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A review by rincewail
A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science by Barbara Oakley
5.0
This review is going to be a love letter to the late teen Suhail that went to college and found against all expectations that he was not as good as he thought he was.
Dear Suhail,
I know you have your heart in the right place. I know you do. Yet you did so many things wrong. Now if I lay it out what you did, you'll think you're being reprimanded but you're not. If time travel is ever invented, read this. And apply it in college.
1. Recall what you read, instead of just rereading.
2. Take mini tests to remember what you read.
3. Chunk the material that you read into little bits that can later become part of something larger.
4. Space your recall and tests for all that is holy! Reading this once and thinking that you'll remember it always is a bad bad move.
5. Alternate different topics. Don't read one chapter 5 times and think that'll help you ace the test.
6. Take breaks! Oh, you sweet child. Your brain needs rest as does your body. Doing the same thing again and again won't yield you the same result!
7. Try and explain the things you've learnt to someone else or even to yourself in the mirror. It works wonders.
8. Focus. Turn off the phone for the sake of all that is holy! Notifications are your enemy my man.
9. Do the difficult things first.
10. Think of all the good things that might happen when you succeed. You always keep telling yourself "What if I fail". I' here to make you ask a different question. "What if it all works out in the end"?
Do this if you find it sometime in the year 2010. I know this is 8 years too late but I believe in ya buddy.
Tons of love,
Suhail
PS: Stop wearing those baggy t-shirts. They're not doing you any favours.
In all seriousness, I think this is one of those books that should be taught in schools as part of immediately needed important life skills. And this is the kind that I will keep coming back to. This should be taught instead of learning about what happened to that one guy 5000 years ago. No offence to history but one needs to learn how to learn in order to appreciate these things. I know I would have appreciated this if I had read this in my early college years. A lot of the things mentioned in the book might be obvious to a few people. And more power to you. They were not for me. This might be a few years too late but I still have a life of learning ahead. So I'm glad I found it.
A solid 5/5. I'd give it more if I could.
Tip about the book: Chapters 4 through 9 are the most important ones. And if you want to test what the author is saying, try and apply the things mentioned in the book while you're reading it.
Dear Suhail,
I know you have your heart in the right place. I know you do. Yet you did so many things wrong. Now if I lay it out what you did, you'll think you're being reprimanded but you're not. If time travel is ever invented, read this. And apply it in college.
1. Recall what you read, instead of just rereading.
2. Take mini tests to remember what you read.
3. Chunk the material that you read into little bits that can later become part of something larger.
4. Space your recall and tests for all that is holy! Reading this once and thinking that you'll remember it always is a bad bad move.
5. Alternate different topics. Don't read one chapter 5 times and think that'll help you ace the test.
6. Take breaks! Oh, you sweet child. Your brain needs rest as does your body. Doing the same thing again and again won't yield you the same result!
7. Try and explain the things you've learnt to someone else or even to yourself in the mirror. It works wonders.
8. Focus. Turn off the phone for the sake of all that is holy! Notifications are your enemy my man.
9. Do the difficult things first.
10. Think of all the good things that might happen when you succeed. You always keep telling yourself "What if I fail". I' here to make you ask a different question. "What if it all works out in the end"?
Do this if you find it sometime in the year 2010. I know this is 8 years too late but I believe in ya buddy.
Tons of love,
Suhail
PS: Stop wearing those baggy t-shirts. They're not doing you any favours.
In all seriousness, I think this is one of those books that should be taught in schools as part of immediately needed important life skills. And this is the kind that I will keep coming back to. This should be taught instead of learning about what happened to that one guy 5000 years ago. No offence to history but one needs to learn how to learn in order to appreciate these things. I know I would have appreciated this if I had read this in my early college years. A lot of the things mentioned in the book might be obvious to a few people. And more power to you. They were not for me. This might be a few years too late but I still have a life of learning ahead. So I'm glad I found it.
A solid 5/5. I'd give it more if I could.
Tip about the book: Chapters 4 through 9 are the most important ones. And if you want to test what the author is saying, try and apply the things mentioned in the book while you're reading it.