Week 32 - How to Learn Really Hard Subjects

For more information on the challenge, materials and my results, visit the homepage: www.scotthyoung...
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[@TheMITChallenge]

Hey guys, I’m posting new content about learning, working and living better on my main channel. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you check it out: kzbin.info

[@Kadz]

Thank you for this helpful advice, Ryan Reynolds

[@prokrastynacya]

Literally

[@ihatekillerclowns]

No

[@archief1783]

I think u mean Ryan gosling more like

[@ihatekillerclowns]

relinquish your drivers license @@archief1783

[@user36271]

Here's what I understood from the video - You need to explain material to yourself as you're going through it to make sure that you fully understand it (Feynman technique ) - you need to understand the context of the material you're learning ( for ex :where it can be used )

[@richtofen4888]

I love your profile picture

[@ashishkumaraeolus]

@@richtofen4888 thankx

[@drfalcoew8939]

Thank you for that summary

[@ripperduck]

This vid should be standard curriculum for math/science majors. So many of these students are obsessed with getting homework done, or a lab finished, without a clue as to what they're doing, or more importantly, why they're doing it. Homework/labs are to give the student a deeper understanding of the topic, not to make your life a holy hell. But, very often, the books and lectures suck, and fail to do even the job of informing you first principles. Scott is giving us OUTSTANDING advice, before anything, get a grasp of concepts, even if it means meeting with fellow students, then try tackling problems. Doing it backwards will lead to you not coming close to understanding the subject matter, and a waste of time and money.....

[@castaway140]

well said, thanks for that

[@lauratempestini5719]

VERY well said! I think in schools in writing classes they miss a crucial step in how to research articles, books, etc. Instructors assume their students know how to research.

[@hazelstratum]

This is what people call top-down learning vs bottom-up learning.

[@Applecitylightkiwi]

yeah and good and well but teachers be like swallow my cumhomework or fail because they are worth points

[@alexleventis3021]

Too bad I'm learning this after my 3rd failed exam in calc 2. I Will have to retake 😔.

[@TheMITChallenge]

the trick is to not try to do everything at the same time :)

[@Charcuterie1234]

I needed this was getting frustrated studying neurology

[@Cheesecake99YearsAgo]

@@Charcuterie1234 wow! Your reply is 9 hours ago

[@izaaguilar364]

@@Cheesecake99YearsAgo wow! Your reply is 3 minutes ago

[@Sulaiman_The_Magnificent]

@@izaaguilar364 WOW! Your reply was 2 hours ago.

[@lucythemotherofathests1465]

@@Sulaiman_The_Magnificent wow your reply is one day ago

[@hippo1701]

Thank you. I had 2 strokes in 2010 that affected the language areas of my brain. I have been struggling with English to graduate community college and go to university. I will try your methods.

[@Darknight526]

Hope your recovery goes well buddy.

[@kingsleyzuze9949]

Hey man, how did this go?

[@hardwork3199]

​@@kingsleyzuze9949 he died 😢

[@kingsleyzuze9949]

@@hardwork3199 Damn, that's so sad. My condolences.

[@abderrahman9043]

@@hardwork3199 bruh how do you know

[@mayankgupta9978]

I know this process, and I interestingly figured out this process myself at a very young age, but as I grew up, I just kept thinking I was just too lazy to do this over and over again; hence eventually, I stopped even trying, and today I basically got this video in my recommendation, and I am once again reminded of this process by somebody that I found totally randomly, and now I started following later. I have totally accepted this is how the internet works; well, Thanks for helping a random dude.

[@aidenix5130]

What I have understood what to do when it comes to difficult subjects (with my own "knowledge"): 0. Scan text (To be comfortable with information) 1. Translate text into own language (to remember better) 2. Make intuitive connections (to recall better) 3. Do examples (for deeper understanding) But what does deeper understanding mean? Faster recall, better remembering, but something else.. what is it? Ability to use it in different situations? Maybe..

[@quanathan]

to be able to explain it to anyone i guess, or to just be free flow with it,

[@jackwisniewski3859]

deeper understanding to me is being able to explain it to others well

[@aidenix5130]

Hmm, I think making examples can help imagine situation in different scenarios, which leads to making it easier for applying it everywhere - and yes, being able to explain the thing too.

[@yogi2983]

KZbin just recommended this. I wish I saw this 10 years ago. What has worked for me is to revisit topics even when I understand them and I tend to understand them more. Learning how to learn is the first thing schools should teach because the current system is BS!

[@xabro998]

Even if youtube recommended it to you 10 years ago you wouldn’t get, there is a lot of good advice generally lying out there, it only works when we are ready for it.

[@naetix8478]

Ryan gosling talking about lessons

[@blacknwhite5962]

This is true! Before watching this video, I used to think that I really suck at math. But it was always fascinating to me how I could easily and quickly solves math problems that I am familiar of. So I observed my thoughts process. I realized that I could do that because I have formed my own "concepts" and "systems" to do that. The problem is I don't have these two with higher levels of math. I don't know many essential foundations and fundamentals. So a few days ago, I restarted. Literally went back to studying elementary level math even though I'm a second year college student now and everything started to make more sense. I feel like I've been really left behind, but I have no plans to stop. I'm sick of feeling frustrated whenever I have to deal with complex equations. I'll continue studying no matter what:)

[@victormartinez6974]

Literally what I went through. Good luck in your journey

[@jamesrounce3043]

This has helped me a lot, in particular to think about adding layers on top of each other, to gradually build competence rather than expecting to have a deep level of understanding initially. Thank you Scott!

[@danamuise4117]

I remember squeaking by in Phyiscs I, not fully understanding things like angular velocity & centripital acceleration. I fugured I wouldn't see it again, but there it was in physics II, (electricity and mag) except now I was expected to use it in more complex ways, If you don't get a concept, don't hope it will just disappear!

[@thevitruvianman9781]

Yowere a physics undergraduate but didnt understand those easy concepts? Wow, you must be the type whogets well with difficult concepts but struggles with simple ones.

[@huskiehuskerson5300]

The fact you can read a textbook already puts you on another level than the rest of us

[@idc20627]

This is true today, 15 years ago we had a way better attention span as a whole, now today, most can barely focus.

[@pixa1z]

@@idc20627 indeed

[@pixa1z]

Social media especially the platforms that provide a 15s video where you can’t stop scrolling is one of the major issues or the root of the problem of tiny attention spans.

[@degenerate6109]

@@pixa1z no offense, but studies indicate that there isn’t really correlation between social media use and attention span.

[@platonicpanic8958]

@@degenerate6109 not true at all. There’s a lot of evidence that social media induces ADHD

[@Ivan-2909]

Why is Ryan Gosling teaching me how to understand hard subjects?

[@ej_l2525]

Self-teaching physics and pre-calc here because my profs are not teaching the clear way instead teaching students how to memorize long formulas without even instructing us how to apply it in more basic and complicated real life problems and I admit its kind of hard but the way solving problems gives me kind of excitement and even though I get wrong answers,I still persevere and the feeling that you're learning for real is worth it.

[@michaels7159]

LMAO this was embarrassing

[@JinnyjinnyJin]

Your self-learning method somehow reminds me of this path searching algorithm, A* method - set up the goal of your own and keep self-checking where I am now and where I should turn my head to for the goal. Very efficient and inspiring. Thanks Scott.

[@pasqualesimonelli1513]

1. Recursively deepen your understanding (piramid of understanding until you understand it intuitively) (Feinmann technique (teach it to yourself)) 2. Provide a context (examples, exercises with answers)

[@isweartofuckinggod]

There's a pretty dramatic mindset shift that happens when you've been hammering away at a subject for a while. It happens when you've had enough and you go into rant mode about how none of it makes sense. That rant is incredibly valuable because those are the unanswered questions you need to ask before you can move forward. I almost never know exactly what those questions are before getting frustrated but as soon as I reach that point they all become painfully clear. I find that these moments are usually followed by a big epiphany spree, and then I can finally move on.

[@Jasmine-ll8qu]

Totally, what do you study?

[@Ayesha_F]

As an economics PhD student, i wholeheartedly agree

[@AarushAgarwal]

@@Ayesha_F I really feel for PhD in economics students

[@Ayesha_F]

@@AarushAgarwal Haha ok. Thanks!

[@Darkcreeper555]

Feynman technique is a process that indirectly helps one pin down their understanding of the fundamentals. Whenever you fail to explain something, the reason is always towards a misunderstanding of the fundamentals. That is why the technique is powerful. Instead of trying to list all fundamentals and understand them one-by-one, a higher-level concept is used to focus the attention to the most relevant fundamentals.

[@anustinnewsam13]

Self-teaching physics to myself for the MCAT. Your videos are sooooooo helpful!!!

[@Vug6r]

What you doin rn. Its been 8 year

[@anustinnewsam13]

@@Vug6r I’m in medical school and have a family now!

[@abdenourslimani4817]

@@anustinnewsam13 damn bro congrats

[@anustinnewsam13]

@@abdenourslimani4817 thanks bro hope you’re doing alright!

[@itscristianodasilva]

@@anustinnewsam13 haha thats awesome! your commitment rly paid off

[@saintsx1958]

Reviewing material over again hit hard. I just realized I have been reading my accounting textbook and sure I am seeing the solutions in mind although if someone were to ask to me explain, frankly I wouldn't have a clue how to explain it.

[@w4yn6]

Hey.. I saw your talk on TEDx awhile ago and I want to thank you!.. What you said on TED really had a such a great impact on me.. I'm doing a degree program right now on mathematics and economics, Not really the course of my choice but It's something I've regretted. I'm following your footsteps right now and I log about 8 - 9 hours of study time each day, I realize I can learn a lot more following your methods. I can complete my school work and do a few MIT modules right now!

[@kashishsingh488]

Hey how did the program go , it's been 8 years

[@Evp3]

10 years now

[@anonymouscode1635]

@@Evp3 we meet under 10 years old comment ha.

[@beatrix2745]

I just realized I have been using the first technique you mentioned since forever. I remember feeling like I didn't understand anything that my engineering homework was asking me for or how I would answer it until I explained sentence by sentence to myself and drew some diagrams. Definitely a life-saving technique

[@mrknarf4438]

100% agree! I think about it as a sedimentation process: sure, maybe the first time you encounter a topic you only understand 10% of it, but the second time it's 20%, then 30... It takes time, and patience, and the humility not to understand at first and still stick with it, but it pays off!

[@vishaljhaveri7565]

To understand any hard topic/subject: FEYMANN Technique Basic understanding: > Skim/Birds Eye Reading the material & find the important/repetitive concepts & note down on a single page. Higher understanding: > TB Language -> your understandable language Deeper understanding: > Intuitions, Analogies, More & more examples to remember for a longer period > Doing Practice questions on same topic. (context) > And in this step, you'll learn This is the reason why I am doing this, or this concept is being used.

[@vallarieastman3519]

I’m in organic chemistry right now and after we finished mechanisms I found I was just lost. Like suddenly alkynes and alcohols and all of these molecules where we were applying mechanisms but then also there was a ton of additional information intertwined with that application- I panicked. I shut down. “I should be able to do this” I kept saying. The only way out was breaking it down into small chunks and doing the exact thing this video suggests- explaining it to an imaginary person. When I couldn’t explain something I would break that into a chunk and do it all over.

[@michaels7159]

Uhhh...no it isn't

[@badgerzen]

You are absolutly right. I always thought that learning by layers from the basics to the important results, in addition to self evaluating by doing graduated difficuly exercices, is what helped me understand better some abstract advanced mathematical concepts and other science facts. Even if I managed to ignore the fear of not immediatly understanding things due to the efficient result of the method you mentioned, I couldn't finish studying subjects in time which uncovers the main imperfection of the method. I shall add that practice is for me the most important part, because it enables one to find a purpose to his studies and he can sure discover other fulfilling and joyful feelings if one is enought dedicated to expand his knowlege in an admired field. By the way, i like what you did. I also have a challenge going on : I am in France studying mathematics, physics and engineering in the most difficult program in the nation and one of the hardest all over the world. Though french is not my first language I managed to keep up thanks to the described method but just a bit altered due to extreme time constraints. However i should admit that I struggled at first but now I doing just fine. In fact nothing worthy comes easily, one needs always to make enough effort to get what he wants. Thanks for the inspiring video.

[@oasis1282]

Yeah

[@Gaisiran]

I agree completely… it’s just the time consumed by trying to understand the foundations. All this means is that you should stop studying the material you can’t understand or withdraw from your current course and study introductory materials.

[@matildas624]

Interesting to hear someone speak about this process. This used to be my process back in high school in the 90's and it still works today. Thanks for sharing this!

[@bob6233]

I can confirm that this is true. I was once extremely bad at math but then I learned an advice that I need to learn the basics of math, so I did. Later that I got a perfect score in my math exam.

[@nathalieb4648]

finally a technique that is actually useful and explained in a way that i know how to apply it!!! thank you!

[@renocamo]

Thank you so much for this video! I recently returned to school to finish my bachelors 19 years after dropping out of college. The humanities courses feel so easy for me at this point, but math has been terrifying! I will be trying you method, and I feel confident it’s going to work.

[@WestKentStudio]

I really like your patience and it says a lot that you have set out on this journey! Much thanks and it's really inspiring, as I am learning to code on my own.

[@Elizbethhhh]

2023 wow 10 years ago and still up what a king

[@Hammov]

thank you so much for the info Ryan Gosling!

[@justsomemustachewithoutagu7229]

Whait I learned in this video: -As I am trying to learn something I will explain to myself what I understood in order to deppen my understanding of it and notice where its lacking. -I will explain to myself the aplication or purpose of what I am learning. For example with Coulombs law I must understand that it is used to deduce electrostatic forces between 2 charged objects. -As I understand the topic queep explaining it to myself using examples like I just did and analogies until I get to a level where the knowledge seems intuitive and I can make the conections unintentionally. -(my own imput) Writte down that final explanation ad your own personal notes besides the trachers or booksbas it is almost a translation of what you managed to grasp and come back to it in the future.

[@pyrocolada]

Also... Your brain has to PHYSICALLY GROW connections before you can actually understand some things. Learning is building connections in your brain.

[@spanishead2426]

Thank you soo much for this video. I strongly agree with the idea of trying to explain subjects to yourself like a professor, it makes you think in different ways, because you cannot simply explain something that you don´t understand, obviously. So this mental exercise forces you to think, and that "thinking" is the key of all the process, because it centralizes the knowledge in your brain.

[@philtrem]

I think you need a proper methodology like was outlined in the video, but also a proper strategy for dealing with the psychological and emotional aspects that can make it difficult to keep on with your learning.

[@JudyRounds-h6m]

This video made a difficult concept so easy to understand!

[@5adish]

i find it amazing 10 years later and this video has found me...i definitely agree with these studying techniques as it actually really does help deepen my understanding with certain topics, but like he mentioned it really is super time-consuming and its just something I don't have.. especially when I'm taking like 6 other courses at the same time with the big group projects to be completed, working on the side and actively participating in student body and clubs as well as organizing events.. my time management is just total ass at this point..

[@Ruebenett259]

ryan gosling

[@zainabisa2550]

This is a really good advice and I have been applying it myself for the past 13 years, however now that I am in my second year of college, we just don't have enough time for anything

[@timmccluskey4786]

Thank you for making the world a better place. Best wishes to you!

[@mini_agarwal]

Thank you very much Scott. You should realise that you have made my life easier. Not a part, not a layer, but my life easier. Thank you!

[@ultra_kapiszon]

understanding is the key to learning anything

[@loridians]

Thank you so much for this video im trying to join to the university and math and physics module beat me all the way. Was so hard to me to undersantand i have to do the exercises by myself without help and step by step without looking to the guide or theory. I already losted this year in therms of numbers of subjects i can done if i enter now (only 2 and there was 9) so a bit sad for me. Also this was only a little rock on the road that i triped with.

[@Blitz-lx1yu]

As a top student in my school Id like to say that he is completly right on almost everything. I had to figure most of what he is saying through trial and error on my own. If you are looking learing gold this is it on a silber plater. Somthing that helped me alot was planning out your study days before hand with plenty of time before what your studying and consitly hit the same topics every other two days. There is a special word for this spaced out studying technique which allows you to recall alot of info without having to study it but I forgot the name.

[@sjaze]

Love your videos. They have really given me confidence to learn!

[@RobSummers]

Hi Scott Young, Week 32 - How to Learn Really Hard Subjects was great I'm looking forward to seeing your next one. Thanks again Rob Summers

[@hrvojeliovic613]

This is like listening to myself when I was telling other fellow students how to learn a subject. I went through it all... especially in the engineering subjects that were completely new material in the graduate studies. Very good advice!

[@emeraldmayy]

I know this video is really old but I’m so glad I discovered this video. I am excited to try this method.

[@johnsteward4060]

That techniques works. Hard concept like calculus can be learned by tracing its layers of foundation, and this is how I can train my problem solving skills; instead of keep reviewing the material, it is a completely waste of time as you are going to step the same pace again and again.

[@greeshman573]

You made me understand what I was doing wrong. Thank you.

[@neo22501]

This is impossible to do when a person has 4-6 courses to take and there's a new assignment every week. It takes a massive amount of time to do this.

[@filename1674]

That is true, I am taking electrical engineering right now and I have 11 subjects (minors included). It's kind of hard to do all of it especially if you go to school monday to sunday at least in my university.

[@criscrix3]

This is a two years old comment but the video was only recommended to me now. You are absolutely right that this method is not feasible when you have a large amount of work to do every week but what I used to do when I had too many courses is to primarily focus on the ones that I knew would help me the most in the future and learn enough to pass the exams on the rest. Now, a few years later I kind of regret not knowing more on some of these subjects but now I actually have the time to revisit them while also having some kind of basis to build upon. Being actually good at the ones I focused on and having a job in that field allows me to have this posiblity.

[@jaiBisht0001]

Plus there is limited stock of focus energy we have with which we can only focus on 4-5 90min study sessions after that your brain don't understand the things completely

[@markkennedy9767]

I agree and it just shows that even if you get great marks in your degree, you can still have no proper understanding of a subject.

[@obiwan177]

In doing some research on learning techniques, it seems that lots of them have a recursive/iterative/cyclical approach to them. Even Mortimer Adler's 'How To Read a Book' suggests reading a book multiple times, deepening your understanding with each pass.

[@jose7558]

Thank you Ryan Gosling

[@creamcheese271]

Thank you. I was having a hard time with chemistry and this really helped.

[@michaels7159]

It's neither. It's a bunch of right wing morons.

[@Nauts23]

Thanks!You are such an inspiration.

[@TheMITChallenge]

I think my methods have gotten more refined, but the basic strategy is the same

[@VoteLNLSN]

Thank you Ryan Gosling.

[@markkennedy9767]

I agree that parsing every sentence to make sure you understand it is what ideally I would do also. But I hate when I hate brick walls (that sometimes never get resolved) and that's especially the case if you're learning in your own.

[@JessBooth]

Thank you for sharing this. It came at a really good time because I have been feeling so lost. I’m taking calc 2 right now and I have my second midterm next Thursday and finals in three weeks. I honestly feel like I haven’t learned anything this semester. I feel like my professor has been speaking Chinese all semester. I don’t like the way how he explains what he’s trying to teach. I just show up for attendance. I’ve been doing a lot of self-learning, but it’s tough. I’m going to try my best to keep pressing on and finish this semester stronger than when I started.

[@vadon8993]

Even though this video is from 10 years ago , I am so glad I have stumbled upon it.

[@shivambajpayee5801]

Yup .... your theory holds true . My obstacles were pebble which got amplified into wall by my frustration. I do want to add to the repository of your video, that lack of grasp is stemmed into context and applying equation of translation into wrong frame. We skip assumptions and contributing factors while swinging magic wand of emperical equations

[@kebman]

Hi, I'm a pedagogue. I will watch this video again. Bcos this was nice stuff. What you're saying about learning is true.

[@exploringcrypto6609]

I was using this technic without knowing this technic, but it was really good to watch the video a listen how you say about the technic.

[@ahamedfaiyaz3543]

To understand deeper level of subject and practicing question or flashcard had been used

[@DillonN]

This is amazing! I'm been having this problem with medicine. But you've given some ideas as to how to use this

[@shadyyam2488]

one of the greatest vids I've seen in a while

[@shamelmae]

it makes me so happy that others feel my internal struggles

[@Infinitiely]

Thanks I am reading your blog post about "Feynman Technique" right now, I will try using this process for physics next year :)

[@Dialektiker]

I like the Method as well, the only problem i see besides it being very time-consuming is, that if you misunderstand the concept at first, you just deepen your understanding of the weing concept.

[@Neets812]

So glad I came across this channel!

[@shrippie-4214]

I unintentionally used the Feynman technique my entire life

[@roseb2105]

Can you make a video with an an example from the lectures you took

[@hellowill]

I learn best when I learn with as many techniques as possible. If I didn't understand a textbook, I'd watch a video, or do an exercise, or try explain the topic to my mum. Also if you don't understand something, put yourself in the authors shoes and figure out why they would design/theorise something that way - especially helps with compsci. Also I wish I talked to other students and professors more; then you get those deep conversations where unanswered questions get answered. I only did that in my final year and got much better results. That said, I wouldn't stress too much. As long as you pass and get a job, you'll end up learning all the things as if you were a straight A student. Your grade only represents what you knew at the time, not what you know now.

[@pennyl.8799]

It would be more valuable, I think, for you to use slides and bullet points. Best of all would be to work through actual cases with difficult technical material as you talk through the process.

[@mola3845]

Brilliant video Scott, how do you have the energy to do such intense studying a day? what is your diet like if i may ask? :)

[@epopiano]

자기자신에게 설명 + 맥락(어디에 쓰이는지)이해

[@noblefleet]

Thank you! Recursively going over and over and over it!

[@aion2177]

You are fenomenal! Very true to think of it like building a piramid, stack layers of understanding on top of each other. I like that. THANK YOU! :D

[@djtomoy]

I’ve found being really clever helps a lot

[@debil.0]

Watching this when the exam is in 3 hours 🌚

[@bosuaandcarot]

1. find out the purpose of the topic, how it’s being used in life. 2. dig into deeper layers if I don’t understand the concept.( learn the foundation)

[@JakeOfAllTrades17]

I really love your ideas dude, they help me a lot

[@coldcoder23]

You could add an additional step: Translate again the text you translated to your own words to technical language and try to understand it better now. This is going to integrate as yours the technical language and then this could improve your understanding of the complex topics in technical language

[@neilaybhalerao8373]

This really helped me and that too when I most needed it, thankyou so much, great content!

[@balachandransantosh8195]

Have a self discussion or conversation with yourself in a room about the subject. It can be aloud. Difficult means it takes more processing. It is more demanding. Easy means less demanding.

[@rider2731]

Very helpful video, Scott. Thank you for sharing. If I may give you my two cents: please make them less wordy. Use short and clear sentences.

[@توحید-ص7ص]

Thanks for your program and information and

[@beatrix2745]

The second technique hits hard now that I see my students asking over and over again why they need to know certain things that seem silly before they learn the main point

[@elhassani350]

Imagine this video quality from 2012 amazing ❤

[@niteeshbihade1789]

Thank you, Scott! 👍🏼

[@ronniesunshine1163]

Completely off topic but this tiny shot out your window is such a Vancouver view

[@chey1014]

Thank you for this

[@Dreadheadezz]

Currently finishing up my data science major and these upper ml courses are umm.. rough 😅 but I’ll keep applying these techniques 🙏🏾

[@roachspray]

Data science major here too🫡

[@Dreadheadezz]

@@roachspray We’re gonna kill it 😤🫡

[@roachspray]

@@Dreadheadezz it'll be worth it in the end😤

[@Dreadheadezz]

@@roachspray Update. 1 more semester to go and I’ll have my B.S 🥳😌

[@pfeifenderleidender7320]

This sounds a lot like 'analytical reading' as explained by Adler and Doran in their book 'How to Read a Book'.

[@samric2000]

Thanks alot for this video