Ever get really stuck on something while studying?

It happens to many of us even if you're a genius sometimes there is a point which we feel stuck or make no sense of the material When we hit that point, it can be difficult to know what to do next. We thought that by focus hard on the material that will pay off but that's not how it works . if you understand just a little bit of some of the basics about how your brain works, you can learn more easily and be less frustrated.

Researchers have found that we have two fundamentally different modes of thinking.

focused vs Diffuse Mode of Thinking

We’re more familiar with focused thinking, it’s what is Told To us at school.

Focused Thinking is when the brain actively concentrating on something you're trying to learn or to understand trying to come up with a solution to a problem or an idea.

Diffused thinking is where your brain is in a more in a relaxed state.

With focused thinking, your brain processes very specific information deeply, with diffuse thinking, the brain analyzes much more information at once but in less depth. both modes of thinking will help you understand a subject better. Which one will work better for you simply depends on whether you want to see the big picture or small details.

Diffuse thinking, on the other hand, looks at the big picture. Unlike focused thinking,Diffuse thinking happens when you let your mind wander freely, making connections at random. The diffuse mode of thinking does not happen any one area of the brain, but rather all over. In fact, that is the beauty of diffuse thinking: your brain has the opportunity to connect the dots and link neural processes.

lets dive into it

image 2014 kevin mendez

“The Pinball Analogy” If you image the brain like a pinball machine "

IMAGE SOURCE https://www.sciencefriday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/12314

See this orange pattern here on the top It represents a familiar thought pattern. You think a thought, boom, it takes off And then you're able to figure out the problem you're trying to solve or The concept you're trying to understand that's related to something you're rather familiar with.

But what if the problem you're working on needs new ideas or approaches?

topics you haven't thought of before. That's symbolized here by this neural pattern on the bottom of the pinball machine area. But if you haven't thought that thought before you don't even know how that pattern feels or where it is. So how are you going to develop that new thought in the first place?

Not only do you not know where the pattern is or what the pattern looks like, but see all the rubber bumpers that are blocking your access whatever direction you do decide to move in?

To get to this new thought pattern you need a different way of thinking. And that's represented here, by the diffuse mode. Look at how widely spaced the rubber bumpers are. Thought takes off, look at how it moves widely, It could travel a long way before being interrupted by hitting a bumper. In this diffuse mode of thinking, you can look at things broadly from a very different big-picture perspective.

Another way of imagining it that made a little more sense than the pinball analogy was the FLASHLIGHT ANALOGY.This involves visualizing your brain as a flashlight,Diffused mode of thinking could be thought of as a setting on the flashlight designed to cast a broad light not very strongly, while focused mode would cast a very strong light in smaller area.

Now as far as scientists know right now, you're either in the focused mode or the diffuse mode of thinking. It seems you can't be in both thinking modes at the same time

Alternating between focused and diffuse thinking is the best way to master a subject or solve a difficult problem. First, we use the focused mode of thinking to understand the basics of a topic without any distractions. Then we use the diffuse mode to passively internalize what we have learned and make connections to other things we already knew. Afterwards, we go back into focused mode and pare down the connections that we made to the best, most helpful ones.

See How The Combining Between The Focus and The Diffuse Mode Help Extraordinary People To Do Great Things

Lets look at one of the foremost surrealist painters of the 20th century, Salvador Dali.

IMAGE SOURCE http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c14985/

Dali used to have an interesting technique to help him come up with his fantastically creative Surrealist paintings. He'd relax in a chair and let his mind go free, often still vaguely thinking about what he had been previously focusing on. He'd have a key in his hand, dangling it just above the floor. And as he would slip into his dreams, falling asleep, the key would fall from his hand [SOUND] and the clatter would wake him up, just in time so he could gather up those diffuse mode connections and ideas in his mind. And off he'd go back into the focused mode bringing with him the new connections he'd made while in the diffuse mode.

Thomas Edison, one of the most brilliant inventors

image source http://hypescience.com/5-genios-famosos-e-as-ideias-que-eles-roubaram/

what Edison used to do was he'd sit and relax in his chair, holding ball bearings in his hand. He'd relax away letting his mind run free, although it would often noodle back in a much more relaxed way to what he'd been focusing on previously. When Edison would fall asleep, the ball bearings would drop [NOISE] and clatter to the ground just as with Dali. And it would wake Edison up and off he'd go with his ideas from the diffuse mode, ready to take them into the focused mode and build on them.

So the bottom line is, when you're learning something new, especially something that's a little more difficult, your mind needs to be able to go back and forth between the two different learning modes. That's what helps you learn effectively.

this post extracted from barbra oklay incridble book called mind for numbers about learning and productivity and also course on coursera about learning how to learn

Tell me what do think in the comment and what techniques do you prefer when it comes to learning

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