Notes for a lifetime

Education Mathematics is the Sense You Never Knew You Had Source: Eddie Woo | TEDxSydney The One-Line Takeaway Mathematics is not a subject of rote calculation, but a fundamental sense for perceiving hidden patterns, relationships, and logical connections woven into the fabric of the universe. Many of us grew up thinking math was just about memorizing formulas and crunching numbers. In this illuminating talk, famous math teacher Eddie Woo argues that we have been missing the point entirely. Math isn't a chore; it's a "sixth sense" that allows us to see the invisible structure of reality. 4 Golden Insights 1. The Mathematical Sense Just as sight allows us to perceive light and color, and touch allows us to perceive texture, **Mathematics is ...

🧬 Neuroscience & Learning Brain Hack: 6 Secrets to Learning Faster (Backed by Neuroscience) Source: Lila Landowski  |  TEDxHobart ⚡ The One-Line Takeaway Learning faster isn’t magic—it’s about working with neuroplasticity through six key ingredients: focused attention, alertness, sleep, repetition, breaks, and even mistakes. Neuroscientist Lila Landowski breaks down learning into something practical and hopeful: your brain can change at any age, but you have to treat it like a living system, not a storage device. Her six “brain hacks” are really six conditions that switch neuroplasticity on. Instead of asking, “Am I smart enough?”, this talk invites a better question: “Am I giving my brain the condition...

🧠 Learning & Memory 3 Steps to Memorize Everything. FAST. — The River Method Source: Henry Hildebrandt  |  TEDxUniMannheim 🌊 The One-Line Takeaway To learn fast and remember deeply, we must stop treating ourselves like storage machines and instead work with our brain’s survival wiring using the River Method: Recall, Connect, and Transform. In this energetic talk, Henry Hildebrandt argues that the problem isn’t our brain—it’s the system we use to learn. Our brain evolved for survival in the wild, not for silently memorizing isolated textbook facts. The River Method is his answer: a three-step way of learning that matches how the brain actually works in real life—through searching, feeling, and connectin...

Main Ideas Our brains are wired with certain “predispositions” toward suffering (e.g., focusing on threats, negative experiences) that make unhappiness easier than happiness. Because of neural traits like “imaginary is real” (i.e., our brain reacts similarly to imagined threats as to real ones) and “pain vs emotional hurt” (brain cannot always distinguish physical from emotional pain) — we can train the brain to respond differently.  Practices such as gratitude , compassion , and mind-body awareness are not just “nice to have” but are central to rewiring how our brain responds, shifting us toward resilience and happiness.  True happiness is less about external conditions and more about inner states and habits: how we relate to our thoughts, how we manage stress, how we engage with others.  Small, consistent interventions (not huge leaps) make the difference: the brain’s plasticity means we can change how we respond, but we need deliberate effort.  Impo...

 Main Ideas Our minds generate constant thoughts and stories, many of which are reactive rather than reflective — they often determine our feelings and actions without us realising. We can create a space or distance between ourselves and our thoughts — recognising that we are not our thoughts , but the observer of them. When we stop identifying with every thought (especially negative or involuntary ones), we reduce the power they hold over our emotional state and behaviour. Practices like meditation , conscious breathing and present-moment awareness help break automatic thought-loops and reduce mental suffering. Accepting what is (rather than resisting inner experience) is a key step in freeing ourselves from overthinking and feeling controlled by the mind. Important Quotes “You are not your thoughts — you are the space in which they arise.” “When you stop fighting your mind, your mind stops fighting you.” “Thoughts will always come; suffering is created whe...

 Main Ideas Confirmation bias — Jordan explains how we naturally favour information that confirms what we already believe, and how that limits our ability to learn and change.  Open-mindedness as a practice — Being open-minded isn’t just a passive trait, but an active habit of questioning one’s own assumptions, engaging with difference, and being willing to update views. Dialogue and challenge — She emphasises that meaningful progress comes when we encounter perspectives that disrupt our comfort zone: when we meet others with different views and don’t just shut down.  Media & echo chambers — The talk touches on how modern digital media often reinforce our beliefs (via algorithmic filters) rather than challenge them, reinforcing closed-mindedness.  Benefit of changing your mind — She argues that changing your mind is not a sign of weakness, but of strength: it means you’re responsive, adaptable, and committed to truth rather than ego. Important Q...

  Be sure to have a notebook dedicated to your memory palaces be sure to write down in a notebook all the pegs of your house, and in which order they are. You now have one memory palace In case you need a new memory palace one time, simply start walking a new route for fun. Just a few real life walk throughs where you make note of possible pegs, and you will pretty quickly be able to visualize the walk with your eyes closed. A good idea is to use a camera to take snaps of the route you use. This makes it easier to remember a new walk. If you drive, or take the bus a lot, think of at least one memory palace based on journeys as well. Walk through these routes, and pay attention to objects/locations you may use as pegs along the route. Next time you pass then, take photos. Note everything down in your memory palace notebook. Violence is always great for remembering.  construct/decide on at least around two to five memory palaces based on houses, and six to eight memory palaces b...

Introduction The human mind always remembers whatever is special, different, unusual or extraordinary. It forgets whatever is trivial, ordinary and routine YES, I KNOW A NUMBER pi value: 3.1416 !! => mnemonics. The human mind always remembers whatever is special, different, unusual or extraordinary. It forgets whatever is trivial, ordinary and routine Students giving exams are required to memorize many answers from their textbooks. In such situations, the best method is the Link Method  repetition is undoubtedly a fool-proof technique. It works because every time you recite or revise something, you are creating a pathway in your mind. The more you revise, the deeper the track becomes, giving you more time before you start forgetting again. A prolonged time gap between two consecutive revisions is a sure-shot recipe for forgetting Zeller's Rule => Calculate calendar of any year. F = k + [(13 x m-1)/5] + D + [D/4] + [C/4] - 2 x C, k: date m: month number D: Last two digits of t...

 The smartest man is hard to find Junk food in: junk brain. Healthy food in: healthy brain Because normal is not necessarily natural By spending an hour day, six days a week on memory you can be world champion. The nonlinear associative nature of our brains makes it impossible for us to consciously search our memories in an orderly way. A memory only pops directly into consciousness if it is cued by some other thought or perception - some other node in the nearly limitless interconnected web. The man who remembered too much It is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human. To make sense of the world, we must filter it. "To think is to forget."  Bill Clinton is supposed to never forget a name and, well, look where that got him. It is always to associate the sound of a person's name with something you can clearly imagine. It's all about creating a vivid image in your mind that anchors your visual memory connected to the person's name. Th...

 Quotes If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside - Jim Kwik We don't need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already - J K Rowling. We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn - Peter Drucker. The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else - Eric Ries.  I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow - Woodrow Wilson. Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing that it is stupid - Albert Einstein. It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. - Mark Twain. LIfe has no limitations, except the ones you make - Les brown. Reasons reap results - Jim Kwik We fir...