
Ask HN: How do I become smarter? - HiroshiSan
my situation:<p>I'm 19 years old and I go to a not so great (according to Macleans university rankings) university in Canada. I would like to make a transfer to Waterloo and then go to graduate school at Stanford or MIT. These are just some of the goals that I'd like to achieve in my academic career. I would just like to prove to myself that I have what it takes and I would like to be in that academic environment (Sorry if I worded it poorly).<p>At the moment I know I definitely am not trying as hard as I should..I don't remember the last time I engaged myself with hard problems or where to start. I've been feeling pretty lost in what I've wanted to do with my life so I just decided to follow Paul Grahams advice and just go with what gives me the most options (http://paulgraham.com/hs.html).<p>When it comes to learning new things or building off old concepts, I feel like I have a poor foundation and I just don't know where to start. How can build a great foundation where I can understand the concepts intuitively?<p>In short, how can I become smarter?
======
mmaunder
I have great news for you. The brain is extremely plastic. Read about
neuroplasticity here: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity>

Rest assured that your capacity to acquire new skills and knowledge is
massive.

You don't just get smarter. You get smarter at something in particular.
Playing chess, doing IQ tests, running the 100m dash, programming, social
skills, public speaking, etc. So you need to pick a particular skill or set of
skills or vocation and decide to get smarter at that.

There are some general rules for improving brain function though. Here are a
few:

1\. Read books. Reading trains your brain to concentrate for long periods of
time without fatigue or distraction. There is a growing school of thought that
the short bursts of reading and frequent distractions we experience online are
harming our ability for deep contemplation, introspection and concentration.
See Nicholas Carr, The Shallows. <http://n.pr/bnAfRV>

2\. Try to get 10 hours of sleep a night. Sleep improves mental and athletic
performance. <http://n.pr/9wQsXr>

3\. Maintain your cardiovascular fitness. I highly recommend running. After
years of cycling, swimming, hiking, etc I've found that running gives my brain
function the biggest boost and provides me with sustained mental energy
through the day. A good cardiovascular system supplies your brain with plenty
of healthy oxygen rich blood. It's like putting racing fuel in your car.

4\. Eat well. Cook your own food. Avoid processed or pre-prepared foods and
non-organic foods (mainly due to the pesticides). Fish is awesome, but watch
out for mercury.

5\. Don't drink anything stronger than wine. Don't do drugs. (just like your
mom told you)

6\. Watch your weight. I find the biggest source of mental fatigue is when
I've gained a few pounds.

Good luck, and congratulations on making the decision at a relatively young
age to focus on your mental fitness.

~~~
stcredzero
#2 - Some researchers think there is wide variability in the optimal amount of
sleep. Some even think that you can get too much sleep. The thing to do is to
pay attention and experiment. I sleep in two sessions, one 4 hours, the second
three. Getting more sleep makes me feel a little worse. The good news, is that
there are cheap sleep monitoring smartphone apps.

~~~
jpdbaugh
I completely agree as a bimodal sleeper myself. If I sleep over 7 hours in one
session I feel terrible, much worse even than if I would have only gotten 5
hours of sleep that night. I usually sleep 5 hours a night and take 2 and half
hour nap. You just have to figure out what works for you.

------
apsurd
most of the words ending in "er" pretty much boil down to _effort_. Simple as
that. Stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, happier, etc.

But the problem with the advice "put in more effort" is that it isn't really
that helpful. But such is life. The beauty really is in figuring out answers
_for yourself_.

When I was younger I was obsessed with finding out answers. I am very curious
and like to learn things so of course I would read and ask people and go on
the internet and try to figure things out - in short, I relentlessly pursued
answers.

But as I grew older I came to realize that you can't always pursue answers
from external sources, because they aren't really that helpful. I am not
saying never learn, I am saying answers are only the beginning!

Answers are abundant. PG has all the answers about running a startup. Ask any
nba player how to be good at basketball and you'll have tons of answers. The
internet makes practically any answer ever recorded instantly accessable.

This probably sounds like a lot of nonsense but the point is, the answers you
really care about and the answers that will shift your life and spur
greatness, those answers do not exist in books - you have to figure them out
yourself, relative to your self.

How do you do that? Be active. Keep trying, never stop, always appreciate,
always learn, always read, always be humble, always be kind, be helpful, be
aware, be open.

See there you go, I guarantee and I will stake my life on the fact that what I
am saying is 100% the correct answer. But it doesn't help you much does it?

Be a happy, appreciative student of life, stop to say hi to your fellow humans
along the way and work hard - you will be smarter my friend.

Take care.

------
ErrantX
1\. Read. Read. Read.

2\. Solve problems (anything, it can be hard or easy)

3\. GOTO 1

In all seriousness though #1 is the point that will make a big difference. My
friends generally mark me as the smartest person in our group (uh, there was
no "nice" way to put that). They are perfectly smart individuals; but due to
my old social awkwardness and slight insomnia I spent the better part of my
school years reading anything I could get my hands on, and that makes a
difference.

Ok, so on a public front you simply _appear_ smart for knowing stuff about a
diverse range of topics (I recall a particularly crazy conversation on a train
at 1am where I met an Aussie and we discussed Scuba diving in some depth :D) -
which is a bit of a fake because that is just "knowing stuff".

But knowing stuff is a path to smartness. Pick up threads you find interesting
and pursue them. _Teach_ those things to people. Find stuff that excites you
and makes you want to solve it.

You mention intuitive learning too; over time you can develop great intuitive
learning Just follow what feels "right" in your reading and problem solving;
eventually you will find when presented with a problem you can visualize it,
break it down/deconstruct it and then solve for x.

(always seek an answer)

~~~
joubert
I would add that if you are the smartest person amongst your friends, try to
find new friends that are even smarter that you.

~~~
mrvir
That's why he is here, I would assume.

------
pwim
I'd think a bit more about what your actual goals are. To me, going to an
renowned school like MIT is a means to an end not a goal. Depending on what
you want to do after, it may or may not be a wise decision.

From your post, it sounds like intelligence isn't the problem, but rather one
of motivation. While doing well academically does require a baseline
intelligence, the more important thing (like most things in life) is a matter
of effort. Perhaps this comes from your lack of any concrete goals.

I found myself similarly lost when I first started my university education.
Actually, I started off by going to a community college, and while at first
that was disappointing, it also gave me the chance to sample a wide variety of
subjects, and eventually finding out CS was what I was passionate about. By
finding my passion, I was able to overcome my previous motivation problems.
Perhaps if you try new things as well, you might find something that sparks
your drive.

~~~
gregschlom
Completely agree here. Passion is what drives motivation. Paul Graham wrote
extensively about that in one of his essays (Do what you love).

So I'd say :

1\. Try to figure out what you'd love to do 2\. Do it, and enjoy everyday of
your life :)

The problem is, it's not always easy to find answer to point 1. To find, you
must try a lot of different options, until you find what you really want to
do. That's why I would suggest :

1\. Try to work as an intern in small companies (startups). You'll get a very
good contact with the founders, who are usually very smart guys. In other
words : find a mentor

2\. Try to be friends with people that have a passion for something, and see
if you can share their passion

3\. Be curious, go out, speak with people. And travel. Travel a lot.

~~~
sandee
Passion triumphs everything.

Just remember this all times.

------
Luc
Don't see 'reading' as the end of studying. You have to exercise your brain
and _do_ stuff, too (work through problems, proofs etc.). Only reading is
often too passive to really learn things well.

Attributed to Einstein: "Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too
much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own
brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

~~~
sanderjd
Awesome quote, never heard that before, I'm sure my brain will be in use
thinking about it for awhile (how meta!). I think the key here is the
difference between passive and active reading. It seems like reading passively
is the default for most people, probably because it can be so darn enjoyable,
but training yourself to read _actively_ can result in even more enjoyment
but, more significantly, will result in expanded brain use. Text is just a
series of questions awaiting your own individual answers.

------
davidwilson
'Smart' is a very loosely defined concept. Let's assume for the time being
that by smart, you mean, 'being able to creatively solve problems.' This,
fortunately, is a skill you can learn. Here are some pointers you might find
useful.

(1) Get rid if your TV. Dumping my TV probably had the single largest impact
on the effective use of my time. You will be amazed at how much more creative
you can be when you no longer have an excuse to lounge about for an hour or so
at a time.

(2) Don't 'study' your academics. Ignore the marks altogether and learn stuff
for the sake of it being interesting to you. Study chapters outside the
syllabus and ignore ones in it that might be boring. You may sacrifice results
in the short run but your long term understanding and passion for the subject
will be of great benefit in the long run.

(3) Be endlessly curious. Make an effort to figure out how things around you
work, or why they work that way. Seriously, take a cigarette lighter apart
from time to time just for the sake of solving the how. Drive a different
route home just to see where it goes and why.

(4) Don't be afraid to fix things that break. Always make an effort to fix
some or other mechanical thing that breaks around the house. You'll be
surprised how this improves your patience and problem solving skills.

(5) Spend time with smart people. Watching them solve problems and how they
think will give you something to work towards.

Being 19, you still have a lot of time to get smart - so put in the effort now
and by the time you're finished college, you'll probably be nicely along the
road to better, more creative, problem solving.

------
coryl
The name of the school you go to means nothing. You need to figure out what
you actually want to achieve. You want to be smarter, why? You want to go to a
"better" school, why?

Going there will offer you nothing if you don't know what you're looking for.
What is it that you love doing in life and how can you build on that?

~~~
stcredzero
Don't try to go to a better school. Try to work well with good _people_.

------
dlsspy
> I don't remember the last time I engaged myself with hard problems

Do that. Forget about some impossible to quantify long term goal about being
smarter and set a goal of solving a hard problem that should take you a few
hours.

When you solved it, do another one.

~~~
kksm19820117
Seconded.

Also, when taking on a problem, it helps if you break it down into smaller,
shorter, quantifiable targets. This single approach alone will help you see
impossible problems as being a set of smaller, difficult ones.

------
asdflkj
I think your assumption that you should start with a foundation is wrong.
Foundation is good, but the best way to it is to focus on other things.

If you have a discipline A and a discipline B, and knowing A will help you a
great deal with B, but B is totally unnecessary for A, it's natural to want to
study A first. But this ignores the most important factor: everyday
motivation. This is a much fuzzier thing than the dependency tree model, and
it's natural to find it less attractive to think about. But it's real, and
it's important. It's not enough to like the idea of conquering A. You have to
find the process itself satisfying enough that it perpetuates itself. In
practice, this often means learning B, being frustrated by your ignorance of
A, but also excited enough to keep going. Then learning A once your studies of
B have shown you the power and value of A.

If there isn't anything that excites you enough to study it without putting in
inordinate amount of willpower, don't feel bad. It's entirely the fault of
institutions that educated you. The trick is to start with some real world
problem that doesn't even seem respectable, but is exciting because it's real,
and in the course of solving which you'll come in contact with other, "deeper"
areas of knowledge.

------
karanbhangui
As an engineering student at Waterloo, I'll tell you something: While
UWaterloo is definitely golden in the eyes of a lot of technical employers,
there's nothing I've seen inherently special in this school. If switching is
not easy for you, doing well in your particular school could serve you better.
I don't think Waterloo professors or classes are any more rigorous or better
than other Canadian schools. Out of curiosity, what school do you go to?

~~~
HiroshiSan
I go to Carleton University. It's a wonderful school don't get me wrong, but I
would love to be in the environment that Waterloo provides. This takes me back
to Paul Graham's Cities and Ambition essay. My best friend who goes to
Waterloo recently wrote a blog post on what type of message she thinks
Waterloo sends: <http://itsallinu.com/?p=165>

~~~
karanbhangui
Hey, I know Ashley :)

Take a look at some of Rajesh Kumar's (Nanotech Engineering 2010) essays:
[http://rajesh.rapidtech.ca/archive_2009_08.html#the-case-
for...](http://rajesh.rapidtech.ca/archive_2009_08.html#the-case-for-
waterloo.html)

~~~
HiroshiSan
small world haha. Neat blog I like his writing style. Catch 22 is one of my
favourite effects that he talks about.

------
gojomo
There is one preeminent technique shared by both students in the top programs
and auto-didacts of all ages: _intensive reading._

Longer-form materials that require deep concentration are best. On hard
topics, go as slow as necessary but _don't change tasks_ looking for the quick
hit of some lighter reading/interaction.

You could fight your way through a textbook, going more slowly (and doing side
research or seeking others' help) on the parts that are most difficult. Or
grab research papers of interest, and when you hit things you don't know take
detours only to fill those gaps.

------
rms
One tool I wish I would have known about in college is Anki. Spaced repetition
lets you memorize stuff a lot faster than flashcards. <http://ichi2.net/anki/>

------
tom_ilsinszki
FYI, I'm 26; anyway here is my advice.

* Don't focus on the goal: You might set some big goals, but don't focus on them too much (focus on the process instead and probably you'll be happy with the outcome).

* Change slowly: Monitor yourself, summarize what you did each day and try to change things one at a time. Changes that need time to take effect cannot be made quickly (the same way it's not a good idea to adjust water temperature quickly while you're showering).

* Know yourself: Know your limits, and what makes you tick. Monitor yourself and your friends. Figure out why those people are your friends. (It helps to understand yourself better). What are your weaknesses, what are strengths? Hint: what are the things you enjoyed doing when you were a little kid? Try to find activities / work that's similar to that.

* Learn from others: Get to know people, who you respect, and are smarter than you; learn from them. (Also a great way to keep your ego checked)

* Remember to spend time with your loved ones. Do it for them, and for you.

------
wehriam
Excuse yourself from the search for hard problems and pursue your interests.
Build a foundation in subjects that captivate you.

You'll never be smarter, but that's a meaningless term anyway. You are
inclined to learn more about things that matter to you. And because these
concepts are fascinating your focus will exceed that of any disinterested
person with a natural aptitude.

Not long from now you'll be discussing entomology or artificial intelligence
or interior design with an uncommon passion and someone will wish they were as
smart as you.

------
dazzawazza
My entire life I've know what I wanted to do. I've never been in your
situation. At first I assumed that everyone was like me and that everyone has
a strong direction/motivation. I was wrong, most people have no idea at 19
where they want to be. So firstly don't worry about it.

You'll get out of University what you put in and at 19 not everyone is in a
position to put a lot in. I certainly wasn't. I went to a top University in
the UK and basically wasted four years. I came out a lot better off but I
didn't milk it for all it was worth. You may consider a gap year but that can
be expensive. Taking a year out to work for charity can help you mature and
see the world a little. Gap years are no panacea though.

Since you don't know your story yet I recommend that you read other people's
stories. You can read Founders at Work or something by Bill Gates but first
I'd recommend reading Cherry-Garrard's account of Scott's attempt on the South
Pole "The Worst Journey in the World". It changed my whole perception of life.
Scott's team knew there was a good chance they would die. They knew they
didn't know HOW to get to the pole. They knew they didn't know how to survive
at -60c. It's an amazing story and has inspired me for 10 years now. Most
things in life are a mystery but that shouldn't stop you reaching the south
pole. Cherry-Garrard himself was too weak and short sited for the trip but
showed so much determination and courage that Scott let him join the team.

Hopefully you'll find something inspiring. From inspiration comes drive and
from drive comes a determination to do something. Since most of the world is a
mystery you'll have to look for that something to do but it's out there,
somewhere.

Anyway, I've prattled on a little like the old fart I am :)

Good luck.

------
pella
"Brain Workshop is a free open-source version of the Dual N-Back mental
exercise."

"A recent study published in PNAS, an important scientific journal, shows that
a particular memory task called Dual N-Back may actually improve working
memory (short term memory) and fluid intelligence. ...."
<http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/>

------
stretchwithme
when you're passionate about a topic, want to know the answer to a question or
need to solve a problem, your brain is primed to learn. Encounter the same
material in a different situation and you're far less likely to learn.

And it doesn't matter how many different topics you cover. What matters is how
deep you go into the topics that matter to you. You have more of a chance of
actually coming up with some new and useful, instead of merely rediscovering
or relearning what others already came up with.

------
rythie
1\. Find some people who are smarter than you and know the type of stuff you
want to know.

2\. Get to a point where they see you as a peer (by reading, discussing,
solving problems etc.)

3\. Go to #1

------
heliodorj
The most important factor to success is hard work. It applies to starting
companies as much as it applies to getting into college. You can apply to
Stanford and MIT with perfect grades and a perfect SAT score, and they'll
still reject you! There are more people with perfect SAT scores than there are
admission spots. To trim down the pool, the college has to look outside of
schoolwork. That's where the extracurriculars come into play. In most cases,
whether you have something to write on that list is determined by how hard-
working you are, not by how smart you are. And once they see that you spent
your time doing something great outside of school, the admissions people will
forgive your less-than-stellar grades. An added benefit to the school that
comes from choosing hard-working people over bookworms is that once the
students graduate, the hard working people will go on to build great
businesses and ... wait for it ... donate to the school!

Spend a few minutes putting yourself in the admission officer's spot and think
about how you'd choose the next round of students.

Personally, I recommend focusing on your perseverance first, social smarts
second, and book smarts third.

PS: I guarantee you that girl on the news getting fished out of the Indian
Ocean right now will be attending Stanford when she turns 18.

------
lleger
Strictly speaking, you can't get smarter; you only gain greater knowledge.

That being said, there are numerous ways to gain more knowledge in whatever
you chose. The resources are there — you just have to seek them out.

My advice: be an effective gatekeeper. You can't do everything. You can't know
everything. Don't even try. Instead, select the areas that are most valuable
to you personally and focus on those. Hone what you're good at; progress at
what you're bad at.

One particular area to focus on is communication. Being able to effectively
communicate verbally and in written form is very important. If you can speak
and write eloquently, no matter the audience, you're well on you're way to
becoming more academically rounded. Plus, it makes you a better human being.
If nothing else, it makes you sound smarter too ;)

Also: getting into good schools is often less about your grade point average
and more about you're overall resume. I'd focus less on a perfect gpa and more
on building a solid resume. It's also a good idea to get involved with the
school. Connect with key people and alumni. That'll definitely help your
chances.

Good luck!

------
edge17
1\. Build stuff - start small, you need incremental achievements and 'wins' to
keep motivated. It's a very long road where the highs can be really high ands
the lows can be really low.

2\. Take stuff apart - its okay if it cost you 100 bucks. It's in the name of
science. See how other people built it.

3\. There is art and humility in how one asks a question. Learn it and use it.
It'll carry you through conversations with interesting people, where, earlier
you may have gotten lost and spent a lot of time nodding your head.

4\. Learn about finance and money and economics. Most of it isn't that
complicated. It's the framework on which the history of nearly everything is
constructed and it will enable you to answer a lot of question on your own.
History isn't a collection of unrelated random facts that they teach you in
high school. History is fascinating and understanding how money travels
illuminates connections between seemingly unrelated events.

5\. Remind yourself that you're living through one of the most amazing periods
in the history of the world. Really. The tools at your disposal are extremely
enabling.

------
shaggy
You asked how you can become smarter, but I think what you really mean is "How
do I find the thing I'm passionate about?" (as some others have mentioned)
When you have passion for a particular topic or field of study, learning about
it very deeply won't feel like work and you'll naturally learn as much as
possible. Provided you have the aptitude to actually digest and act on the
information. Are you not trying as hard as you think you should because you're
lazy or because you aren't studying the right thing for you? It's an important
question to ask yourself. Or are you simply not smart enough to master the
fields you think you want to be in? Not everyone has what it takes to be at
the top of a field. When you find something you're passionate about, the
intuitive understanding of how that thing/field/career works comes along with
it (in my experience anyway).

------
csomar
Being a self-taught (or to be fair, more self-taught than the average of my
schoolmates); like not enrolling in private courses to understand the course,
helped me a lot now.

I'm 19, just like you and the difference between me and my peers is that I'm
able to understand things on my own, a lot faster and solve related problems
that I encounter for the first time.

This made me smarter and more intelligent than the average. Focus on auto-
learning. It worked for me well. I don't attend classes at university and
instead study the subjects all myself.

I run an online business and do freelance work in the same time and my marks
for this year are above the average and quite satisfying for the work I have
put into (I study medicine).

The question that you should ask yourself again is: What's the advantage of
MIT or Standford? (I'll appreciate if fellow HNers put their thoughts about
these two universities so we have a deeper idea).

------
Chirag
1\. Read everything you can.

2\. Show, don't tell

3\. Take advice from smart people

4\. Trust your instincts

5\. Listen

------
iamwil
I like how most of the answers here relate to effort, rather than the idea of
'born with talent'.

I'm of the same camp. Every effort you make into knowing, thinking, and
processing is an accuring investment. Background knowledge that seems useless
will often become relevant in some way.

The more I've learned, the more I've seen that every subject is connected in
some way. There are only 'majors' and 'subjects' in school, because it's
easier to learn things in isolation at first.

Be broad at lots of things, but dig deep into one or two things at a time.

Someone once asked me how Michael Phelps was so good at swimming. I answered,
sure, being tall and genes was a good start. But he swims for hours a day.
While you and I are eating, pooping, and watching funny videos, he's probably
swimming.

------
cianestro
I have many friends who are much less intelligent than I who are attending
"better" schools for infuriatingly trivial reasons. Getting good grades has as
much to do with intelligence as it does with your ability to take tests--
unless you come across a really good teacher. Forget about dreams of elitist
schools (for now) and find/start a project to build a knowledge base around.
Make sure it's something you have the resources for and also is big enough to
require you to learn new subjects. This project will serve as your point of
reference for "building" new learning habits quite organically around. It will
tell you what, how, why, and with whom you will learn with versus vague ideals
and arbitrary academia romanticism dictating your future. However, realize the
project itself is merely a crutch for your brain to grow stronger on--you will
eventually outgrow it and require a new one. Walk into a professor's office,
they are very lonely and love attention, and I guarantee you they are working
on something you could define as a "project" and would love to point you in
the right direction. Most have to in order to keep their jobs. Undergraduate
students have a hard time understanding that they need some sort of internal
locus and not their friends and teachers in order to be intelligent--but they
eventually catch on to this like you have just now. The hardest part will be
the sacrifices you'll have to make and endure in every imaginable facet of
your life; you'll have to cut a lot of loose ends (bad habits/routines) off
from your life. Eventually, though, you'll find _your_ path to enlightenment
and it's always one with heart and is rarely found but more so stumbled upon
(hint: always within close proximity of powerful computers and by path I mean
nerd and by stumbled upon I mean HN). Only then, once found, will you know if
you will _need_ to attend a particular school or not. (good music helps to
rewire your brain and the subsequent lonely spells; cats are smart because
they're curious, not the other way around; also, the smarter you get the more
you laugh...muhahahah)

 _...sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a
difference between knowing the path and walking the path._ \- Morpheus

------
Tycho
I feel I'm becoming smarter from reading Douglas Hofstadter's _Godel, Escher,
Bach_.

It's a good, gentle introduction to some maths and logic topics that I really
ought to learn about. It's also very artistic and touches on many different
intellectual matters (music, painting, language...). Very thought provoking,
and has already given me some good ideas for projects. Also pretty inspiring
in that it shows what even a very young person can/could achieve by putting
their mind to something, thinking systematically and writing expressively.

Of course the central premise of the book ("how does a mind/self/consciousness
arise from inanimate matter?") is profound... and great fodder for dinner
parties! (ie. showing off)

------
jorisvoorn
The first thing you have to have in mind is being very motivated and
consistent in your learning, never stop questioning, and love the details that
come with your particular work.

To take someone elses opinions is mostly ok in this world, but You will start
to see that your experience in a field is growing, or experience in general,
and that will hopefully lead you to the fact that experience is the only
teacher.

I'm doing currently an science article about semantic web data and news, for a
while I felt stupid in that particular field. But as research comes along, and
practice in that particular field I'm starting to feel far more confident
about that then I was in the begining.

------
neilk
Don't get too caught up in being "smart". I think the hacker community and HN
overvalues this idea of inborn differences or raw brain capacity.

Clearly it matters, but for almost any real-world measure, focus, hard work
and moderate brainpower will leave lazy, unfocused, and brilliant in the dust.
Not only in achievements like earnings, but even in intellectual pursuits.

So, my advice is to do something hard, or something that scares you, or
something that just seems creative and fun. Anything that stretches your
abilities in any direction is a plus, as long as you give it your full
attention.

------
JustAGeek
Like others said, current research suggests that being good or even expert in
something is the result of the right kind of practice and lots of it.

Here are two good books about it: The Talent Code:
<http://thetalentcode.com/book/>

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by the Pragmatic Programmers:
[http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/pragmatic-thinking-
and-...](http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/pragmatic-thinking-and-learning)

~~~
skinnymuch
Thanks for the second book. Just got into programming this year and the book
seems like a perfect read. I'm reading a book that's just like The Talent Code
now, Talent Is Overrated.

------
roundsquare
Find people who are engaged in things you like. Get into
discussions/debates/arguments with them. Afterwards, you'll feel the need to
read about the topic.

Its great for everyone involved because you all improve from this.

If you can find a discussion group in college, that might help... but its
better if you can do this with friends. Sitting around with a few beers and
arguing about computer science, math, philosophy, history, current events,
etc... is a lot of fun and you can joke around a bit too.

------
liedra
1) Read a lot in an area you're really interested in.

2) Learn something interesting

3) Teach it to someone else (write something about what you've learned, sit a
friend down, ring up your mum)

Repeat.

My problem is that now that I work in the area I'm interested in, and by the
time I'm done with my work day my brain is completely exhausted, so all I want
to do is lounge in front of the telly or similar instead of getting more into
the field other than what I'm working on :( (I'm a philosophy post-doc.)

------
icey
Build a great foundation for learning by improving your memory. No matter how
great you think your memory is today, it can still benefit from a conscious
effort to improve it.

The Mentat wiki is an amazing resource for improving memory, I would recommend
picking one or two of their easier methods for working on your memory as a
start - you can start seeing results _today_.

<http://www.ludism.org/mentat/>

------
troels
In short: Do stuff just at the edge of your capability.

~~~
keefe
There's a lot of wisdom wrapped up in this small statement.

------
tunabear
I went to Carleton for engineering which isn't exactly the highest ranking
school. 6 years in the workforce, I found I am no less capable than any
Waterloo graduate. In fact, I have hired as many bad Waterloo co-op students
as I have good ones.

Make the effort to learn, and it can't be as bad as you think it is. Coming
from a brand name school certainly helps, but it's not the end of the world if
you don't.

~~~
karanbhangui
As a current Waterloo eng student, I fully endorse this student. I've had the
unique chance to hire students and I've seen both very bright and very
substandard people from the likes of Stanford and Waterloo. It's about how
well the individual applies himself, more than the school. This is especially
true in Canada where almost all accredited universities are on par with each
other in terms of teaching standards.

------
zandor
Hangout with smarter people.

~~~
gamache
Good schools can be very useful for this. Personally, I know at MIT, most of
what I took away didn't come from a classroom (of course, some of that's my
fault). The community around a school can make all the difference.

------
caffeine
> In short, how can I become smarter?

Work thoughtfully and hard, and take nothing for granted. That's it.

> How can build a great foundation where I can understand the concepts
> intuitively?

You're lucky, because you're in college. It's the best place to do it.

Know the material. If you can't draw a picture in 1 minute that would get the
idea across to your grandmother, you don't understand it. Every time it says
"Clearly," you prove whatever comes next. You close the book and put it away,
and come back the next day and do the same thing.

Do all the problems. especially the hard ones at the end. You _never_ look at
your notes or your book when doing them. That's the difference between getting
an A on the exam, and being able to teach someone that topic five years later.
Your study time (at least of fundamentals, which is most of university) should
consist ~70% sitting in front of a knotty problem, with no books in sight.
It's recommended to do mainly hard problems, and it's absolutely OK to take
several days to do them. If you don't make progress for more than 20 minutes,
stop and come back a few hours later or the next day. But make sure you come
back!

Now, here's the key: you do all this _before_ the lecture on that topic. When
you show up to lecture, you already know it cold. Except that you'll have so
many questions. Most of your questions will start with "Why." They will be the
questions that the other kids will find annoying. If you want to be smart, you
need to be _that_ guy.

Teach. It's trite but true. Teach people who seem smarter than you but don't
know about this topic yet. They'll help you understand what you don't know
properly. Also, our retention of information processed in a live setting is
roughly 9x that from just reading.

Be curious. Our brains are wired for stories rather than abstractions, and
even technical fields have a narrative. Who came up with this algorithm? How
or why did it follow logically from what came before? What came next? By
learning these things (the best way is to chat about it during office hours
with professors, or with other smart students), you'll also be getting an
informal education in what smartness and creativity look like in the real
world.

Focus. Do _not_ do what's above for every class, or every topic. Do it for
only one topic at a time, that you're really interested in, exclusively.

Form a team. This is probably the most difficult (at least for shy people like
me), but the most rewarding. If you know some other people who are also
serious, and can get together and work with them in the fashion above, you
will all progress much, much faster. Try to have some and discipline: you meet
twice a week for two hours and work like crazy, and then go to the pub
afterward and wind down (just like a sports team). If you can find a grad
student or prof who's interested in "coaching" you, that will help even more.
This is what grad school has that college doesn't. Create grad school for
yourself in college, and you'll get smart much faster.

Play. Creativity emerges most spontaneously during play. Play means pet
projects, hackathons, competitions, etc. Research projects during the summer
are perfect (choose them based on coolness and/or fun). And play in completely
unrelated areas, too (music is fantastic). Non-academic recreation (e.g. lots
of sex) is quite important.

> .. go to graduate school at Stanford or MIT

Question: _why_ do you want to go to grad school at Stanford or MIT?

> I would just like to prove to myself that I have what it takes

That is probably not a good enough reason. It's easy to become enamored with
the _idea_ of a thing. Spending all day wrestling with deep problems, letting
your mind course over the beautiful edifice of ideas erected by those who came
before. Unless you actually enjoy _doing_ spending most of your day and most
of your nights alone working, usually in a library or cramped office - then,
perhaps there are other forms of "smartness" worth pursuing.

It's a decision only you can make - but if it's just about pride, I'll save
you a lot of trouble and tell you it's not worth it.

> I've been feeling pretty lost in what I've wanted to do with my life

Most people feel the same way. It will not stop you from living a worthwhile
life. The majority of interesting events and true life experiences you have
will be unplanned - so don't take "want to do with your life" too seriously.

Have you ever seen the movie "Yes man" (Jim Carrey)? Whatever happens, he just
says yes. As far as I can tell (at the tender age of 24) this is a good
strategy for a successful, rewarding life. It may sound at odds with the
"Focus" paragraph above, but it's not. You focus to improve yourself - and you
say "yes" when serendipity comes knocking, often disguised as drudgery.

Good luck :)

~~~
HiroshiSan
Proving myself that I have what it takes was not my only reason, I apologize
for making it seem like that I just want to go there because its prestigious.
I stumbled upon a book that sums it up nicely. Its called The Idea Factory by
Pepper White. Just a little summary of the back cover: "When Pepper White
enters MIT, one of his professors tells him that it does not much matter what
he studies there. What MIT will do is teach him how to think."

I want to learn how to think. For some reason this reminds me of Richard
Feynman..he had such clarity in his explanations that came from a deep
understanding of things. I want to try and reach that level of understanding
and clarity. The way he told stories just kept me wanting more. I want to have
people at the edge of their seats wanting more, I would love to teach anyone
the most complex of subjects, and have them getting an a-ha! moment and just
having as much fun as Richard Feynman did. You could see the joy in his face
when he explained how certain things worked.

------
jules
If your goal is to go to a prestigious school then I'm not so sure you're
going to make it. The only way you're going to succeed in something that takes
a lot of effort is if you find doing it fun! If you are not genuinely curious
about the subject you're studying then it's not going to work.

------
stoney
You need to define what "smarter" means to you - and also recognise that no-
one is a top performer in every field. So step one is to pick an area where
you want to improve.

If you don't know where to start then just start anywhere - come up with one
or two concrete objectives to work towards. The most important thing is to
start. Pick something that looks achievable over 2-3 months and go for it. By
the time you have achieved those objectives you will have built up some
momentum and also learnt a bit more, so you'll be in a slightly better place
to pick your next objectives. As you get better at this you can start picking
bigger targets and doing it over longer time frames.

If you're really stuck then try picking an open source project at random and
commiting yourself to contributing something to that project in the next two
months. That could be programming, it could be documentation, it could be
something else. If you're not physically active, then pick some kind of
physical challenge too. Completing a 5 kilometre/3 mile run/walk is achievable
for most people in that time frame.

The more you do, the more you'll know what to do (and the more you'll realise
how much is still undone).

And on a more specific level - if you want to get into a top grad school you
will most like have to do well academically. Depending on your course, exams
are likely to be a major factor in your grades, so learn how to be good at
exams - it is a skill and if you are staying in academia for a while it is one
worth learning. What follows is old advice, but not many people seem to follow
it. If you're studying a technical subject, then make sure your maths is up to
speed. If you are bad at maths it will make any kind of numerical/equation
type of exam much harder (and also many things in the real world). During the
exam, do three passes through the paper - on the first pass just read it, look
for easy questions. On the second just answer stuff that you know reasonably
well, don't waste time on difficult stuff. On the third pass go back to the
questions you couldn't do and do as much as you can. Even if you can't answer
the question write down stuff that you think is relevant, you might pick up a
mark or two here and there (but don't go overboard writing down irrelevant
stuff, your marker won't thank you for that). And practice, practice,
practice. Get hold of old exam papers and do them (timed). Get hold of the
answers to the old exams if you can and study them. Often the questions are
set by the same person each year and often they aren't very imaginative at
coming up with new variations.

------
eru
Reading "You and Your Research"
(<http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html>) by Richard
Hamming might also give you some ideas about what to do. It's an inspiring
read.

------
endtime
I'm 24 and graduating with a MSCS from Stanford this week. The last two years
have made me much smarter and more comfortable with theory than I was two
years ago. Of course, I also worked far harder here than I ever have in my
life. Highly recommend the experience.

~~~
aik
When you say "much smarter and more comfortable with theory", what do you mean
exactly? Smarter how? Also, how are you more comfortable with theory and what
does that comfort do for you? What type of role in society/IT would you say
the education prepared you for? I hope you don't mind my curiosity.

~~~
endtime
>Smarter how?

I've really learned what people mean when they say that the mind is a muscle.
You know when you first start working out, you can't lift that much and
everything hurts, but after, say, two years you've built up some muscle and
maybe you can bench your bodyweight? Well, it was a bit like that. Stanford
was a very challenging environment for me at first. I feel like I get things
more quickly, have more ideas, and think faster in general now than I did two
years ago...to a greater degree than I could reasonably expect just from aging
two years.

>how are you more comfortable with theory

I did my undergrad at Georgetown...fine school, and not totally devoid of
theory classes, but the philosophy there is that you learn by implementing
(which I did). But I never did a CS problem set in four years there. I could
still understand theory and reproduce it on exams etc, but if you asked me to
read an academic paper it would have been pretty painful. That's no longer the
case, despite the fact that I've only read 1-2 papers here. If you want
something more concrete - I took 224M and 225B my first quarter, and they were
waaay harder for me then that taking a similar class would be now (especially
224M - <http://cs224m.stanford.edu>).

>what does that comfort do for you?

Hmmm, good question. I don't know if there's any direct, tangible benefit that
I can point to.

>What type of role in society/IT would you say the education prepared you for?

Just about anything. I'm CTO of a NY startup, and will finally be full time on
it once I graduate, but I could have gone on to be a PM or dev at pretty much
any company of my choice, or gone to Wall St, or just about anything else you
can think of. Oh, that reminds me of another benefit of being here...you'll
regularly get Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. emailing you and
asking you to interview. Plus, Stanford is ridiculous for credibility...if you
play the S-card, as some call it, people are often more conducive to your
requests. That can even just mean sending an email from your @cs.stanford.edu
address instead of GMail. Not sure how that is at other schools but it's a
nice change from Gtown, whose CS dept is so small most people never think of
it.

------
techiferous
Get to know your cognitive biases:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases>

------
pella
<http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/>

<http://cognitivefun.net>

------
known
"You are a product of your environment." --Clement Stone

------
MaysonL
I'd recommend a couple of books:

 _Mindset: The New Psychology of Success_ , by Carol Dweck,

 _What Is Intelligence?_ , by James Flynn.

~~~
HiroshiSan
Thanks I'll definitely check them out.

------
pencil
when i was 19 even i used to contemplate on how to get smarter but ended up
becoming a piece of rotten vegetable.now at the age of 25 i believe in doing
volumes of work and imagining things.that's the only way of becomming smart.

------
jensv
I'm 22 and recently graduated with a degree in Computer Science from a second-
rate Canadian University. Two years into my program I went through this same
phase but my GPA has never been very strong and transferring was just not a
realistic option.

Actually ~10 hours ago I was just reminiscing/reflecting on the experience and
my achievements of the last 4 years. It's been 3 days after convocation and
one of my good buddies is continuing on with his studies while I am diving
into the wonderful world of work. I woke up and read this thread during
breakfast so this a happy coincidence. I hope that someone can benefit from my
experience/mistakes.

If your goal is to get into a prestigious University then I have some bad
news. It is much easier, (less competitive) and cheaper (courses cost money)
to get your foot in the door through high school than it is to transfer in.
That being said, if you are highly determined and put in the effort you will
find a way to get in. *

Yesterday evening I was fiddling around with
<http://www.cs.utep.edu/admissions/> . Graduate school has never been a
priority for me so I would recommend doing your own research but understand
that you -need- a strong GPA, especially in your CS courses. Normally I don't
recommend comparing your personal development with that of your peers but it's
a competitive world and a 3.3+ GPA, high GRE scores, and research experience
seems to be the prerequisite for any respectable CS school these days.

As for grades I share the same sentiment as the fellow here.
<http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/grades.htm> Looking at the graduating class
and having worked with many of my peers directly I will tell you now that
there is a very strong correlation between those with strong mathematical
ability and good grades. But even if you don't have the aptitude * grades
reflect how well you perform what is required for a class so hard work,
collaboration, and even collusion can skew results significantly. Research
experience is easy to get because professors are always looking for bright
students. The pay will not be very good (it's typically minimum wage where I
studied) but it's more for the experience and now you can double dip and add
two bullet points for your resume: One for work experience and another for a
scholarship. Once again, GPA is one of the prime determinant for these
research programs. (the other is finding a professor to sponsor you)

I would have liked to keep the door to graduate studies open, but I failed 3
courses in a 40 course program which is pretty devastating to anybody's GPA.
(I used up nearly all my withdrawals in my first year after a stint in another
faculty, but that's another story) A cumulative total of 2.99998 is not
competitive for CS graduate studies. I've secured a fairly plum job which is
my motivation for getting a degree but obviously I've burned some bridges. I
try not to look back but for now I wonder how my life would be different if I
spent more time on my studies and less programming.

tl;dr You know where you want to go. Find out how to get there. Put in the
effort and you will likely achieve your goal. I'll be happy to elaborate more
on my experience if you are interested but I recommend speaking with your TA's
and professors. They've been there, done that and will be able to offer sound
advice. Phil also has more to say about grad school but Stanford is probably
more selective than most. <http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/grad-school-app-
tips.htm>

* A disproportionately large proportion of freshman think they are going to get double degrees, get into graduate studies or whatever. Most inevitably end up changing their minds.

* You'll know when you expend three times as much effort/time in Graphics programming than your friend, brilliant as he may be. Also many of the "distinguished" students that graduated with honors have minors in general or pure mathematics.

EDIT: Edited for grammar and coherency.

------
grandalf
Simple: Read HN every day and take fish oil pills.

------
getonit
Others have pointed out that you need to read, challenge yourself and work
hard. I'd add that this is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix - you need to
treat it accordingly, or accept that this is not something you can do
indefinitely.

You know those people who say "I used to ..., but then I realised that ... and
now I'm much happier"? You're either one of them just on the cusp of your
epiphany, or you're just wishing really hard for a silver bullet. The latter
is a waste of your time.

(Mine was putting the blame for my lack of achievements anywhere but my own
procrastination. I realised what I was doing, and stopped by imposing
deadlines on myself, and penalties for missing them. "I'm not allowed to go to
that party at the weekend unless this project is finished, completely. Either
that, or accept that I'll never achieve anything because I don't put in the
time". Treating myself like the naughty child I was, basically.)

------
bitwize
Study.

------
skinnymuch
ADHD drugs are some crazy stuff.

~~~
lake
"The most important principle on HN, though, is to make thoughtful comments.
Thoughtful in both senses: both civil and substantial."

Considering that you "Migrated from reddit" because the "quality of the
comments declined way too fast.", you'll probably be interested in (re)reading
the HN guidelines.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

~~~
skinnymuch
Can you show me where the guidelines relate to my comment? I'm not sure if
things are different here, but in most other places, bringing up the rules of
a place by telling the person they'll be 'interested in (re)reading' them is
what could be considered "introducing classic flamewar topics".

Of course we can now also discuss what is thoughtful, civil, and substantial.
From my understanding of the word civil, your comment is questionable. I may
be too sensitive, but your comment strikes me as one that attempted to show no
respect and even try to hurt my feelings. This thought process has even more
grounding with the appearance of your account being made only for this one
comment. I'm saddened that you couldn't show me the respect and common
courtesy of using an active account.

On to my actual comment. Your first quote is from the welcome page. The same
page that appears to be quite lax and from my (admittedly biased) reading,
doesn't seem to be too against my comment. The one mistake I admit to is the
wording. It should have been worded better.

On the other hand, I was the first and only person to bring up 'brain-
enhancing' drugs. I decided to keep my comment short so if anyone actually
cared about the topic, they could reply and then I could expand. Otherwise I
feared I would possibly invoke negativity from people that don't like the idea
of people taking certain drugs. Negativity (not necessarily for what I had in
mind) occured anyway so that reasoning is moot I guess.

