Learning how to learn: mental models
Learning how to learn: mental models
A practical philosophy with basic principles for learning, doing and dealing with problems
About the Book
Learning is perhaps one of the key points of existence. We learn so that we can have new or different experiences. Being able to learn means we can do new things or do old things in novel ways. This ability to learn underlies the ability to solve problems. It also underlies the ability to create meaningfully.
Mental models, or more simply models, are what we create when we learn. Whether we are learning something that is outside of ourselves, some system we have to run, build, sell, install, fix or upgrade or whether it is something that directly involves ourselves, mental models are the result of that learning.
A key to effective learning, to understanding, is building these models from two points of view. So that learning is efficient and non-frustrating we can break what we are learning into clearly defined elements and focus on small groups of these in relative isolation.
A further element of learning is indexing the models that our brain builds so that we can call them up without having to think.
An additional key to learning is being able to check what we’ve learned, so that we can improve our models when necessary.
This books details a set of simple concepts, and includes principles (both first principles and basic principles) that can be easily adapted to make learning, problem solving, and creating easier.
These concepts and principles provide a framework for both thinking about how to do things and how to actually do them.
Learn how to learn, and how to:
- Build better mental models (and how to scale and modularize them)
- Make learning efficient, effective and less frustrating
- Improve problem solving abilities
- Deal effectively with fear and frustration
- Use limits to become less limited
- Utilize mental models for better muscle control and body awareness
- Improve our understanding and the way that we do things
It all starts with the notion that our brain builds models, mental models, and those models form the foundation of our understanding, intuition and habits. At the same time, we can choose how we construct and index those models thus improving our understanding and the way that we do things.
Translations
About the Author
Bundles that include this book
Table of Contents
- 1 Our brain builds mental models
- Modelling the world so we can interact with it
- Not what you think
- Thoughtless intelligent action
- Model stores
- 2 Mental models (and habits) result from learning
- Features of mental models
- Habits: Mental model outputs
- Habits reduce frustration
- Turning habits into options
- Learning is building and changing habits
- Thinking as a tool for learning
- Testing our models so that we can improve them
- 3 Short-term memory: it’s limited
- Chunky Learning: Not biting off more than we can chew
- Short-term memory limits
- Recognizing sufficient practice
- Memorizing brush strokes
- Embedding in long-term memory
- Notes on memory limits
- Making choosing easier
- Not thinking: The fluid mind-state
- 4 Noticing details and how things relate
- Brush strokes
- Bench fitting
- Programming
- Kendo and dancing
- Making desired changes possible
- 5 Chunky learning
- Listening in chunks
- Grouping to learn
- Grouping to improve
- Re-useful: Grouping for re-use
- Isolating: Learning to ride a motorbike
- Simplifying
- Making learning joyful
- 6 Indexing (and pre-sorting) speeds up access
- Making Chinese character indexes less frustrating
- An easy to use Chinese character index
- Chinese character indexing examples
- Sorting can be a part of indexing
- Sorting as early as possible
- How our brain indexes
- Indexing by location (Memory palaces)
- Dealing with overwhelm
- Breaking down to make indexing easier
- 7 Checking what we learn
- Iterating
- Leading with a clear idea
- Checking model outputs
- Separating thinking and not-thinking
- Improving
- Beautiful imperfection
- In joy
- 100 simple math questions
- Learning to handle the unexpected
- Varying start points for math
- Varying start points for movement
- Memorizing an initial model
- Learning from experience and from mini-experiences
- 8 Practice
- Deciding the purpose of a practice
- Fail safely
- Recognizing completion while practicing
- Practicing Chinese characters
- Recognizing completion while prototyping or creating
- Practicing to develop sensitivity and control
- Practicing to develop mind-state control
- Practicing thinking
- Using limits to become less limited
- Water doesn’t think
- Separate learning from doing
- Resting is necessary
- 9 Dual views: A calculus for learning
- Components and Signals
- Small arms and two points of view
- Differentiation: Breaking things down
- Integration: Assembling inside of ourselves
- Better book learning
- If we have the book why learn it?
- Figuring out what each part is about
- A benefit of fixed sequencing
- Intuitive solutions
- Manual learning: physicality as a context
- The component view
- The signal view
- Memory palace dual views
- Indexes as a component view
- Laplace transforms
- Feynman-like understanding
- Resting for another point of view
- 10 Problem solving requires learning
- Fault Finding
- Fault finding a custom built Harley
- Components and change
- Checking our solution
- Handwriting recognition
- 11 Prototyping is a different type of learning
- Creating something real
- Working towards the change we want to create
- Building a mental model in reverse
- Prototypical understanding
- Building from two points of view
- Prototypical experiences
- Specifying what we want
- Experience from practice and prototyping
- 12 Systems create change
- Systems can contain systems
- Drawing limits to define a system
- Why we learn systems
- Defining and Redefining Systems (and Models)
- Landmarks (making or using maps)
- Recognition (and using labels)
- 13 Our body as a system
- Outer and inner environments
- Event horizons and sensory limits
- Change doesn’t stop
- Maximizing the event horizon
- Extending our inner environment (expanding our control)
- Directing our senses externally
- Configuring to transmit change or dissipate it
- 14 Learning our inner environment
- Stability is a pliable concept
- The greater the change the greater the required stability
- Fixing problems with the body
- Improving a model of the body
- A model for pain, posture and tightness
- A story and a cast of characters
- A Dauntless approach to learning
- 15 Ideas: Things we can define, recognize or do
- Things imaginary or real
- Undestanding an idea
- Systems as ideas
- Making fluidity easier
- Recognizing completion
- Thinking clearly in terms of ideas
- 16 Relationships
- Different manifestations of change
- Relationships are simple
- Using relationships
- Making relationships work
- A reference for change
- Stability and expression
- Using clear references
- Room to move
- Recognizing potential
- Recognizing our body’s potential
- Learning through problems
- Connection
- Vectoring the flow of change
- Connections and the flow of change
- Connecting physically
- Connecting visually
- 17 Sensing change and creating it
- Sensing instead of thinking
- Applying body awareness to motorcycling
- Recognizing differences
- Feeling and controlling weight shifts
- Recognizing skin contact
- Sensitivity and control are re-useful
- Doing math without thinking
- Doing Tai Ji without thinking
- Balancing sensitivity, stability and responsiveness
- Adjusting to find the middle spot
- 18 Fracticality: choosing the scale for breakdown
- Writing Chinese characters or understanding them
- Riding a bike or building one
- Practical fracticality
- Learning our own body
- 19 Zeroing parallax (or calibrating to account for it)
- Parallax and chemistry
- Parallax, pilots, clocks and watches
- Understanding relationships when drawing
- Understanding relationships when weight shifting
- Assessing or controlling relationships
- A reference for change
- 20 Learning with sensible limits
- Modelling: Sensors and Switches
- Our body’s sensors and switches
- Calibrating internal sensation
- Scanning
- Practicing whole body awareness
- Tuning and adjusting
- Creating sensation first
- Two sides of the same coin
- Creating straightness or length
- Sensing our body as a whole
- Sensitivity and responsiveness
- Becoming less limited
- 21 Two mind-states, two points of view
- Sensing limits in the fluid mind-state
- The dangers of thinking
- Overcoming fear
- Directing our mind and our senses
- Riding a river versus watching it
- Viewing time as a river (it carries us through space)
- The journey and looking back
- Stopping to check our map
- Being like water
- 22 Intuitions, an output of mental models
- Intuition as a model output
- Building intuition
- Imaginary space
- Expanding fully into the imaginary or fully into the real
- Complex numbers
- Real and imaginary space
- 23 Principles can make learning and doing easier
- Know the change we want to create
- Create stability (a reference for change)
- Create or find room to sense and create change
- Room for all
- Riding a motorcycle: ideas, relationships, and change
- Augmented first principle thinking
- 24 Using limits to approach infinity
- Limits in the thinking mode
- Limits in the fluid mode
- Limits for learning to feel and control our body
- Discerning change
- Handling change
- A taste of infinity
- A practical philosophy (and an IQ of 1)
- An IQ of 1
- Concepts, terminology, tenets
- Tenets
- Assumptions
- Mind-states
- Core concepts
- Model and System related concepts
- Creating or resisting change
- Muscle control tenets and techniques
- About Neil Keleher
- More by Neil Keleher
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- R
- S
- T
- U
- W
- Y
- 1 Our brain builds mental models
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