If you have been systematically trained to acquire knowledge consciously, you should be able to connect knowledge and form a network.

Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Mr. L said” (ID: lxianshengmiao), Author Lachel.

I am often asked by readers, saying:

Why ask you a question? You can always quickly point out which article mentioned it because you have a particularly good memory?

Not really. The more important reason is: if you have been systematically trained to acquire knowledge consciously, you should be able to connect the knowledge and form a network.

So, for you, every knowledge point is nothing more than a part of this net. Faced with any knowledge point, you can know “where is it”, then follow the path to find it, and draw out its ins and outs, cause and effect.

Interestingly, this corresponds to a concept in physics: entropy.

What is entropy? Simply put, it is a measure of the degree of disorder. The higher the entropy, the more chaotic, disorderly, and uncertain a system is.

A simple example: If you split a sentence into more than a dozen words, they can be combined with each other in dozens of possibilities, so their disorder is very high; but if you combine them into a sentence, Can only express one meaning, then the disorder of the sentence is very low, and the certainty is improved.

For example: “Xiao Ming”, “Xiao Hong” and “Like”, these three words have two possibilities: Does Xiao Ming like Xiao Hong, or Xiao Hong like Xiao Ming? But if we turn it into “Xiao Ming likes Xiao Hong”, from words to sentences, its meaning is very clear.

In this example, the former is a high-entropy state, and the latter is a low-entropy state.

The second law of thermodynamics tells us: an isolated system always tends to evolve from a low-entropy state to a high-entropy state. Because the high-entropy state is “more likely” in probability, and the low-entropy state is “less likely” to appear. This is the well-known “entropy increase” law.

A simple example: a room, under normal circumstances, if you don’t clean it up, it will become more and more messy and dirty over time. This is a high-entropy chaotic state. .

How to make it into a low-entropy ordered state? Thermodynamics tells us that this requires energy exchange, that is, injecting energy into this isolated system.

In this example, you need to take the initiative to clean it up and organize it, that is, to inject your time and energy in order to make it “entropy reduction”-byThe disordered state of high entropy returns to the ordered state of low entropy.

The same is true of life.

I’m feeling very difficult in

  • You get energy by eating, and this energy is converted into protein under the guidance of genes to build and repair your tissues;

  • You interact with the outside world. These messages are screened out and precipitated by the memory activity of the brain to form your memory;

  • Even if you have an idea, it is because 16 billion neurons in the cerebral cortex are firing, thus integrating various sensory information, mental representations and memory imprints into a unified and whole , Orderly “consciousness”……

    • These are all “entropy reduction” processes from disorder to order.

    It can be said: The process of growth is the process by which we continuously absorb external energy to make ourselves “more disorderly” to “more orderly”.

    Of course, this article is not a popular science article, so I won’t talk too much about entropy. It’s good if you have an idea about this.

    The main thing I want to say is: Our thinking is actually the same.

    What do you mean?

    Every day, we are taking in information from the outside world. This information may come from various channels, express different content, and inspire you to think differently…

    They are essentially disordered, they are pieces of information, and there can be countless combinations of them. This is a state of high entropy.

    But the brain cannot handle high-entropy states. Because there are so many possibilities for high-entropy states (called “phase space” in physics), this means that the brain has to spend a lot of resources to store them.

    So, how can I use the ingested information so that I can remember, understand and use it? The most essential method is actually to transform this information from a disordered state with high entropy to an ordered state with low entropy.

    I have mentioned a pair of opposing concepts in many articles: “fragmentation” and “systemization”. The essence behind them is actually “high entropy disorder” and “low entropy order.”

    So, what is fragmented information? It’s not that you started from Weibo, Zhihu, and the official account must be fragmented. You read The content obtained from the lectures must be systematized. Its core point is: when this information enters your brain, in what form is it encoded and stored by you.

    If you remember them in isolation and in fragments, it is fragmented; on the contrary, if you can connect them into a system, establish connections between each other, and connect knowledge into a network, that is systemization.

    Only the latter is truly effective learning, and it is also a learning method that can be remembered, understood and applied for a long time.

    So, in many articles, I will emphasize a point: we must build a framework before learning.

    Why do you say that? What is the nature of the framework? It is a certain fixed combination of elements and elements. When you have a basic framework for a certain field, you have a map. You will know:

    This knowledge point should be putOn”

  • Artificial intelligence: “Can artificial intelligence have consciousness?”

    • ……

    So, this is an overall framework of “consciousness”. With this framework, I will know where to put each specific knowledge point. Similarly, if a new knowledge point is acquired in the future, I will also know: where it can be placed and how it can be connected with other knowledge points.

    When I need to extract the relevant content of “consciousness” from the brain, I just look for it from this framework. This approach is easier, more convenient, and effortless than I need to struggle to recall “what knowledge points have I seen related to consciousness?”

    Second, some friends may ask: What should I do if the framework is wrong?

    This is not a problem at all. Setting up a frame is not about answering exam questions, let alone building a skyscraper. If you make a mistake, just change it.

    When you find “the framework is wrong”, you must have discovered some knowledge points that are incompatible with the current framework and cannot be put together. At this time, we might as well combine these new knowledge points to repair and improve the original framework and integrate them.

    Actually, you should be happy when you encounter this situation. why? Because this is an opportunity for cognitive upgrading. The acquisition and update of knowledge points is not a cognitive upgrade, but an update iteration of the knowledge framework.

    So, I always say: Keep your mind open. What is openness? It is to never rule out “What happens if I am wrong?” and always keep my knowledge framework alive and iterate continuously.

    We will see: Some people who have reached a certain age are easy to think hard, live in their own past knowledge, and refuse to accept new changes in the world. This phenomenon is actually the lack of openness in thinking and the solidification of the knowledge framework – that is, the beginning of the true “aging” of the brain.

    As long as you stay open, you never have to worry about “errors.” Because we can always correct it, so that any external shocks are absorbed by us and become a more robust part of the system.

    Further, from the frame to the next step is the model.

    What is a model? In fact, it is very simple: when you encounter many problems of the same type, after understanding and solving them, you will be able to find many commonalities among them. Integrating these commonalities together can form your anticipation of new problems of the same type.To help you better start the solution-this is the model.

    The role of the model is: it can help us “merge similar items”, classify similar problems, and solve them in the same way, greatly saving our brain’s cognitive resources.

    In previous articles, I have also shared many mental models. The most common ones are as follows:

    System thinking model: Regarding a thing as a whole system, thinking about the various elements that make up it, the connection between each element, and how it will be transferred to other elements when one element is moved, which will affect the overall system Disturbance…

    See also:

    Growth system model: By exposing and stimulating problems, replacing old models with new ones, constantly correcting and training one’s brain, bringing the mental world closer to the real world.

    See also: a set of thinking models to help you grow

    And so on.

    How did these models come from? In fact, they all come from the review and abstract thinking of the problems encountered in life, work, and growth. In general, there are a few steps:

    • What is the problem I am having? How do I express it?

    • What is the nature of this problem? If the specific scene and appearance are removed, what is the structure behind it?

    • In the process of dealing with this issue, what steps did I go through? What obstacles will you encounter?

    • With the solution of this problem, what experience can I extract from it to provide reference for future problems?

    I mentioned “modeling the solved problem” in the article before, and that’s it.

    This is essentially a process of entropy reduction. If the framework is to make our “known knowledge” orderly and structure them; then the model is to reduce the entropy of “known problems” and “unknown problems” to reduce fragmented problems, Cases and scenes are abstracted and refined, and they are merged from a higher dimension to form a more orderly whole.

    It focuses on how to recognize this world, how to recognize, understand and explore this unknown world.

    So, it can be said: a person’s knowledge framework determines “who I am”; and a person’s thinking model determines “who I will become”.

    Of course, there is no difference between the two. It can be said that they are equally important. Knowledge framework is like protein, which constitutes our stable self-cognition; thinking model is like carbohydrate, which provides motivation for us to explore the world.

    They are all essential parts that make up our orderly, low-entropy brain.

    The more highly organized your brain is, the more fragmented information can be integrated to form a complex whole, and the better you can understand and adapt to the external world, so that the mental world can follow the external world. The world fits better.

    Finally, share a simple and effective way to exercise your brain and make your thinking more “ordered”:

    That is writing.

    Of course, the writing here includes not only text writing, but also all other forms of output-such as video, audio, and so on.

    For the sake of convenience, text is used here to refer to all output.

    You will find that writing itself is the simplest example of “entropy reduction”: the scattered and disordered thought fragments in the brain are integrated into a highly ordered article, so as to refine your ideas and Concentrated to form an orderly whole.

    This process is very painful because it consumes your brain power (entropy reduction requires energy). However, it is precisely because of this process that we are able to integrate the ingested information fragments and thinking fragments into a whole and build a framework and model.

    So, I highly recommend every friend to develop the habit of daily writing. It doesn’t have to be published, it doesn’t have to be written to others, it doesn’t have to be written well or long, even if you write two or three hundred words a day, as long as you can further organize the thought fragments in your mind, it is all Ok.

    I will divide writing into two categories: writing for myself and writing for others. The latter is indeed a science and requires certain methods and training, but the former does not. As long as you can make your thinking become clearer and clearer in this process, and constantly improve the orderliness of your brain, it is ideal.

    Therefore, there is no need to have too high requirements for “writing for yourself”, and there is no need to buy a special book or learn a special course. There is no need to write it.

    Just share a few tips, hoping to give you some guidance.

    Each method has an entry version and an advanced version. Friends with zero foundation can use the entry version, and friends with a certain foundation and time can use the advanced version.

    1. Event diary

    Starter Edition:

    • What happened today? What interesting news did I see?

    • How to describe the outline of each event in as short a word as possible?

    Advanced version:

    • For this incident, positiveWhat are the positions and arguments, and what are the negative positions and arguments?

    • Combining the above two, how do I view it? What is my (temporary) conclusion?

    This method can exercise your sensitivity and insight, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of sensitivity to the external world.

    In addition, the advanced version can also exercise the ability to form your own opinions. Readers often ask me: How to cultivate your own opinions? I always feel that I have “no point of view” on many things-then, might as well try this approach.

    I also mentioned in my previous article: Turning “fragmented cognition” into “continuous cognition”, paying attention to the positive and negative positions and continuous development of an event, can you have a deeper and more comprehensive view of it Cognition.

    Similarly, by keeping this habit, understanding and exploring the world, you can have “your own judgment” about the world.

    Rather than others, let yourself be instilled and led away by others’ opinions and positions.

    2. Knowledge Card

    Starter Edition:

    • What have I learned today?

    • Try to give it a name, write down its content, and write down my understanding of it.

    • If you have the conditions, you can think again: Where can it be placed in my knowledge frame?

    Advanced version:

    • Imagine that I am facing a person who does not understand this. How can I explain this knowledge to him in a simple way so that he can understand?

    This method can effectively precipitate your own information intake and processing. When you have accumulated to a certain level, you will feel a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment by turning out these knowledge cards.

    The advanced version goes one step further. This is called empathy writing, which requires you to experience a person’s heart, try to think and understand “others”, and look at problems from the perspective of others.

    On the one hand, this method can effectively improve your understanding of this knowledge point; on the other hand, it can also greatly exercise your expressive skills.

    I like this very much myself. For example: I was chatting with a legal friend a while ago. After gaining some gains, I would think: If I have a friend who wants to start a company, how would I share some basic precautions with him? So, write it out.

    I recently saw some people discussing MCN issues.I think again: If a friend asks me related questions, how can I teach him about science? So, write it down.

    And so on. This approach, on the one hand, can systematically sort out the information and accumulated knowledge I have obtained and make my thinking more orderly; on the other hand, they can also become useful materials, which may be used someday in the future. on.

    3. Observation Diary

    Starter Edition:

    • Which new places did I go today? What does it look like, what are the furnishings and arrangements?

    • Who have I met that left an impression on me? What is their appearance?

    Advanced version:

    • Try to create a “personal design” for the person you meet, guess his possible identity, experience, and story, and write a simple “why is he here” short story.

    This approach, obviously, can exercise your observation and imagination. Its function is to integrate your scattered sensory information and build a basic cognition of some scenes and places, so as to form your frame of the world.

    The advanced version is a very effective way to exercise literary creation. If you are interested in writing novels and scripts, you can give it a try.

    4. Inspiration Diary

    Starter Edition:

    • What thoughts did I have today that made me particularly interesting?

    • What did I see that led to this idea? Is it possible for me to develop it further? If so, what can be done?

    Advanced version:

    • Can this idea be merged and collided with other knowledge and ideas that I have, to produce some new sparks and results?

    This method can help you capture everyday inspiration and ideas. Every day, we may generate hundreds to thousands of ideas, even if only one percent is useful, it is not a small number. If they are allowed to occur and then disappear, bursting like a bubble, it would be very wasteful.

    Try to “decrease entropy” and turn them into an orderly whole. GoThink about how to let them land and play a role in the future.

    Actually, many of my articles and course content are derived from these inspirations. They are like seeds, and they may not have time to deal with them at the moment, but when they are planted, and then read, contact, and collide continuously, they can take root and give birth to some truly useful ideas.

    Even if it is really impossible to “use it”, accumulating these inspirations and ideas can effectively improve your own happiness and make yourself feel that every day is full and can leave traces.

    5. Review Diary

    Starter Edition:

    • What did I accomplish today and what kind of feedback did I get?

    • In this matter, what choice did I face and how did I think and make decisions?

    Advanced version:

    • From this matter, what patterns can I abstract, and what experiences can I extract, which may be useful in the future?

    This can help you to “squeeze” the value of the experiences you have encountered and the problems you have solved to the greatest extent, and internalize them into your thinking model.

    Therefore, your brainpower and energy will be stored in another form and become your toolbox, which can be called at any time when needed later.

    You can refer to:

    Finally, to summarize:

    Use effective thinking to combat the entropy of thinking.

    Make the brain highly ordered,

    is the magic weapon against uncertainty.

    ——The moment of small talk——

    1) As you can see, this is a pretty big topic.

    Today’s content is actually only a side story.

    I have the opportunity to talk more about this in the future.

    2) As mentioned earlier, “16 billion neurons in the cerebral cortex”.

    Maybe some friends, the number seen elsewhere is 80 billion. That’s because these 16 billion neurons are in the cerebral cortex, and about 70 billion are in the cerebellum.

    The cerebellum is not involved in consciousness and thinking, but is responsible for procedural memory and action.

    3) Regarding writing, please don’t make it too complicated.

    As mentioned in the text, even if two or three hundred words are recorded, as long as it is thought through, it will always play the role of “disorder → order”, which is always useful.

    Cultivating this habit will greatly help your thinking, life and work.