How to improve knowledge / insight retention?

[Something Funny]

Whenever I watch Leo's video, or read a book, or do a course, or whatever I usually have no issue with understanding the topic, however, I have issue with being able to remembering it in detail and being anle to articulate it afterwards.

I will remember the core ideas on the intuitive level, but I won't be able explain them or clearly bring them up from my memory.

How do I improve that?

[Sandhu]

Take notes and review them once in a while۔

Pro tip: take very very short notes. It will be easy to take and review. 

[The Renaissance Man]

@Something Funny Good question. Getting this right is actually a revolutionary skill, because it skyrockets your understanding of everything.

The problem is that after watching a video you only have an illusion of understanding. You say you have no issue with understanding, but I say that's an illusion. I instead guess the reality is that you have a bunch of scattered ideas, and the interconnected understanding is fuzzy at best. Is this correct?

When you study, try to go to the "model" that's behind the single bits of knowledge. Try to really understand the topic. I'm talking while you're studying, not after or in a review. I still suggest you take notes, but that's not the core issue here.

 

From this new approach to learning, explaining the topic clearly, which you now struggle with, will become automatic. Because it's already all fleshed out in your mind.

I know this advice sounds abstract, but it's like that on purpose: the task is pretty simple. Go to the underlying "model", the actual understanding, and not the memorization of the insights.

 

An example might help. If you're studying Spiral Dynamics, you may hear from Leo a list of values, characteristics and examples. Normally, you'd take notes, and think: ok, stage orange has these traits. Understanding on the other hand means going one layer deeper. Why those specific traits? What do they have in common? What is it like to be a mind at stage orange? Why does it behave that way? Why can't it see the things Green sees? How does stage orange work? And as you answer, a model starts developing in your mind. A model of stage orange, holistic, complete, logical. That's understanding, and that's what you're looking for.

You'll be suprised when from that new perspective, you'll be able to generate your own characteristics and examples with ease! Because you'll finally get it. Leo gets it, that's why he's able to talk about topics that way. He hasn't just memorized facts on the surface. He gets them. Consciously or not, his mind goes through the process I laid out in this reply. Just a shift in your approach to learning can make you 10x, no effort.

 

PS - Studying how learning works - Meta-Learning - is a big thing of mine. This is my bread and butter, so I get what you're saying, I'm not just giving the first bunch of tips that came to mind.

Edited April 8 by The Renaissance Man

[Aaron p]

You have no problem with information retention. The mind is nearly like two minds (or at least in can be split in this way), you have information floating around like 2+2=4 and "chocolate tastes nice." These you can spit out quickly. But there is a deeper knowledge base, knowledge that is imbedded into your minds body (the very fabric and structure of your mind itself). 

 

Tell me...within 3 seconds right now: how many windows are in your house.

3, 2, 1, answer out loud. 

You might not have been able to do it, yet I'd be willing to put money on the fact that if you search the fabric of your mind right now you will be able to move throw each individual room in your house mentally and count each window.

It's all there. As long as you read the words in books and listen with a mentally testing attention, all of it stays in your mind. You can reinforce it multiple times then completely forget about then one day in 10 years it will be needed again and you can fly back right here and get it. (You might also be completely unable to do this until the information is required).

It's almost like you just trust the information to remember itself, and let speak instead of you. Most of the time my mind is completely lost. I also get the sense that all knowledge is a lie... definitely still better to have knowledge, but...it operates by ego......I think.

In pragmatic terms, listening to information you enjoy and naturally love means it will naturally flow into your mind and will sustain itself effortlessly. In fact, if it's aligned with your heart and passion, processing thousands of GB of mental information is likely to be so easy, that it's actually extremely pleasurable. Like biting into a big chocolate cake

Sometimes I read some of the shit I say and it's like someone else wrote it and I'm like "damn"

Edited April 8 by Aaron p

[Something Funny]

@Sandhu I've tried taking notes many times throughout my life but then find them useless afterwards and throw them away / stop taking them. 

I never even feel like re-reading them because it seems more useful to just look at the source material again.

@The Renaissance Man by understanding I mean that for example when I watch Leo's video, I am not confused and understand what he is talking about (sometimes I am confused and then I try to understand it better, but that's irrelevant, right now), I am able to process the idea with my mind.

An opposite example would be being confused about how some kind of advanced math concept / formula works and not being able to actually process it.

The issue is that after watching a video, if I ask myself what it was about, I will have a really hard time articulating it beyond some very primitive basics. Even though I might intuitively / non verbally understand it. So, to use your spiral dynamics example:

- If you make a test about understanding spiral dynamics where you give description of a person and ask me which stage they are at or if you give a list of qualities that need to be assigned to the correct stages - I will pass it
- If you ask me to stand up and explain spiral dynamics to - I will do a very bad job.

Although, to be fair, with spiral dynamics in particular I would do a better job than I would normally would, just because I've re-watched those videos many times.

Right now I am watching the "Proofs for the existence of God" video and I understand each argument as well as Leo's explanation of why it is not a sufficient proof of God. Will I be able name at least some of those arguments tomorrow and describe the? I doubt it.

But if you talk to me about one of them tomorrow, and ask whether it's a good or bad proof of the existence of God - I will be able to tell you. Will I be able to articulate "why" as well as Leo does? No. But I will intuitively understand whether the argument is good or bad.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

@Something Funny We need a distinction. The word "understanding" is creating confusion. We're talking about two kinds of understanding here.

 

36 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

- If you make a test about understanding spiral dynamics where you give description of a person and ask me which stage they are at or if you give a list of qualities that need to be assigned to the correct stages - I will pass it

This is recognition/memorization. We can call this "shallow understanding".

36 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

- If you ask me to stand up and explain spiral dynamics to - I will do a very bad job.

 

This requires "deep understanding", which is not memorization or recognition, but it requires a grasp of the underlying principles, and an ability to move the pieces around and view them from whichever perspective you need and please.

 

It's obviously on a spectrum, but having a clear distinction helps.

36 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

Although, to be fair, with spiral dynamics in particular I would do a better job than I would normally would, just because I've re-watched those videos many times.

Yes, unconsciously, in your mind, a model of how spiral dynamics works is developing. Can you feel the model? It feels like a cohesive, interconnected thing. Compare that to the scattered confusion you may have about the Proofs of God video. No cohesive model, only scattered pieces. That's the difference between deep understanding and shallow understanding. Leo is speaking english, and he follows a clear line of logic. Of course there's some understanding. But the trap is that it's only shallow, but you don't see it... until you try to explain it.

I suggest that by actively looking for the model underneath, you can actually shortcut the process, and jump much closer to deep understanding, without needing "dumb repetition". Obviously some topics are just complex and you can't just go to deep understanding in one go. But it's not surprising to see a 5x improvement in how much it takes to get to deep understanding.

Edited April 8 by The Renaissance Man