Date: 28.09.2022

Hello curious people. Bookworms. And lifelong learners.

After almost 2 months since the last edition of the Study Newsletter. I'm back to my regular schedule.

I hope you had a trouble-free summer. The weather was good. The mood was good and hopefully, September is treating you well so far.

I've personally spent the majority of my "free" time thinking. Not because I had random sections of time to do whatever I desire - I have a kid, you know. The extracurricular thinking sessions were triggered because I focused on writing about thinking. I know, so meta.

What originated from all of this thinking and writing about thinking, was a discovery. I found out - not sure if I knew this before - that playing with your thoughts, reflecting on past decisions, and considering the future, is not only calming - especially if you write down what your brain produces. But it also unlocks better thinking.

Practicing metacognition - i.e., thinking about thinking. It's one of the best ways to think better.

I've covered this activity and a couple of other rules for becoming a better thinker in the following post - if you are interested:

How To Think Better (Evidence-Based Ways to Think Better)

• Accelerated Expertise by Robert R. Hoffman: A foundational book for people who want to move from novice to expert in less time. Written by an army of professionals in the field of learning. Accelerated Expertise summarizes most of the major publications on the theory with the same name: accelerated expertise and also accelerated learning. The content is based on workshops funded by the military to develop ways for the armed forces to learn new disciplines faster and at the same time retain the gained knowledge for longer.

Full text for members only.

Interesting books I recently added to my reading list (and hopefully will read at some point):

• Principles For Dealing With the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio: The author of the best-seller: Principles: Life and Work, is back. This time, he's deconstructing what events lead to a decline in the economy and a decline in the way of life. The majority of the book is Dalio analyzing empires that crumbled and how this happened.
• The Optimism Bias by Tali Sharot: One of the most innovative neuroscientists of our time investigates our natural tendency toward optimism. Is our irrational positive outlook good or bad? How the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails?

Georgi Lozanov

Georgi Lozanov was a Bulgarian scientist, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, and educator. The creator of suggestopedia and the father of accelerated learning.

Lozanov's findings regarding learning and teaching triggered a movement in the West. More and more people became interested in the topic of accelerated learning, which lead to discovering new techniques.

Big Idea: Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia is a teaching method that greatly reduces the time one needs to learn a new language.

In fact, it was evaluated by a committee of language experts and certified by Unesco as "the most cultural integral and effective learning method" in Second Language Acquisition.

There are a couple of phases involved in Suggestopedia to work effectively. Here's a short example of a regular session:

The setting:

First, the environment. Georgi Lozanov was a big believer that the environment plays a crucial role in making learning more effective. Students should feel comfortable and confident.

The phases:

• Deciphering: A teacher introduces students to a foreign-language text. Usually, you'd have on the left page the foreign-language text and the other half of the page the translated text.
• Concert session:
  • Active session: The teaches should read the text at a normal speed while the students are following him.
  • Passive session: Students are relaxed and listen to the teacher reading the text while Baroque music is playing in the background.
• Elaboration: Students express what they have learned verbally. Also, a lot of times use songs, acting, or games.
• Production: Students speak in the language they are trying to learn without interruption or correction.

From my desk:

• Thinking In 3D: A Better Way To Solve Complex Problems: Three-dimensional thinking in relation to solving everyday problems can be considered your ability to observe situations from all sides. Disassemble them, so you can find the core issue and then find a creative solution outside the current domain.

From around the web:

• Solve the most important problem that you can personally impact: The short version of this great post is that: Growth doesn’t happen when you solve easy or difficult problems. Growth happens when you solve important problems.

The Veil of Ignorance

The Veil of Ignorance is a thought experiment created by the philosopher John Rawls. Its purpose is to help create a just society. A place of fairness.

Why it's needed?

Normally, if, say, you are a person whose decision will affect the way people live. You'll choose an option that will benefit you the most.

The basic principle of this tough experiment goes something like this: When designing rules for your society. You should prevent yourself from exercising your purely self-interested nature.

For example, if you have to create a new rule for today’s society. To make the decision fair for everyone. You place yourself behind a veil of ignorance. Behind this veil, you are in a middle place. It's like you're temporary out of the social system, and you don't know where you'll end up when you return. So, if you have to make a decision about new tax laws. You don't know if, when you return to the world, you'll be rich or poor. This helps you consider how this new decision will impact everyone, not just your own caste.

While there is nothing better than holding a physical book. Turning the pages with your hand. The enchanting smell of the book itself. Ebooks are here to stay.

The following site: standardebooks.org. Offers, as the founders say on their index page: "Free and liberated ebooks, carefully produced for the true book lover."

Check it out if you want to update your digital library.

Thank you for your time!

Talks soon!

Regards,

Ivaylo Durmonski

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