10 Mental Models for Learning

A mental model is a general idea that can be used to explain many different phenomena. Supply and demand in economics, natural selection in biology, recursion in computer science, or proof by induction in mathematics-these models are everywhere once you know to look for them.
Just as understanding supply and demand helps you reason about economics problems, understanding mental models of learning will make it easier to think about learning problems.
Unfortunately, learning is rarely taught as a class on its own-meaning most of these mental models are known only to specialists.
0:00 - Introduction
0:42 - Problem-Solving is Search
2:09 - Memory Strengthens by Retrieval
3:08 - Knowledge Grows Exponentially
4:04 - Creativity is Mostly Copying
5:17 - Skills Are Specific
6:53 - Mental Bandwidth is Extremely Limited
8:15 - Success is the Best Teacher
9:02 - We Reason Through Examples
10:45 - Knowledge Becomes Invisible with Experience
11:52 - Relearning is Relatively Fast
13:37 - Outro
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WHO AM I:
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of "Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career," podcast host, computer programmer, and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider, and more. I don't promise I have all the answers; just a place to start.
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[@sir_no_name1478]

The "Problem is Search" Model is something what every code feels while coding I think.

[@Mohammed-lt3vi]

Scott young is massively underrated and i learned a lot from him. I have taken all his courses and read his book. certainly made me a better thinker. thank you Scott

[@sumantharjun4532]

Can i get the course from u bro please

[@nylyxs]

I specifically searched for your mental model article a week ago, it's really great having the video version of it☄️

[@serrajav]

The fact that you learn from successes more than failures is counter intuitive, but makes a lot of sense. Maybe endorphins release has a bit to do with it, but it also goes against vox populi that you have to embrace failure and learn from it, maybe this works for maintaining motivation, but the learning process is sub- optimal

[@JoshJCommons]

Success being the best teacher is actually such a good idea. There is so much pop-philosophy rhetoric about "failure is better than succeeding because then you learn more." Learning from failure only crosses off one option from the list of many. Learning what works can then be built upon and improved.

[@tbtitans21]

I disagree with this. Failure provides a strong and robust foundation on which to base part 3 (knowledge grows exponentially) on. The key is to abstract away the fundamental misunderstanding you had that led you down that wrong path to begin with. That failure might also succeed in obtaining some other goal you might not have originally thought of ( a precursor to part 4 "How innovation works" ). It may not be a goal you want or need now, but failure ALWAYS provides something, if you're paying attention and appreciating the process.

[@JoshJCommons]

@@tbtitans21 You're just repeating the rhetoric I'm talking about. I'm not saying failing doesn't lead to growth. I'm saying learning from success is better and faster.

[@kozlorog]

Thank you! It's very helpful!

[@Enigma758]

Great food for thought!

[@lucasmoreira3237]

Thank you.

[@g12nm]

Highly Underrated Channel

[@user-be3uh2qv3d]

Thank you

[@SoccerSkillz]

This is amazing

[@AleGOES7]

Thank you so much, I like your content it's so helpful

[@Peter-cg4rq]

How does the 7th point (that success is a better teacher than failure) merge with the experiments done on rats in mazes that demonstrated the existence of latent knowledge (experiments in which rats that received delayed reinforcement in exiting a maze ,allowing them a period of exploration of the maze in its entirety, in the 'long term' performed better in finding the exit to the maze faster than the rats that received immediate reinforcement, an immediate reinforcement which would have incentivized them to learn the successful route while ignoring the irrelevant routes i.e. the 'failures')?

[@user-lm9ol5vi3y]

Thanks

[@akihiko99]

Scott your videos are really helpfull. 🙂 I have very important question for you. In 2 months I have exam based on Logical + Critical Reasoning, Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Abstract Reasoning. exam duration - 150 minutes total questions are 200 and carry 1 mark each with no negative marking. My problem is my quant is weak so my foundation maths is bad. my brain didn't allow many tasks like studying LR, CR, ENGLISH, QUANTS in one day. i feared that I can't able to remember all concepts till exam come after 2 months. when sit for study i can't able to sit for more than 1hr. i do overthinking too much :( any advice? thanks

[@superwormhalz2607]

How did your test go have you taken it yet?

[@Wisi2018]

What happened??

[@alexzhou6873]

bro i think that is how IQ test are divided tho

[@wilfredv1930]

C'mon end the suspense, how did it go ?

[@ReflectionOcean]

Mental space is limited Relearning is easier

[@scar6073]

I have a question, in your book ultralearning you talked about how geniuses like Feynman stuck to a problem until they solved it, you even suggested to use a struggle timer. But this video is saying it's counter productive for beginners to try problems before seeing examples. Is that a contradiction?

[@7head7metal7]

It's not a contradiction, since solving problems requires at least some prior knowledge. In a lecture, a teacher might give total beginners a few examples on how to solve a problem, and then they have to try it themselves. Someone like Feynman has vast knowledge, intuition and experience in a field, which allows to solve more abstract or difficult problems. Basically, their set of problem solving tools is larger. Struggle timers are not useful when being introduced into a topic for the very first time, but when you are testing to learn, which comes a bit later in the process.

[@kozlorog]

To add to the previous comment, when it comes to learning, there isn't one fit-it-all model for everyone. Different people, different subjects, different circumstances. You may remember Srinivasa Ramanujan: the Indian genius mathematician discussed in the book. He didn't have the luxury of looking up someone else's proofs for mathematical theorems, so the only way for him to learn was to understand them by proving everyone himself. This approach would not work for a surgeon or a pilot. And many other fields where you can't directly experiment with the subject. In these cases, you would need to seek conventional ways of solving problems until you have reached such level of proficiency that you are able to make confident assumptions and judgements in the subject. Whatever works for you is the ultimate answer!

[@ScottHYoungVid]

You're correct for noticing a discrepancy in my advice. Circa Ultralearning I would have argued that any time you can solve a problem on your own, you're better off than seeing an example given by someone else. John Sweller's work in cognitive load theory (which I discuss here: www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2022/01/04/cognitive-load-theory/ ) demonstrates that this isn't actually true for many kinds of problems, and that seeing an example can actually be more beneficial than solving a problem for oneself, in addition to also being easier. The theory is somewhat complicated, but the basic idea is that when you lack a pattern in memory, you need to engage in means-end analysis to search through the problem space. This takes up mental bandwidth, so there is less room left over for noticing the underlying pattern and abstracting it. This advice tends to flip when you have more experience, so examples are especially important in the beginning.

[@helloDobson3259]

Relearning is much faster: THIS!

[@rahafrahaf73886]

❤❤❤

[@WHITE-jy9lo]

mental models is general ideas aplay to anything

[@tanbir2358]

00:00 Mental models are general ideas used to explain phenomena. 01:42 Learning involves acquiring patterns and methods to solve problems efficiently. 03:22 Integration of new information is easier with a foundation of knowledge. 05:10 Skills may be specific, but breadth creates generality. 07:00 Efficient learning requires optimizing mental bandwidth 08:38 Reasoning through mental models can explain logical deficiencies 10:19 Learning through examples is faster and more effective than abstract descriptions, but we must be cautious when making broad inferences based on a few examples. 12:01 Forgetting is unavoidable, but relearning is usually faster than initial learning.

[@ReflectionOcean]

Learning is searching Memorize with retrieval Knowledge grows exponentially

[@baebluez873]

My boy~

[@zeroai535]

[@ReflectionOcean]

Creativity is copying Skills are specific

[@philotium]

We learn more from success than failure is too blanket of a statement. On the contrary, there’s a lot of literature on how failure is a driver for success - provided you learn from failure that is.

[@ScottHYoungVid]

The majority of the literature on learning from failure or errors, to my understanding, suggests that first experiencing a failure, followed by success, can ultimately be more productive than experiencing success directly. I'm not sure I'd disagree with that, although it's also clear that direct success can also work better in some circumstances.

[@DavidGBradbury]

When you say, "Subliminal learning doesn't work. If you aren't paying attention, you aren't learning" are you writing off embedded suggestions and the role of unexplained metaphor?

[@ScottHYoungVid]

I'm not sure about "embedded suggestions" or "unexplained metaphors" as particular pedagogical devices, but my basic understanding is that it's difficult to get reliable learning outside of consciousness. Some work on implicit learning suggests we can learn certain abstract ideas through exemplars that are not given explicitly--(e.g. Reber's work on artificial grammars)--but in those cases the examples are still processed consciously, even if the abstract rules are not given as explicit instructions.

[@ReflectionOcean]

Subliminal learning doesn’t work We reason through examples

[@ladduram-gj8xz]

Dude, all of this stuff is common sense and already integrated into almost all the education systems in the world. Don't you think this video is redundant?

[@grassystars]

It's not. Our education systems are dogshit.

[@WarrenKirkpatrick]

@@grassystarsyeah agreed.. they certainly don’t teach it in my country.. never seen them teaching about how to read for learning, or using mnemonics or organising your time for efficiency for learning.

[@primal2k7]

I can't locate where to send you my email for the newsletter! Grade a stuff, Sir! Doing gods work.

[@keniajanayne6671]

Moço fala em português nos seus vídeos porfavor 😢

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

Supply and Demand is Mythonomics. Better to study Monopoly and Oligopoly #ModernMoney

[@f3rtili3r]

Your channel is underrated sir I need you need to improve your THUMBNAIL to gain viewerrs and also you need to add visual transition

[@ssa4]

Scott Young's "Ten Mental Models of Learning" are a set of principles and strategies to enhance learning efficiency and effectiveness. Here they are: 1. **Focus:** Concentrate deeply on the task at hand without distractions to maximize learning. 2. **Directness:** Learn by directly engaging with the material rather than passively consuming information. 3. **Feedback:** Regularly seek feedback to understand areas of improvement and adjust your learning strategies accordingly. 4. **Retention:** Use spaced repetition and active recall techniques to retain information in the long term. 5. **Intuition:** Develop intuition by understanding fundamental principles and connecting concepts rather than relying solely on memorization. 6. **Practice:** Engage in deliberate practice, focusing on challenging tasks and pushing past your comfort zone. 7. **Interleaving:** Mix different topics or skills during study sessions to enhance learning and retention. 8. **Transfer:** Apply knowledge and skills learned in one context to different situations to deepen understanding and versatility. 9. **Meta-Learning:** Learn how to learn effectively by understanding your learning preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. 10. **Mindset:** Cultivate a growth mindset, believing in your ability to improve through effort and perseverance. These mental models are designed to help learners approach their studies more strategically and achieve better results.