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A Mind For Numbers

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author
Barbara Oakley

I realized recently that I never managed to build the intuition for graduate level math that I've had for fundamentals of programming and system design and I've been trying to find ways to fix that. Math Academy has been interesting but not satisfying, and a Mind for Numbers could give me a way to build new habits and actually make math friendlier. Taking notes even though I'm only halfway as another attempt at internalizing the book better --

  1. Skim chapters, diagrams, headings; exercises to prime myself to read the chapter carefully -- this is advice I've read in many different ways on how to read a book, a paper; everything.
  2. Using a memory palace to associate details with locations.
  3. Building chunks of abstractions making it easier to navigate concepts.
  4. Avoiding procrastination with the standard techniques.
  5. Building associations with everything I want to remember.
  6. Avoiding illusions of competence by simply re-reading instead of applying.
  7. Trying to retrieve the information is one of the most effective ways to learn.
  8. Avoiding multitasking when trying to learn, focus, relax, repeat. Sleep on it.
  9. Using both focused and diffused mode to study and unconsciously tackle projects.