[Study Method 1] The futility of 'reading the textbook 3 times' proven by 100 years of data. 5 steps of 'brain harassment' to awaken your mind, reached by a civil servant with over 10 years of experience

Hello there!
Sending love from a corner of the government office, it's your 'professional' [Son of Tokiyu] 🦍🌈!

Everyone! What kind of study methods are you using!?

When I hear about the study methods of the young people who recently joined the ministry, they are logical, unlike when I was a professional.

When I was young and a professional, I was taught, 'Read the textbook three times before a test' and 'Draw a line with a red pen under the important parts.'

I would sit at my desk, dye the textbook in vivid colors with a highlighter, and turn the same page over and over again.

Each time, I would be intoxicated with myself, thinking, 'Alright, it's perfect. I am close to Einstein now.'

However, the latest science completely crushes this bittersweet effort of mine.

Let me start with the conclusion.

The study method of 'just reading repeatedly' was as futile as watering a desert with a watering can.

1. The '84% despair' that science points out

According to a survey of super-elite university students in the United States, a staggering 84% of students chose 'rereading' as their main study method.

We are all in the same boat.

I feel relieved.

However, the research results published by Professor Dunlosky and his colleagues in 2013 were heartbreaking for me.

After examining a vast amount of data spanning a hundred years, the effectiveness of rereading was branded as 'low'.

The experiment at the University of Colorado is even more gruesome.

When they tested a 'group that read the text twice' and a 'group that read it only once' two days later, there was no difference in the results.

I feel like asking my past self, 'What was the point of all that time I spent reading it a second time?'

2. The sweet temptation, known as the 'illusion of fluency'

Why do we professionals love this 'rereading' method, which is so ineffective?

That is because of a particularly sweet lie the brain tells itself, known as the 'illusion of fluency'.

When you flip through the same page two or three times, your brain gets used to the text.

As a result, you start reading it smoothly. At that moment, your brain smugly whispers this to you:

"Well, look at that, I'm reading it smoothly."

"That must mean I've memorized it perfectly!"

This is a trap.

You have only become faster at tracking the words with your eyes; the knowledge has not taken root in the deeper parts of your brain.

If you try closing the textbook and someone asks, "What did it just say?", you will find yourself gasping like a goldfish, unable to answer.

This is the true nature of 'thinking you know'.

3. The more you underline, the more your brain falls asleep

I used to underline my textbooks until they glowed with fluorescent pink, but apparently, that is also ineffective.

When you are performing the task of 'highlighting (underlining)', your brain might be thinking about 'which color should I use?', but it is not trying to 'understand the content'.

In fact, by applying color, you only get a mysterious sense of accomplishment that you've 'done the work,' and your brain shuts down as if to say, 'the ink will remember it for me'.

Copying notes into a notebook is the same.

When I was copying directly from the blackboard, my brain was dominated by thoughts like, 'I hope we have katsu curry for dinner tonight.'

Unless you summarize it in your own words, it just becomes a hand exercise.

4. The brain only evolves when it is 'struggling'

So, what should you do?

The keyword is 'desirable difficulty'.

In learning, ease is the enemy.

Suffering is your friend.

The human brain does not recognize information as important when it is input, but rather when you are desperately trying to output it, thinking, 'Oh man, what was it again? I can't remember... Oh, that's right!' It is only then that it recognizes it as something important and tosses it onto the long-term memory shelf.

In the field of learning science, this is called 'active recall'.

By struggling to remember, the brain's neural circuits are reinforced, 'what you don't understand' is brought to light, and the memory is clicked into place and overwritten the moment you make a mistake.

Putting a load on the brain is the same as muscle training.

There is no growth in learning without muscle soreness.

5. 'Harassing the brain' you can start today

Here are the steps recommended by a professional to graduate from re-reading and put a good load on your brain.

1. Blank paper reconstruction

The method is very simple.

Once you finish reading a chapter, 'close the book immediately'.

That's all.

Then, on a blank sheet of paper in front of you, scribble down everything you just read as much as you can.

Did you think, 'Wait, that's it?'

When you actually try it, you'll be surprised at how little you can write.

Even though you were reading just a moment ago feeling smart, thinking 'Hmm, I see, that makes sense,' the moment you face the blank paper, your mind goes as blank as Siberia in winter.

'Wait, what was that word again?' 'What did that diagram look like?'

At this moment, you should be struck by intense 'despair'.

You might feel like collapsing to your knees at your own lack of memory.

But actually, this very moment is an 'express ticket to memory'.

2. Self-questioning

Repeatedly ask yourself mean-spirited questions out loud, such as 'Why does it happen like that?'

You need to come up with questions that would make you think, 'I really wouldn't want to be asked that.'

A subordinate of mine who graduated from the prestigious Tsinghua University in China told me that he enjoyed playing the role of his own questioner by pretending to be a 'gal,' a 'genius,' or a 'joking Kansai person' all by himself.

Perhaps thanks to such ingenuity, he loves studying and boasts an incredible amount of knowledge.

3. The Protégé Effect

Now, after despairing in front of a blank sheet of paper, you need a final touch.

It is called the 'Protégé Effect.'

It sounds like a fancy French dish, but the substance is much more down-to-earth and is a truly delightful training method.

In short, it is a psychological phenomenon where 'outputting information with the intention of teaching it to someone else deepens your own understanding.'

Explain what you learned today to a stuffed animal with a smug look on your face.

If you get stuck while explaining, that is the point where you only 'thought you knew' it.

4. Hands-Free Review

So, you have scribbled on a blank sheet, repeated self-questioning, and passionately lectured a stuffed animal.

The last thing I want to share is a finishing technique that you can do anywhere and that produces the most brutal results.

It is called 'Hands-Free Review'.

Please don't think, 'Tokiyu's son has finally started saying weird things.'

This is an extremely hardcore method that allows your brain to show its true value during times when you are not sitting at a desk.

Specifically, during those empty moments like when you are taking a shower or drying your hair.

Dare to hold nothing in your hands, keep your smartphone away, and ask yourself in your head, 'How did that history sequence go again?'

You can do it anytime, such as on the train, in the restroom, or while drifting off to sleep.

Study time isn't just when you're sitting at your desk!!

~Stop coddling yourself~

They say that 'study time never betrays you,' but effort applied the wrong way will calmly stab you in the back.

Staring at a textbook for 10 hours and feeling like you've 'accomplished something' is just a lie you tell yourself because you're being too kind.

True learning is much grittier, less glamorous, and more frustrating.

However, that 'time spent writhing in agony because you can't remember' is exactly what turns your intelligence into the real thing.

Now, put down those brightly colored pens and close your textbook.

Give your brain the gift of what we call the ultimate 'load'.