Ask HN: How to Learn 'To Think'?

Writing is very underrated way of thinking, but I can recommend it highly. Start journaling and/or writing essays. Just write down what you think, feel, want to communicate, and what you understand. Just be clear and honest. pg has repeatedly written about this [0]. You can also choose to write technical posts.

Solving Math problems and competitive programming problems also enhace thinking.

Teaching is an underrated way, too. When you teach a hard concept, you really need to think a lot about how to get the idea across, how to make it accessible to different kinds of pupils.

[0]: https://paulgraham.com/writing44.html

starbugs · a year ago

I am not sure what exactly OP's condition is, but I can attest that writing will help to a degree regardless of whether you are overthinking, "thinking too little" or feeling unable to keep a chain of thoughts.

Generally, I'd like to learn more about what OP actually means. I would be pretty happy if I could stop my inner monologue most of the time. So I guess OP refers to the perceived inability to hold a chain of thought in their mind?

beezlebroxxxxxx · a year ago

I genuinely think they're being hyperbolic, or reaching for a metaphor, in order to regain agency. I'd wager his "inability to think" is an "inability to think for myself." Resolving the former is insurmountable (if not downright pointless because of the presuppositions involved; it's tilting at windmills), but resolving the latter is straightforward: read and write argumentative works more, study the structure of arguments, explain to yourself why one is more convincing than another, rinse and repeat. That follows with fixing a car just as much as it follows learning "how to think."

kingkongjaffa · a year ago

Writing is the most powerful way. I must recommend this blog at least once a month

https://notes.andymatuschak.org/zRbqwbnhmVdfLtKxMCibMoX

The whole site is full of high quality wisdom on note taking and writing.

boundless88 · a year ago

This is really awesome!

QuadmasterXLII · a year ago

Writing is absolutely the way. In the long term it probably helps with reasoning, but its medium term effect of mitigating memory issues is undeniable and in my opinion even more impactful.

I'm appalled at the amount of bad advice here. 12 hours and 35 answers after the question was asked there is only one correct response [1], plus one that doesn't really offer advice but asks followup questions that might lead them to a correct response.

The person says in their first paragraph:

> I had a neuropsych evaluation which commented on my poor memory and inability to think.

This suggests that something might be going on that is more than the usual reasons a person might feel that they aren't good at thinking. The usual reasons include inadequate eduction, lack of practice, lack of motivation, and similar.

Almost all the answers are suggesting ways that would be appropriate if the problem was due to one of those usual reasons.

Those are unlikely to actually help much if the problem is medical. Worse, they could lead to the person wasting time trying them instead of dealing with the medical problem.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=codingdave

__rito__ · a year ago

sfmz · a year ago

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...

binary132 · a year ago

I would definitely second sleep apnea treatment having a noticeable positive effect on mental capacity and clarity. I believe mine was actively getting worse because I had terrible brain fog and akrasia.

codingdave · a year ago

Your best move is to follow up with a medical practitioner on that neuropsych exam. They will be able to give you advice and treatment specific to your own situation. While we all can give advice, and it might help, if you are skipping professional help specific to your situation, you are ignoring the lowest hanging fruit.

ocean_moist · a year ago

I took a (turned into multiple) philosophy classes that forced me to explain hard concepts and my opinions on them to other people and then understand their perspective. I think this applies to many hard, deeply technical, subjects, but discussion is immensely popular in the pedagogy of philosophy.

The harder and more valuable part was putting those discussions into focused, clear, essays. I am a much better writer and thinker because of it.

The best way to learn how to think is to think. The way in which the quality of your thinking is best judged is in relation to other people. So just try a take your thoughts and try and put them in other people’s minds.

EpicNinja · a year ago

I agree that. I have learned to think since I started sharing a room with a friend who likes philosophy.

tzs · a year ago

wannabebarista · a year ago

Logic puzzles and taking notes.

The several comments suggesting mathematics and logic from scratch are spot on. This can be a bit overwhelming and dispiriting though. An alternative (or really a supplement) to an elementary proofs text is Raymond Smullyan's books of logic puzzles. Smullyan strikes the right balance between fun and substance.

The second idea is to try taking notes. Grab the latest copy of your favorite magazine (mine is Foreign Affairs) and write about the articles as you read them. What did the article say? How does it relate to the prior articles? Common topic? Contrary opinions? How does it relate to other things you've read in the past?

Asking these questions as you read can help to foster an internal dialogue and help you remember what you read and give direction on what to read next.

It's how I advise students who are reading academic papers for the first time and get overwhelmed by diving into the deep end of some subfield.

stephenbez · a year ago

How old are you? What is your highest level of education? What were your grades like? What’s your job?

What impact does the “in-ability to think” have on your life?

I once told my doctor that I thought I had a bad memory. He asked what grades I was getting and when I said A’s, he said don’t worry about it, you are fine. If you are considering reading Ulysses, a notably challenging book, I think you probably have an above average ability to think.

What did the neurologist say exactly? I don’t think inability to think is a medical diagnosis.

intellectronica · a year ago

Make predictions, documenting your process and updating regularly. Keep notes or use a free prediction market like https://manifold.markets/ and analyse your success and failures to learn.