Focusing Your Unconscious Mind: Learn Hard Concepts Intuitively (And Forever)

When learning a new concept, first start with the big picture and then proceed to learn about each specific detail that is part of the concept.

A good way to not get overwhelmed is to use the Black Box Method: assume that some parts are true without trying to understand why at first. I think a good analogy to this would be assuming that the gearbox of a car just works while you are trying to understand how the engine works.

After you learn one detail, move on to the next, until you are able to understand how they all fit together and make up the concept.

This means two things:

1. Actually care about the concept - this is pretty important. If you are passionate or have a goal in mind (such as an exam), this is easy. If not, a good tip from the video is to see the concept as a challenge (it should bother you that you do not understand it)
2. Make your brain think the problem is important - think about why the concept is useful. Try to spend a lot of time playing around with the concept, so that your brain thinks it’s important. If you do so, your unconscious brain will help you internalize the concept better even after you are no longer focusing on it

After understanding a concept, there are a few ways to make it stick:

1. Invent the concept yourself (when that is possible)
2. Practice - apply the concept to various things and use it solve hard problems
3. Explain - understand it well enough to be able to explain it to someone else (a great tip is to write about it and post it online)
4. Explore - think about various ideas related to the concept, try to change some parts of it and see where you end up, and question any assumptions you might have made

These hard concepts were invented by people, so you can learn them too.

Usually there are a few concepts you must learn as prerequisites before learning a particular concept, so learn those first. Then, if you put in the time and effort, you should be able to learn anything.