It seemed quite strange to me the first time I heard about that there are two modes of thinking/learning: Focused and the Diffused mode.
Focused Mode: The brain focusses constantly on one particular thing which can be explained by an analogy: a pinball game where the bumpers(blue in the figure) are neurons, the red arrow(pinball path) is the thought and neural pattern is represented by the black connection between bumpers. As it turns out, in the focused mode, our brain has a limited set of neural connections. This is usually the case when we try to remember something that we already know and are familiar with the concept of the problem we are thinking about. If the idea we are thinking about is new, then this focussed mode is not so effective as the ideas already in our
brain kind of make a "close set" of neural connections that prevent us from getting the big picture or in the analogy, the bumpers are closely packed so that the thought pattern cannot spread wide.
Diffused Mode: In this mode, the neural connections are widely spaced apart which means our thought pattern can go across neural patterns in diverse areas and can help us connect various things that we have learned so that we can get the big picture in any problem. In the pinball analogy, it can be thought of as having the bumpers widely apart so that the pinball(thought) can go a long distance without getting blocked by any bumper(already formed neural pattern).
So, what's the conclusion?
Well, our mind needs to go back and forth between the two modes when we are learning something new. Since the mind goes to the diffused mode even when we are not actively engaged in 'learning' in the traditional sense, i.e. the mind is sub-consciously learning in the diffused mode even when we are seemingly involved in trivial tasks like walking, taking a shower, etc, we need to take breaks in between those active learning periods.
A particularly interesting analogy is that of building a wall from bricks and mortar. If do not let the mortar properly dry out before adding extra bricks while building a wall, the whole structure will collapse. Hence, the conclusion is that we need let our mind assimilate what he has learnt during the active learning period so that the material is deeply ingrained in our minds.
References:
* Image source: https://thewingchair.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/pinball2.jpg
* *Image source: Brick walls ©Kevin Mendez, 2014, Learning how to learn, coursera.org/learning
Focused Mode: The brain focusses constantly on one particular thing which can be explained by an analogy: a pinball game where the bumpers(blue in the figure) are neurons, the red arrow(pinball path) is the thought and neural pattern is represented by the black connection between bumpers. As it turns out, in the focused mode, our brain has a limited set of neural connections. This is usually the case when we try to remember something that we already know and are familiar with the concept of the problem we are thinking about. If the idea we are thinking about is new, then this focussed mode is not so effective as the ideas already in our
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| Focused and Diffused mode of thinking (Image source: https://thewingchair.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/pinball2.jpg) * |
Diffused Mode: In this mode, the neural connections are widely spaced apart which means our thought pattern can go across neural patterns in diverse areas and can help us connect various things that we have learned so that we can get the big picture in any problem. In the pinball analogy, it can be thought of as having the bumpers widely apart so that the pinball(thought) can go a long distance without getting blocked by any bumper(already formed neural pattern).
So, what's the conclusion?
Well, our mind needs to go back and forth between the two modes when we are learning something new. Since the mind goes to the diffused mode even when we are not actively engaged in 'learning' in the traditional sense, i.e. the mind is sub-consciously learning in the diffused mode even when we are seemingly involved in trivial tasks like walking, taking a shower, etc, we need to take breaks in between those active learning periods.
 |
| Learning is similar to building a wall; if we do not let the mortar dry out properly, it will collapse. (**Image source: Brick walls ©Kevin Mendez, 2014, Learning how to learn, coursera.org/learning) |
A particularly interesting analogy is that of building a wall from bricks and mortar. If do not let the mortar properly dry out before adding extra bricks while building a wall, the whole structure will collapse. Hence, the conclusion is that we need let our mind assimilate what he has learnt during the active learning period so that the material is deeply ingrained in our minds.
References:
* Image source: https://thewingchair.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/pinball2.jpg
* *Image source: Brick walls ©Kevin Mendez, 2014, Learning how to learn, coursera.org/learning
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