• Barbara Oakley - The lead instructor

Module 1

Focussed v/s Diffused Thinking

  • Two types of thinking - focussed thinking & diffused thinking
  • Salvador dalle, Thomas Edison technique for switching between focussed and diffused modes
  • Ping ponging between focussed and diffused is required to grasp something new. This takes time can’t be done overnight
  • brain consumes 10 times more power for its weight than other organs
  • humans aren’t aware of all the things that happen in the brain. Seeing, actions, perception don’t happen in the conscious part of the brain
  • a human brain has million billion synapses. in significant figures

Procrastination, Sleep & Memory

  • insular cortex - fear - leads to procrastination. This usually happens at the start of the task (which you want to procrastinate), this feeling goes away within a few minutes
  • two types of memory - working memory and long-term memory. usually working memory can’t hold more than 4 chunks of information
  • practice - space repetition, it’s necessary to strengthen the neuron connections and also move from working to long term memory
  • sleep is important part of the learning process
    • shrinks brain cells, which gives way to wash of toxins from the brain
    • reinforces the neural pathways that we are trying to develop / learn
    • remove unnecessary neural connections