Ask HN: How to Learn 'To Think'?

Start with reading "Thinking and Reasoning: A Very Short Introduction" by Jonathan St B. T. Evans (Oxford University Press, 2017). Very short read and bonus points if you find it at your local public library. At the end of the book, there's a list of suggested further reading if you want more depth.

This internal dialogue business is the wrong direction. Many should learn to shut that off. You don’t need your own thoughts echoing around in your mind. That’s not quality thinking.

Play games. Consider that the real challenge of games is learning how the rules work, how the interface works, how game strategy works, how various systems of values are leveraged.

Learn to assimilate and “do well” in games. Even if you aren’t into the game, or you don’t actually finish it. Some games can be played over and over and over and there is always something more to learn. Building the heuristic understanding of the game is the best means of developing cognitive strategies. There are lots of high quality open source games out there, there is no need to spend cash.

Maybe something like Polya's "How to Solve it" and/or Solow's "How to Read and Do Proofs" would help. When I studied math in college I very much struggled with more advanced mathematical reasoning and those two books helped me tremendously. I would also venture to say that being able to better reason using the techniques presented help in many other areas of life than just math.

Thank you for that suggestion! I will check it out.

The KGB recommended their students read detective novels. Detectives look at information and model the past: light, shadow, heat, sounds, pressure, timelines, motives.

Also model the future: elections, social trends, stock prices, a movie plot, anything, everything. If your prediction fails, say how did I get that wrong; what didn't I consider that would have made my prediction more accurate?

Or, possibly you have a physical condition like I had; fixing sleep apnea raised my lichess elo by like 200 points.

https://atriumhealth.org/medical-services/prevention-wellnes...

One key to acquiring thinking skill (a skill like any other) is to learn how to decode the world using your own abilities and resources.

Start by asking about a new idea, "How would I prove this idea false?" This is the key to scientific thinking -- scientists first ask themselves, "What would falsify this idea?"

When you acquire an idea, you're borrowing someone else's thought. But to simultaneously learn how to think and make an idea your own, before taking the idea seriously, assume it's false and test it for validity, using your personal knowledge base.

Here's a classic example -- a friend says, "All swans are white." To make this idea yours, don't confirm it by locating ten more white swans. Instead, try to find a black swan. Even if you fail, your personal version of the idea will be, "It appears that most swans are white."

As it happens, this skeptical outlook is the key to the so-called "Enlightenment," an historical change that dethroned blind acceptance of ideas. This paradigm was best expressed in the Royal Society's (https://royalsociety.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/) motto "Nullius in verba" or "Take no one's word for it." Written in 1660, this motto expresses the essence of scientific, skeptical thinking, just as true today -- indeed, more true now than ever.

Being doubtful and skeptical of received ideas, scientifically testing new ideas, makes you intellectually stronger, and strengthens the surviving ideas as well.

With proper training, your immune system can protect you from germs. In the same way, with proper training, your brain can protect you from bogus ideas. Train your brain.

You can’t change a serious neurological condition with all books in the world. Don’t waste time looking for magic pill.

It’s generally much more effective strategy to learn utilizing your strengths rather than trying to compensate for your weaknesses.

Why do you need to think? What do you want to do with that skill?

Look around - not that many people really think anyway and yet many manage to live a good and satisfactory life.