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Holistic Learning e Book
Holistic Learning e Book
How to Study Better, Understand More and Actually Get What You Want to Learn
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If you "on!t ha e time to rea" the book, here is a +uick summary of what it!s about:
Holistic learning is the opposite of rote memori-ation. Instea" of learning through force, your goal is to create webs of information that link together. Your goal when learning anything is to create a construct or an un"erlying un"erstan"ing. .onstructs are forme" from mo"els, chunks of un"erstan"ing that aren!t completely accurate but can be use" to sol e problems. You create webs of information, constructs an" mo"els by iscerali-ing, metaphor an" e#ploring Holistic learning works with highly conceptual information where there is an un"erlying system. It "oesn!t work well with arbitrary information or skills.
To someone who struggle" at school or e en for someone that coul" succee" but ha" to work har", my success seems pretty un"eser e". This first story may seem like an unnecessary "isplay of bra a"o. :ut I write about my success, howe er minor, not because I/m so special but because I/m actually fairly common. I ha e met, known an" researche" many people who ha" what appears to be a similar gift. ;'n ability to un"erstan" things effortlessly. )hether insi"e the classroom or in life, certain people seem to ha e a knack for +uickly un"erstan"ing concepts. It can manifest itself in the humble genius who works as a 0anitor but can tell you about any ma0or historical e ent or an $instein who re olutioni-es our way of thinking an" the worl" we li e in. This bothers me. I/m not satisfie" with the e#planation of gifte"ness or innate talent. That soun"s more like an elitist e#cuse "e ise" by the smart to e#plain why their results can/t be replicate". I wante" to know how some people manage" to learn faster. I wante" to know whether it was more than 0ust a gift but an ability that coul" be practice". 7sychologists ha e known for a long time that intelligence is partially genetic an" partially en ironmental. So it can be easy to "ismiss e#ceptional smarts as being from genes, great parenting or something in the water. :ut remember, before "yes, hair color was entirely genetic too. ' superior strategy for learning can help shift what was once only a gift to an ability that can be traine".
Holistic 2earning
To say the "ifference in intelligence is the result of a single skill woul" be nai e at best an" a gross misrepresentation at worst. 3ost researchers belie e genius is comprise" of numerous abilities from creati e problem sol ing to athletic or musical skill. :ut in my obser ations of how I learn an" how other people, far more intelligent than myself, learn there was one factor that really stuck out. 7eople who learne" concepts easily "i"n/t learn the same way other people "i". It wasn/t that they were using the same strategy more effecti ely. These people were operating from a completely "ifferent approach that a casual glance coul" easily miss. I call this approach, holistic learning. ;Holistic learning is basically the opposite of rote memori-ation. Instea" of trying to poun" information into your brain with the hopes it will simply fall out when you nee" it, holistic learning is the process of wea ing the knowle"ge you are learning into e erything you alrea"y un"erstan". <ote memori-ation focuses on learning through in"i i"ual bo#es of information. 2ike a computer filing system, e erything is neat, organi-e" an" separate from each other. You ha e a bo# labele" science, one for history, one for the mo ie you watche" last week an" another for your 0ob. These bo#es are split into more bo#es. Your science bo# has a separate one for biology an" physics. 7hysics has uni+ue bo#es for "ifferent formulas an" concepts.
The problem is that your brain isn/t a computer filing system. It/s a network of interconnecte" neurons. )hen you nee" information you are 0ust hoping that you stumble upon the threa" that lea"s to the bo# you want. 5therwise you/re screwe". Holistic learning is messy. It "oesn/t put things into bo#es neatly. Instea" it tightly interwea es concepts together. Science concepts remin" you of history which remin" you of the mo ie you saw last week an" the pro0ect at your 0ob tomorrow. )ithin each general sub0ect area, your web is e en more tightly interwo en. $ ery concept in physics is linke" with almost e ery other.
. ' tight web means that when one pathway is blocke", there are hun"re"s of others that lea" to the same point of information. Tight webs may seem like an abstract concept, but you know the feeling when you ha e one. ' tight web results in the feeling of &getting* it. You un"erstan" the sub0ect or concept so thoroughly that aspects of it seem ob ious an" tri ial. )hen I ha" to write the essay portion of my e#am the sub0ect was the chemical composition of soap. 8ow our chemistry class ne er co ere" soap, or e en organic molecules. So how "i" I write the essay1 I use" the web I ha" create". ;Thinking about soap remin"e" me of a brief i"eo I saw in biology comparing soap molecules to fat. It also remin"e" me of a trip to a reenacte" pioneer settlement where they were making soap from animal fat an" lye. $ach piece of information on its own is incomplete, but together they were strong enough that I ha" something to write about.
<ote 3emori-ation
Holistic 2earning
5rgani-es I"eas into :o#es =eeps Sub0ects an" .oncepts %istinct (ew 8eural 7aths to the Same I"ea >iews .oncepts Through 5ne 7erspecti e 'ims to 2earn Through <epetition
5rgani-e" I"eas into )ebs Interrelates Sub0ects an" .oncepts 3any 8eural 7aths to the Same I"ea >iews .oncepts Through 3any 6ni+ue 7erspecti es an" Senses 'ims to 2earn by <elating
.reating a .onstruct
' brick on its own is 0ust a brick. (i e hun"re" bricks on their own become 0ust a pile of bricks. :ut with the right plan an" layout, fi e hun"re" bricks together can buil" a house. 2ooking at each brick "oesn/t gi e 0ustice to the "esign an" usefulness of the house itself. The linkages in holistic learning are 0ust bricks. 5n their own they aren/t ery impressi e or useful. :ut when you put together properly they form what I/m going to call a construct. Your construct is the sum total of your web. It is how all the i"eas fit together to create an un"erstan"ing of a comple# i"ea. ' construct is impossible to communicate, unfortunately. )hen you are being taught a sub0ect or you are learning it on your own, you are getting bricks fe" to you one by one. If your lucky you might ha e a rough blueprint of how to organi-e the bricks, but if there aren/t enough linkages or they are assemble" improperly the result is confusion.
This mo"el was not a construct. ' plane in ?% is 0ust one of many "ifferent types of subspaces. :ut without it, a subspace woul" ha e 0ust been a bunch of rules an" numbers. $ en if the mo"el was inaccurate, I coul" use it as a basis for refining an" e#pan"ing the e entual construct. 2inks form into simple mo"els which form into o erall constructs. 2ayere" creations of un"erstan"ing. $ffecti e constructs also link outsi"e of where they are applicable. 5nce I ha" a construct prepare" for subspaces, I starte" to iew my own e#perience as a subspace of reality. .onstructs that become islan"s are worthless when there is a problem that e#ists between them. Interlinking your constructs helps funnel problems outsi"e of their influence -one into realms of un"erstan"ing. )hen I wrote that essay on soap, soap was outsi"e of my constructs. :ut because my constructs were interlinke", it was funnele" into "ifferent constructs base" on my e#periences in "ifferent places.
How To >iscerali-e
You probably alrea"y use this metho" to some e#tent. This often happens when an author iscerali-es a concept for you. :y "escribing the concept in a mental picture or feeling he or she can push you towar"s creating a mo"el. ;Holistic learning means you nee" to "o this process on your own when an easy mo"el isn/t han"e" to you. If you aren/t sure e#actly how to "o this, the best place to start is with a pa" of paper. %raw out the relationship between se eral i"eas in a picture. <emember your goal isn/t a perfect construct but a simplifie" mo"el. ;$ en if your mo"el is shown to be slightly inaccurate later, it is still better than no mo"el at all. 'sk yourself what the concept woul" look, soun" or feel like1 How woul" it function an" respon"1 )hen learning computer science I forme" mental pictures of bi-arre machines an" ob0ects that represente" the "ifferent ob0ects an" functions I learne". Strings an" arrays looke" like colore" cubes suspen"e" along a cor". (unctions were machines that ate strings an" in"i i"ual blocks an" spat out new blocks. 's you get better you shoul" be able to "o this without a pencil an" paper. Your imagination is far faster than your han", so once you begin to un"erstan" the process you can start iscerali-ing how "ifferent concepts interact. You can see how they s+uish an" respon" to stimuli. :oring i"eas translate into a bi-arre an" otherworl"ly scene.
How to 3etaphor
If you practice accor"ingly, metaphors shoul" be an automatic process. )hen you learn a sub0ect it shoul" automatically start remin"ing you of completely "ifferent i"eas. )hen I rea" 8icollo 3achia elli/s, The 7rince, I starte" linking his i"eas about statecraft Bwhich were a rather weak construct for myselfC an" built them into i"eas about business an" social settings Bwhich were strong constructsC. If you "on/t alrea"y use metaphors e#tensi ely, a +uick way to start woul" be to play the, &That <emin"s 3e 5f...* game whene er you learn something new. You play the game by thinking or writing "own a list of i"eas that this new concept remin"s you of. It "oesn/t matter if the i"eas are ri"iculous or completely unrelate". That/s the point, to link together i"eas that "on!t normally connect. The i"ea is that by playing this game repeate"ly you can see the new concept through the antage points where you alrea"y ha e un"erstan"ing. This helps you un"erstan" more rapi"ly. ;If you alrea"y un"erstan" sports, then you can use sports as a metaphor when trying to comprehen" economics or science. You can create connections between any sub0ects you 0ust nee" to be patient enough. The si"e-benefit of using metaphors is it acti ely links your constructs together. This process e entually means that e en when your construct is really poor you can still fill in missing pieces. You can sol e programming problems from an artistic perspecti e or relationship problems from an economics perspecti e. They won/t be as i"eal as a perfect construct, but they can be ama-ing substitutes when you ha en/t ha" the time to fully "e elop one.
How to $#plore
The best way to e#plore is to actually face problems. ;If you are using holistic learning in school this means homework +uestions, assignments an" tests. Ha ing to actually use your network will +uickly point out holes an" errors. I "isagree with the practice mo"el that says you shoul" "o a +uestion repeate"ly until you un"erstan" it. This is 0ust rote memori-ation an" it is using +uestions to reinforce a strategy rather than to e#plore holistic webs. Holistic learning assumes you alrea"y ha e a construct an" practice +uestions are 0ust to fill holes. If you en" up ha ing to "o the same type of +uestion many times to un"erstan" it, you nee" to step back, create some new mo"els an" rebuil" your construct. The secon" best way to e#plore is to stu"y. I "o stu"y a little bit, but it isn/t a source of learning so much as it is a metho" of e#ploration. <ea"ing o er my notes an" chapters points out i"eas. 6sually the i"ea is alrea"y reinforce" insi"e my web, but sometimes I misse" it entirely. Stu"ying isn/t as goo" as testing but it can fi# a few broken paths. If you ha e to rea" something o er se eral times before you can remember it, then you either aren/t paying enough attention or you "on/t ha e a construct, it/s that simple. I "on/t belie e in stu"ying for hours before an e#am. 6nless I/m learning the sub0ect for the first time or I/ e neglecte" to form constructs until the last minute it only takes a half hour at most for me to +uickly e#plore a sub0ect before writing a test.
'rbitrary Information
Holistic learning works best when there is an un"erlying system to be un"erstoo". ;It assumes that a proper construct e#ists, 0ust that there is "ifficulty creating it. This applies to most sub0ects. Science an" math ten" to be the best but relationships, culture, computers, life, health, emotions, an" philosophy all work well. :ut where holistic learning breaks "own is where no construct really e#ists. 2aw is a great e#ample. 'lthough there are some weak constructs that can be applie" to laws, they are weak an" arbitrary. 5ne cannot assume a law e#ists base" on the linking of similar laws. <ule base" systems that are highly arbitrary re+uire other skills that holistic learning "oesn/t co er. History works a bit better with holistic learning, but there are many cases where information an" "ata "on/t fit into an un"erlying system an" are 0ust a series of facts. Spelling, ocabulary an" languages often ha e similarly weak potential for forming constructs. There are other well "e elope" systems for un"erstan"ing material that "oesn/t easily form constructs, but that is outsi"e the scope of this book.
Subconscious 2earning
Holistic learning focuses on concepts. :ut there are areas of life that "on/t rely on conceptual un"erstan" at all. Tiger )oo"s "oesn/t ha e to be a great holistic learner to win the 79'. Skills are learne" subconsciously an" "on/t benefit much from holistic learning. $ ery form of learning is somewhere along the scale from highly conceptual to highly skillbase". Holistic learning emphasi-es the highly conceptual en". These are usually the type of learning "one in schools an" many professions. :ut 0ust as e#cessi e memori-ation is a poor way to learn concepts, interlinking is a poor way to learn skills.
This book "oesn!t ha e legs, so it can!t tra el itself. I nee" your help in sprea"ing it,