
How we learn
by Benedict Carey · first published 2014
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3recommended by
6HN commenters
2017–2024first – last mentioned
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From an early age, we are told that restlessness, distraction, and ignorance are the enemies of success. Learning is all self-discipline, so we must confine ourselves to designated study areas, turn off the music, and maintain a strict ritual. But what if almost everything we were told about learning is wrong? And what if there was a way to achieve more with less effort? Here, award-winning science reporter Benedict Carey sifts through decades of education research to uncover the truth about how our brains absorb and retain information. What he discovers is that, from the moment we are born, w
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I read this (similar) book recently and using the techniques in it I passed the AWS exams in a short space of time: https://www.amazon.com/How-We-Learn-Surprising-Happens/dp/08...
on “Ask HN: How to learn new things better?” ↗"How We Learn" by Benedict Carey is the one I've read on the similar topic, and liked. It's a compendium of scientific research about learning aggregated in a readable format by NYTimes science journalist.
on “Interleaving and varying your study location are good learning strategies (2012)” ↗…books or other resources you recommend to learn these things? On learning to learn I have enjoyed A Mind for Numbers[1] by Barbra Oakley with Coursera course[2], Make it Stick[3] by Peter C. Brown, and How We Learn[4] by Benedict Carey. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra/... 2. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/ 3. https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learnin...…
on “What can a 25 year old do today to grow exponentially in 5 years?” ↗…entertaining! I'm surprised how different the feel of the book is compared to the Blade runner films. In the book androids are purely rational beings, whereas the film wraps them in an aura of romanticism. 18. How we learn (Benedict Carey) - decades of learning research condensed in a book 19. Advanced Calculus: A Differential Forms Approach (Harold M. Edwards) - the best math book I've read so far! For me it was eye-opening…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…there that has inspired me to think more deeply about how to effectively communicate ideas and instructions to other people, which is the true heart and soul of technical writing as an art and science. How We Learn by Benedict Carey is the right direction but I don't remember thinking of it as a masterpiece.
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19288640-how-we-learn
on “Increasing Retention Without Increasing Study Time [pdf]” ↗