如何在不记忆的情况下学习

Rote memorization is an inefficient way to learn. Just retaining a single formula can mean pounding the same information into your skull dozens of times. If your computer hard drive had this accuracy, you'd probably throw it out.

在学习上，死记硬背是一种低效的方法。它仅仅用一种方式不断地在你的头颅里面“砰砰”地重击，将同一种知识重复上几十次。如果让你的硬盘拥有这样的精度，我看你应该会将这个硬盘扔掉。

Unfortunately, you're stuck with your brain. The good news is that you don't need to learn by memorization. The vast majority of information is better stored in your head using a completely different system - learning through connecting ideas together.

不幸的是，你不得不拥有这样的脑袋。有一个好消息，就是你不是必须要通过记忆来学习。在你的头脑里面使用一个不同的系统来储存绝大多数知识会比较好——将所有的知识连结起来，通过这种方式来学习。

A few years ago, I noticed that smart people seemed to learn differently than most other people. While most people would review the same information dozens of times, smart people only needed to review once or twice. While most people would apply ideas to problems in the ways that they had been taught, smart people used the ideas in many different contexts.

几年之前，我注意到，聪明的人在学习上看起来与绝大多数人不一样。当多数人将同一种知识反复回顾了几十次的时候，聪明的人仅仅需要回顾一次或两次就足矣。当大多数人以他们被教导的方式来应用他们学到的知识的时候，聪明的人已经在很多不同的场景下使用这些知识了。

While there are undoubtedly some genetic advantages that allow some people to learn effortlessly, I think part of this difference in success comes down to strategy. While most people were trying to memorize, smart people were coming up with creative connections between ideas. These connections made the ideas easier to remember, so less memorizing was required. Additionally, the new connections made the ideas easier to understand, so learning itself was faster.

虽然毫无疑问在遗传学上的一些优势，一些人确实是可以轻松如意的学习，但我认为这应该归功于学习策略。当大多数人努力的去记忆的时候，聪明的人创新的在知识之间建立起联系。这些联系让知识变得容易记忆，所以不需要太多的记忆活动。另外，新的联系另知识更容易理解，所以学起来也更快。

Is Your Brain a File Drawer or a Web of Ideas?

你的头脑，是一个文件柜，还是一个知识脉络？

A computer stores information as thousands of electrical 1s and 0s in a linear fashion. Your brain doesn't. Your brain is made up of billions of neurons connected together. Many people try to learn as if there brain were a computer: by memorizing the information in a sequence.

电脑以连续的成千上万个用电子表示的1或0的方式来储存知识。你的头脑并不这样。你的头脑由数十亿个神经元连结而成。很多人试图学习——好像把大脑当作电脑那样：以一种有序的方式来记忆知识。

However, your brain isn't a sequence of bits and bytes, so this approach doesn't make sense. It makes more sense to learn the same way your brain is designed, by connecting ideas together into a web, rather than trying to store them with rote memorization.

可是，你的头脑并不有一序列的比特与字节组成，所以这种将大脑当作电脑的学习方式是行不通的。使用构建你大脑的那种方式——将所有知识连结成一个网络，会比用死记硬背将知识储存起来的方式，更行得通。

Creative Learning

创新型学习

What I'd like to advocate in this article is a more creative, spontaneous form of learning than the style you were probably coached for in school. Instead of repeatedly scanning the same information for minimal benefit, invest your time learning in creating connections with the information you are learning. Not only is it a more natural way to learn, it isn't painfully boring like most memorization tasks are.

在这篇文章里面，我所倡导的学习方式大概是比学校里面的教导风格更具有创新性、自发性的方式。取代基本上毫无益处的反反复复的浏览同一种知识的方式，将你的时间投资到学习创建你正在学习的知识之间的联系。这不仅仅是一种更自然的方式，还因为它不像大多数的记忆任务那样痛苦无聊。

There are lots of ways you can learn creatively:

你能以多种方式来创新的学习：

1. Through Metaphor

1. 通过发现事物相关联之处

Connect ideas together by relating them to something you already understand. Relate complex physical equations to their real life counterparts. Imagine a derivative as the speedometer on a car. See a binomial equation as a game of Plink-O.

通过你已经明白的知识与要学习的知识关联起来，以使知识连结在一起。复杂的物理方程，以现实生活中的例子与之相关联。想象一下，一个导数作为车上的车速计。将二次方程视作Plink-0这个游戏。

You can do the same thing with less technical subjects. When I read the book The Prince, I related Niccolo Machiavelli's thoughts on politics to my own social life. If you relate an abstract example to something more commonplace it is easier to understand. You are effectively creating a bridge between what you understand intuitively and the things you struggle with.

你可以以更少的技术科目来做同样的事情。当我阅读《王子》这本书的时候，我将 Nicclo Machiaveli 的想法与我的生活关联在一起。如果你将一个抽象的例子关联到一些更为普遍的事物上，它将变得更为简单易懂。你有效的创建了一个你所直观了解与你不断斗争的事物之间的桥梁。

2. Through Diagram

2. 通过图解

Create diagrams showing the relationships between ideas. This is a manual way you can create connections. The importance is that you explore as many different ways to connect ideas as possible, not just repeating the same diagrams. If you have varied connections, then if you happen to forget one, you'll remember the ideas through another.

画出一张表示知识之间的关系的图解。这是让你能创建知识之间的关联的方式，纯以手工的。重点在於，你尽可能的摸索关联你的知识的方式，而不仅是重复一样的图解。如果你用各式各样的知识连结然后如果你忘记其中之一，你将通过其他的知识连结来回忆起这个被你忘掉的知识。

Diagram ideas based on time and place, author or other similarities they have. If you're learning a comprehensive subject, like chemistry or physics, why not diagram out how all the ideas relate. Many equations are counterparts or derivations of each other, so you can learn complicated formulas more easily by connecting them to simpler forms.

将知识转化为图例，是基于时间和地点、作者或其他不同知识间相类似的地方。如果你在学习综合科目，像化学或物理，何不将所有知识之间的关联画出来。许多方程式是相互印证或相互推到的，所以你能通过简单的方式将它们关联起来，以更轻松的学习复杂的方程式。

3. Through “Like, But…”

3. 通过“好像，不过……”

Another way to link ideas is to relate one piece of information to another, noting their difference. “It's like this, but it has that instead.” Using this method of understanding can link ideas together, even if you don't have a perfect metaphor or relationship to diagram.

另外一条关联知识的方法是，将一个知识与另外一个知识相关联起来，记录它们之间的不同点。“它是这样，但它有另外的替代。”使用这种模式去理解，能叫知识相关联起来，即使你没有一个完美的相关联之处或关系图。

Examples:

例子：

* Confucius was born around the same time as Socrates, but lived in ancient China.

* Amortization is like an asset version of a loan payment, except there's no interest.

* Acceleration is like gravity, but in any direction.

*孔子与苏格拉底同时诞生，但生活在古代的中国

*分期付款就像是支付贷款的资产的一个版本，除了它不需要支付利息

*加速度与重力相似，但它没有方向

The relationships don't need to be perfect. You aren't trying to build a perfectly accurate map of the surrounding, just a sketch. Creative connections, even if they are only 80-90% accurate are more memorable than dry connections that have 100% accuracy. If you understood the subject when you were learning it, then the specific accuracy of a metaphor won't be as important as the connection itself.

知识之间的关系不需要那么明确。你不用试图为周遭的事物去构建一个完美而精确的地图，只要像一个草图就好。创新性的连结，即使它们仅仅具备 80-90%的精度，也比枯燥无味的连结要好记的多。如果你已经明白你所学习的科目，那么知识与知识间连结的精度就不比知识连结本身重要。

4. Through Visualization

4. 通过可视化

Another way to make ideas more concrete is simply to imagine them in a visual format. When I was learning computer programming, I often tried to connect the abstract concepts of variables, functions or polymorphism into more vivid, visual descriptions. If a variable becomes a jar or a function becomes a crazy pencil sharpener, you're more likely to remember the relationship later.

有其它简单的方法可以令知识变得更具体，那就是将它们想象出来成为一种可以看见的形式。当我学习电脑编程的时候，我就经常试图将抽象、概念性的变量、函数、多形性与更生动的视觉上的描述关联起来。如果一个变量变成一种罐头，或一个函数变成一个疯狂的卷笔刀的话，你会更有可能记忆知识之间的关系。

If you are a non-visual learner, you can apply the same strategy to your other senses. It may be more meaningful for you if you mentally attach sounds or sensations to the ideas you're trying to store.

如果你不是视觉类型的学习者，你可以将这种策略应用到你其它的五感上去。如果你心理上更接近于使用听觉或触觉来记忆知识，这种策略对你而言可能会更有意义。

5. Can You Explain it To a Five-Year Old?

5. 你能将之解释给5岁的小孩听吗？

Another trick to connect ideas together is to connect a very difficult idea, to something you understand easily. If you had to teach whatever subject you're learning right now to a five-year old, what would you do?

其它连结知识的方法是将非常难以理解的知识与那些你明白易懂的知识关联起来。现在，如果你不得不将你正在学习的科目教给一个五岁小孩，你会怎么办？

This exercise forces you to simplify. Instead of dealing in abstracts you now have to deal in concretes. I'm not suggesting you can teach senior level chemistry courses to a first-grader. However, if you get in the habit of simplifying things for yourself, it will be easier for you to understand it yourself. Teaching something is often the best way to learn it.

这个练习迫使你去简化。你只好以处理具象的事物，取代处理抽象的事物。我不是说，你有能力去教会一个一年级的小孩毕业班的化学课程。无论如何，如果你养成了简化事物的习惯，你会更容易的了解这些事物。教往往是最好的学习方法。

I once heard a story about a prominent university professor who was writing a paper in his field. Instead of using the normal academic speak, he decided to simplify the findings and terms of the article as much as possible. His goal was that, by doing this, the article might be accessible to journalists who don't have academic training.

我曾经听说一个故事，说的是一个出名大学里，正在写论文的教授。他决定尽可能使论文里的结论与学术用语简单明了，而不是用以正常的学院的语调。他的目的是，通过这样的努力，文章更易于接受，对于那些未进行过学院系统训练的新闻记者而言。

To his surprise, however, his article became one of the most cited works within his field, from other academics. It appears that the extra simplification of concepts was helpful not only to journalists, but other researchers with doctorates in his field. The lesson: we often underestimate the simplification required.

令他惊讶的是，他的论文开始成为在他的学术领域里面被引用的次数最多的论文之一。看起来简单易懂的概念不仅仅是对新闻记者有助益，于其他学术领域的学者来说也一样。总结：你经常低估了别人对简单性的需求。

When you juggle ideas only at an abstract level, you make fewer connections. It's like trying to weave a basket using two ten-foot pole rods, while the basket is suspended off your roof. Make connections and bring the basket down to earth so you can grab it with your hands and make more tangible connections.

当你仅仅在抽象的层面上耍弄知识，你只能构建很少的知识连结。这就像是在用来两个十英尺的编织棒去编织悬吊在屋子上的篮子一样。构建联系，就像将篮子降到地面的高，那样你能用手抓住它，这样你就够构建更多有形的知识连结。

6. Childhood Creativity Meets University Courses

6. 童心创造力与大学课程相会

I'm suggesting you bring back the same crayon-box imagination you had when you were five. Back then, nobody told you it was incorrect to link weird and bizarre combinations of ideas together, you did in naturally. However, at some point the system encouraged you to conform, so you started asking what the correct answer was, rather than the most interesting answer.

我建议你带上想象中你五岁时使用的蜡笔盒。然后想象回到童年，那时候没人会告诉你，你那些古怪、荒诞的想法组合在一起是不对的，你非常自然的就这样子去做了。不管怎样，某些时候你所身处的体制鼓励你去确认，所以你开始去询问正确的答案是什么，而不再去问哪些答案最有趣。

Don't give up your critical thinking, just enhance it by allowing yourself to explore ideas more thoroughly before you decide what they look like. What would happen if you inserted a minus sign in the middle of your physics equation? If you had to explain the formula in terms of real world objects, how would you do it?

不要放弃你的批判性思维，要不断的提高它——在你对某一事物下结论之前，允许自己更彻底的探究这一事物。如果你在你的物理方程式的中间插入一个减号，那将会发生什么？如果你不得不去解释现实世界中发生的现象所显现的物理规则，你会怎么办？

These aren't time-wasting exercises, they are keys to better understanding. The smartest people I've encountered are often the people with the easiest time generating creative descriptions of whatever they need to learn. If you didn't have to review every idea 5-10 times before learning it, then a creative approach would probably save you time, rather than waste it.

这些练习不会浪费时间，而是通往更深层次理解的钥匙。我曾遇见过的那些最聪明的人，只要他们需要学习，他们经常都是可以在任何时间里面中最容易产生创造性描述的。如果你在学习之前，不必每天都回顾上5-10遍，那么创造性的方法可以省下你的时间，而不是浪费掉。

7. With a Group

7. 在小组中学习

Most memorization is a solo pursuit. But connecting ideas doesn't have to be. If you get several people together and work to try to explain a subject to each other, you get the benefit of several brains forming connections to the same topic. This is applying the wisdom of brainstorming to help you learn faster.

大多数的记忆活动是单独一个人在追求。不过关联知识这种就不必如此。如果你和一些人一起工作学习，你们可以尝试在相互之间解释一下某一个科目，那么你将在数个大脑里面形成的关于同一主题的知识连结中获益。这是运用头脑风暴的智慧，帮学得更快。

As with brainstorming, accuracy isn't as important as volume. You aren't trying to remember every specific connection you make, so it doesn't matter if they aren't perfect. You are, however, trying to better understand and remember the subject itself, so group exercises where you share ideas are great for this purpose.

和头脑风暴一样，精度没有数量重要。你不必设法记忆每个你所构建的知识连结，所以即使这些知识连结并不完美，也不打紧。不管怎样，你都是想方设法地去了解与记忆这些知识，因此分享想法的小组，会更好的服务于你这个目的。

The 70% Rule for Self-Education

自我教育的 70% 原则

Whenever I try to learn anything on my own, I strive to maintain a 70% rule. This means I try to achieve 70% understanding and memory of a set of ideas before moving forward. Even though I'm missing 30% of the information, I can cover ground more quickly. Besides, I can always come back to reacquaint myself with something that was missed in the first pass.

无论何时，当我尝试自己去学习某些东西的时候，我都一直努力的坚持70%的原则。这意味着，在继续深入学习某个知识之前，我会设法达到70%的明白程度与记忆程度。就算我漏掉了30%的信息，但我能更迅速的回想起来。此外，我还总是重新熟悉那些我从一开始就漏掉的部分。

The reason this approach works is that it takes as much effort to learn the last 20% of information as it does to learn the first 80%. By moving forward, you can ensure you're focusing your learning efforts on what really matters, and not the minute details of a subject.

采用这样的方式，理由是学习剩余的20%的知识和开始学习80%的知识，所用的努力是一样的。通过深入探究，你能保证你一直都将你的努力集中在真正有关系的地方，而不是科目的那些琐碎的细节上。

This approach isn't practiced in school because, for most purposes 70% is a C+ or a B. In some programs, 70% memory could qualify as an F. So following this rule to the letter probably wouldn't result in an exceptional GPA.

学校里面不采取这种方式是因为，在大多数的科目里面，70%仅仅是一个C=或B。在某些科目里面，70%甚至被认为是一个F。所以按这个规则来做的话，未必能在学年成绩单上取得值得期待的回报。

However, you can modify this rule when creating connections between ideas. Understand something to 70% proficiency, then dive deeper and understand the ideas around it. Here are some examples:

然而，当你在创建知识之间的连结的时候，你可以修改这个规则。精熟某些知识达到70%的水平，然后潜得更深，并了解这个知识的外围。这里有一些例子：

* Understand a formula 70%, and then dive into its proof.

* Learn a philosophical argument to 70%, and then examine the counterarguments.

* Read to understand a management theory 70%, then view it's applications.

* Remember 70% of the words of a new language, then practice using them in dialog.

*熟悉一个方程到70%的程度，然后去运用。

*学习一个哲学命题到70%的程度，然后尝试去解释其中的辩论。

*明白一个管理理论到70%的程度，然后阅览它的应用情况。

*记下一个新语言中的70%的单词，然后在对话中练习它。

If you use this approach to study, you can start building those connections earlier. Instead of waiting until you have something memorized before you start connecting ideas, you start exploring immediately. This reduces the burden of memorization and helps you learn faster.

如果你用这种方法来学习，你可以更早的构建知识的连结点。而不是等到你有点印象之后才开始将知识关联起来，你可以在探索中立马开始。这样可以减少你的记忆量，帮助你更快的学习。

When is Memorization Necessary?

什么时候记忆是必需的？

Like all rules, the practice of connecting ideas has places where it doesn't work terribly well in. When you need to remember bulk information, with no particular meaning, sometimes rote memorization is the best way to go. Human brains are meaning-makers, and learning through connections is an approach built off that function. So when you have to understand copious amounts of information that have no logical relationship, you may struggle to form connections.

就如所有规则一样，关联知识，不是那么容易就能精通。当你必须去记忆大量的知识，但它们没有什么特别的意义，在这种时候，死记硬背是最好的方式。人类的大脑是一个「意义产生机」，通过学习构建知识连结的方式，来关闭这个功能。所以当你要学习大量、丰富而缺乏逻辑关系的知识的时候，你可能难以将知识关联起来。

I hesitate to say this, however, because 95% of information isn't meaningless, otherwise you wouldn't bother learning it. There is a pattern, and if you invest some time in finding it, you greatly increase the chances it will stick to the inside of your skull.

我犹豫着要不要说这个，但是，因为95%的知识并不是无意义的，否则你根本就不用去学习。有一种模式，如果你将你的时间投入其中，那将增大在脑袋里保留的机会。