学会如何学习学习笔记——1. 1 什么是学习——集中与发散思维概论

最近学习了Coursera上的Learning How to Learn课程，刷新了一下自己对于manual learning（人类学习）的认知。感觉有必要分享一下学习素材，希望对大家有用。

本课程将介绍各领域专家所使用的学习方法，他们包括艺术家、文学家、数学家、科学家、运动员和很多其他领域专家。我们将学习如何使用两种不同的大脑模式，以及大脑如何封装（“chunks”）信息。我们还将介绍能力错觉（illusions of learning），记忆技巧，对付拖延症的方法，以及研究表明能帮助我们掌握困难科目的方法。

无论您在所学领域是专家还是菜鸟，您都可以使用这些方法，改变自己的思维模式，重塑自己的人生。如果您是所学领域的专家，通过学习大脑认知的底层知识，您可以进一步提高自己的学习能力，您将了解反直觉的考试技巧和见解，从而能够更高效地完成作业和习题。如果您在学习中遇到困难，系统有效的学习技巧将帮助您将走上正轨。无论您希望学习什么内容，这门课程都可以作为您的指南。

什么是学习？

尽管活体大脑相当复杂，但此单元将利用隐喻与类比帮助简化内容。你将发现几个完全不同的思维模式，并了解能怎样利用这些模式改进自己的学习。你还将接触到一项治疗拖延症的工具，获得一些有关记忆的实用信息，并意外地挖掘到一些有关学习与睡眠的实用见解。

如果你希望作好更充分的准备，那么可以选读 《数字思维》 （非必修内容，但却是此MOOC的基础教材）。该书也已有华语简体版 《学习之道》。这本书让你有机会巩固在本课程中学到的学习方法，你可以在空白处作笔记或以电子笔记的形式帮助进一步推动思维的“组块化”。

​​​​​​​集中与发散思维概论——英文原文

What do you do when you just can't figure something out? For zombies, it's pretty simple. They can just keep bashing their brains against the wall. But living brains are a lot more complex. It turns out, though, that 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. Here, I'll call them the Focused and the Diffuse modes. We're familiar with focusing. It's when you concentrate intently on something you're trying to learn or to understand. But we're not so familiar with diffuse thinking. Turns out that this more relaxed thinking style is related to a set of neural resting states. We're going to use an analogy of the game of pinball to help us understand these two thinking modes.

Incidentally, both metaphor and analogy are really helpful when you're trying to learn something new. If you remember, a pinball game works by, you pull back on the plunger, release it, and a ball goes bonking out, bouncing around on the rubber bumpers, and that's how you get points. So, here's your brain, with the ears right here, and the eyes looking upwards. And we can lay that pinball machine right down inside it. So, there you go. There's the analogy for the focused mode. The blue bumper bumpers here are placed very close to one another. See this orange pattern here towards the top? It represents a familiar thought pattern. Maybe involving something simple like adding some numbers, or more advanced ideas like literary criticism or calculating electromagnetic flows. You think a thought, boom, it takes off, moves smoothly along. And then, as it's bouncing around on the bumpers, 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.

So look at how that thought moves smoothly around on the fuzzy underlying orange neural pathway. In some sense it's as if it's traveling along a familiar, nicely paved road. But what if the problem you're working on needs new ideas or approaches? Concepts you haven't thought of before. That's symbolized here by this neural pattern towards 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, bounces around. 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. You can make new neural connections traveling along new pathways. You can't focus in as tightly as you often need to, to finalize any kind of problem solving. Or understand the finest aspects of a concept. But you can at least get to the initial place you need to be in to home in on a solution.

Now as far as neuroscientists 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. It's kind of like a coin. We can see either one side, or the other side of the coin. But not both sides at the same time. Being in one mode seems to limit your access to the other mode's way thinking.

In our next video we're going to see how some extraordinary people access their diffuse ways of thinking to do great things. 

​​​​​​​集中与发散思维概论——中文翻译

当你无法弄清楚某件事情时，你会怎么做？对于僵尸来说，这很简单。他们只需要不停地用头撞墙。但是活着的大脑要复杂得多。然而，如果你对大脑如何工作的一些基本知识有一点点了解，你就可以更容易地学习，减少挫败感。

研究人员发现，我们有两种根本不同的思维方式。在这里，我称它们为专注模式和发散模式。我们对专注模式很熟悉。当你全神贯注于你试图学习或理解的东西时，就会进入这种状态。但我们对发散思维不太熟悉。事实证明，这种更放松的思维方式与一组神经静息状态有关。我们将使用弹球游戏这个类比来帮助我们理解这两种思维模式。

顺便说一下，当你试图学习新东西时，隐喻和类比都非常有帮助。如果你还记得，弹球游戏的工作原理是：你拉回推杆，释放它，然后一个球就弹出来，在橡胶缓冲器上弹来弹去，这就是你得分的方式。所以，这就是你的大脑，耳朵在这里，眼睛朝上看。我们可以把弹球机放在里面。看吧，这就是专注模式的类比。这里的蓝色缓冲器彼此靠得很近。看到这里顶部的橙色图案了吗？它代表了一种熟悉的思维模式。可能是一些简单的加法运算，或者更高级的想法，如文学批评或计算电磁流。你想到一个问题，砰的一声，它就开始了，沿着平滑的路径移动。然后，当它在缓冲器上弹来弹去时，你就能找到你试图解决的问题，或者你想要理解的概念与你非常熟悉的事物有关。

所以看看那个想法如何在模糊的底层橙色神经网络路径上平稳地移动。在某种程度上，这就像沿着一条熟悉的、铺得很好的道路前行一样。但是，如果你正在处理的问题需要新的想法或方法呢？一些你以前从未想过的概念。这在弹球机区域的底部被这个神经网络模式所象征。但是，如果你以前从未想过这个问题，你甚至不知道那种模式的感觉或它在哪里。那么，你最初是如何发展出那个新想法的呢？你不仅不知道模式在哪里或它是什么样子的，而且看到所有的橡胶缓冲器都在阻挡你无论决定朝哪个方向移动吗？

为了进入这种新的思维模式，你需要一种不同的思考方式。这就是发散模式所代表的。看看这些橡胶缓冲器之间的间距有多大。想法开始启动，看看它是如何广泛地移动、弹来弹去的。它可以在被缓冲器打断之前行进很长一段距离。在这种发散思维模式下，你可以从非常不同、宏观的角度来看待事物。你可以建立新的神经网络连接并沿着新的路径行进。你不能像通常需要的那样紧密地聚焦以完成任何类型的问题解决或理解概念的最细微方面。但至少你可以到达解决问题所需的初始位置。

目前为止，据神经科学家所知，你要么处于专注思维模式，要么处于发散思维模式。似乎你不能同时处于两种思维模式中。这有点像一枚硬币。我们可以看到硬币的一面或另一面。但不能同时看到两面。处于一种模式似乎限制了你进入另一种模式的思维方式。

在我们接下来的视频中，我们将看到一些非凡的人如何通过他们的发散思维方式来实现伟大的事情。