Shuvangkar Das, PhD

3 minute read

Do you need a great memory to excel? I used to think so. In college, my biology teacher once said that the most successful people possess two key qualities: (1) a good memory and (2) the ability to understand deeply. This notion stuck with me.

From a young age, I was responsible for grocery shopping. Often, I would forget half the items by the time I reached the market. My elder sister once teased me, saying, “If you can’t remember a few items, how will you be a good student?” This made me think, “She’s right.”

A good memory allows you to store a lot of information, which is undoubtedly useful. For instance, knowing the birth year of a historical figure. LOL!

However, the idea that having a poor memory is a significant problem might have been true 20 years ago. Today, we don’t need an excellent memory for everything. With all information at our fingertips, a quick Google search brings up anything we need. Many of you may have heard of ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Some symptoms include reduced attention span, lower patience, and less working memory than average. Yet, many people with ADHD are thriving; there are numerous examples of them becoming CEOs of million-dollar companies in Silicon Valley.

So, having a less-than-perfect memory is not a huge issue anymore. There are many apps and search engines even ChatGPT today to help us remember and retrieve information. But what about my teacher’s second criterion of “understanding deeply”?

This brings me to today’s main story. Let’s begin.

In simple terms, the human brain is a network of neurons. Biologically, the brain loves connections. When learning anything, the more connections we make, the better the brain understands. Besides performing essential bodily functions, our brain scans all types of information, compares current data with previous knowledge, and makes connections. This process leads to new ideas and deep understanding, which is why the phrase “connect the dots” is so popular now.

I have two favorite examples of learning through connections. Let me share the first one. The second one will be for another day. We learned the difference between arteries and veins in school. Do you remember which one has thicker walls? Comment below if you do. If you don’t, no worries; you won’t forget after reading this.

“Arteries have thick walls, are elastic, and do not have valves, whereas veins are less elastic, have thinner walls, and have valves” (ibid.). By elaborating on this difference and asking the right questions like “why?”, students can connect this knowledge with prior understanding, such as the function of the heart and pressure. Understanding that the heart pushes blood into arteries with significant pressure helps us realize why their walls need to be thicker than veins, where blood returns to the heart with less pressure. Valves in veins prevent blood from flowing backward. Once understood, these attributes and differences are almost inseparable from the knowledge of veins and arteries. This example is from Stein et al. 1984, 522.

We all know the heart circulates blood and creates pressure. Therefore, the arteries, which are connected to the heart, must have thick walls to withstand this pressure.

This demonstrates the importance of connections in learning. One of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs is, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”

If we keep small notes of what we learn daily and compare these notes with older ones, making connections like in the arteries and veins example, our learning process becomes much more effective. This entire concept is called the “second brain.”

Given that our brains love connections so much, is there any software that can help us connect externally and act as a second brain? As far as I know, two free apps were released in the Windows ecosystem in 2020: Obsidian and Logseq. Both are fantastic. The notes almost resemble a human brain.

I am so fond of the second brain concept that I created a YouTube video series about it..

The links to the video and the course are at the end of this post. If you’ve watched it, please give feedback. Constructive criticism is crucial for improvement, and positive feedback keeps the motivation high. Positive comments are welcome below, and for any negative feedback, feel free to message me 😛.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTmvRP1LI8sUi3AIMPGl3AiSSnl43E7N

Shuvangkar Das, PhD
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

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