessons to heart! lots of really good tips, and i was called out on a bunch of “learning strategies” that i've been using for a lot of my life - rereading, rote memorization, highlighting, etc.

Normalizes learning

Loved this book. It normalizes so many learning challenges so that in fact they are just normal parts of learning and no longer demoralizing setbacks.

One thing I enjoyed about the book is that the advice is very practical. You can apply what you are reading immediately.