Grad School Lesson 1: How to get smarter
Graduate school was not the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It used to be; it's been largely surpassed. However, it is by a little bit, the one thing that took the most sustained effort and consistent investment and sacrifice. As a result, I got many many returns from my investment. I am a self-reflector, and therefore, think that some of the things that I learned are probably relevant.
As I type, part of me wonders why I would want to tell others how and why I did it. Especially when there is one person who I sometimes get really mad about since it seems no work is required to obtain all desires, but, maybe she doesn't read this. Also, I will not say anything you haven't thought of, so no new knowledge, just a reminder of things you already know.
So firstly, let's talk about learning and how to get smarter.
I am a reader. I love information; reading about it, processing it, using it in different ways. I'm in a field where there is a never ending amount of information to process. When I'm on my game, I'm checking 15 different journals a day for new articles - most people I know are checking 20-25. Although it may seem like you are never going to do things with that information, or be able to remember it - I strongly believe it is the key to getting smarter.
Read. Read a lot. But also, read everything. That article about blood typing paper that was inspired by Harry Potter that interests you - read it. The PNAS article about music and theory and how it's evolved - read it. I found that I forgot to enjoy learning because I felt so obligated to be learning, but when I gave myself space to read the other things, that weren't connected to what I should be doing and just did what I wanted, I learned faster and was happier. I can learn from anything; and the way to get smarter, is to put together ideas from the different things that you are reading. Synthesize the ideas. Figure out where one area is doing new and exciting things, and think about how they can be applied to a different area. But also, be excited about trying to find the crosstalk.
As I type, part of me wonders why I would want to tell others how and why I did it. Especially when there is one person who I sometimes get really mad about since it seems no work is required to obtain all desires, but, maybe she doesn't read this. Also, I will not say anything you haven't thought of, so no new knowledge, just a reminder of things you already know.
So firstly, let's talk about learning and how to get smarter.
I am a reader. I love information; reading about it, processing it, using it in different ways. I'm in a field where there is a never ending amount of information to process. When I'm on my game, I'm checking 15 different journals a day for new articles - most people I know are checking 20-25. Although it may seem like you are never going to do things with that information, or be able to remember it - I strongly believe it is the key to getting smarter.
Read. Read a lot. But also, read everything. That article about blood typing paper that was inspired by Harry Potter that interests you - read it. The PNAS article about music and theory and how it's evolved - read it. I found that I forgot to enjoy learning because I felt so obligated to be learning, but when I gave myself space to read the other things, that weren't connected to what I should be doing and just did what I wanted, I learned faster and was happier. I can learn from anything; and the way to get smarter, is to put together ideas from the different things that you are reading. Synthesize the ideas. Figure out where one area is doing new and exciting things, and think about how they can be applied to a different area. But also, be excited about trying to find the crosstalk.
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