The learning methods and training details of Harvard's top students

Chapter 16 The most comfortable thing is not to be a slave to study (1)
(Harvard representative: Emerson) Be friends with Plato, Aristotle, and truth.

——Harvard School Motto

【Wonderful Guide】

Emerson biography

Emerson (1803-1882), an American prose writer, thinker, and poet, was born in a priest family in Boston and graduated from Harvard University at the age of 17. In 1826, he entered Harvard Divinity School to study.

During his study at Harvard University, he read a large number of works of British Romantic writers, which enriched his thoughts and broadened his horizons. After 1832, Emerson traveled to various European countries, got acquainted with the pioneers of Romanticism Wordsworth and Coleridge, and accepted their transcendentalism, which had a great influence on the formation of his ideological system.

In 1837, Emerson published a famous speech titled "American Scholar", announcing that American literature had become independent from British literature, and warned American scholars not to let academic habits spread, not to follow tradition blindly, and not to engage in pure imitate.In addition, this speech also criticized the money worship in American society and emphasized the value of people. It was hailed as the "Declaration of Independence" in the field of American thought and culture.

In 1840, Emerson served as the editor-in-chief of the transcendentalist publication "The Sundial", further promoting the transcendentalist thought.Later, he compiled his speeches into a book, which is the famous "Proceedings". The first volume of "Proceedings" was published in 1841, including 12 papers including "On Self-Help", "On Oversoul", "On Compensation", "On Love", and "On Friendship".Three years later, the second volume of "Proceedings" was also published.This work has won Emerson a great reputation, his thought is called the core of transcendentalism, and he himself has been dubbed "the leader of the American Renaissance".In addition to the "Essays", Emerson's works include "Representatives", "Characteristics of the Englishman", "Poems", "Cinnamon Day" and other poems.

Emerson is a prose writer, a thinker, and a poet all in one. His poems and prose are unique, focusing on the content of his thoughts but not too much on the gorgeousness of rhetoric. raw style".

【Character Story】

skepticism in learning

When Emerson was 11 years old, he began to learn geometry from his father. His young mind always had endless questions, and he always doubted the correctness of axioms. Actively think about its correctness.

Once, his father taught him another axiom. Seeing him absent-minded, he asked, "Emerson, didn't you want to know this axiom a long time ago? Why don't you listen to my explanation now?" Emerson The student did not raise his head, his eyes were still fixed on a certain place on the ground, and he said slowly: "Yes, I am very interested in this axiom, and I have wanted to learn it for a long time, but what you said just now is not the same I thought it was completely different before, I was very disappointed, I don't think it should be like this." And told his father what he thought.My father couldn't help laughing, and said: "Don't think about it, just memorize it." Emerson looked at his father disapprovingly and said, "No! I don't understand, how can I memorize it by rote? Besides, I used to do it If it has been tested, this axiom is not correct.” The father couldn’t help but smiled wryly: “Why do you do experiments on everything? Axioms are generally accepted truths that don’t need to be proven. If they can be explained, how can they be called axioms? What about it?" Emerson said, "Is it true that axioms must be reliable because they are recognized by everyone? Is what the predecessors said must be true? I don't think so." The father has nothing to do with his stubborn son, and he can't persuade him , I had no choice but to follow him and say: "Okay, you said you did the experiment, then prove it and let me see."

When Emerson heard this, he suddenly became energetic. He jumped up and ran back to his room quickly.After a while, he dragged out a heavy box, which was full of various experimental tools made by himself.Emerson took out the homemade trapezoidal plank and cylinder from the toolbox, took out his notebook and pencil, and calculated stroke by stroke.Emerson did not succeed in overthrowing the axioms in the books. After all, he was only a teenager, but Emerson's bold skepticism and learning attitude that did not easily believe in books and dared to boldly seek proofs were of great importance to him in the future. had a huge impact on its success.With this spirit and learning attitude, he finally successfully entered Harvard University to study and became a famous writer.

【Harvard view】

Learn easily so that you will not be enslaved by learning
Real learning is easy, and only when we learn easily can we have happiness. At the same time, learning easily will also make our learning more efficient and better.

If we want to learn easily, we must master effective learning methods. When studying, we must be able to combine work and rest and arrange our time reasonably.

Harvard psychology experts believe that adequate sleep time is required every day: 9 hours for junior high school students and 8 hours for high school students.In order to study better, you must ensure at least 8 hours of sleep every day in order to have sufficient energy to study efficiently.

A person's energy is like a spring. If you pull it away within its elastic limit, as soon as you let go, it will spring back and return to its original state.But if you pull indefinitely, beyond the elastic limit of the spring, when you let go again, it will not return to its original shape.

If you don't get enough sleep, "overstudying" every day is like exceeding the "elastic limit". After a long time, it will definitely affect your health.At the same time, due to the continuous working time of the brain for too long, it will be exhausted, so that the study will feel very tired, let alone easy, and the learning efficiency will be greatly reduced.Our brain is in a state of alternating excitation and inhibition every day, that is, the cerebral cortex is excited during learning, and as the learning progresses, the excitement gradually weakens and inhibition occurs, which requires the brain to be rested.

If you feel very tired while studying, take a short nap, so that you will be in good spirits, because you will immediately fall asleep when you sleep at this time, so the quality of sleep is very high, and you can replenish your energy immediately. After the energy is replenished, your learning efficiency will improve , learning has become relatively easy.

The rest time during study should not exceed 10 minutes as much as possible, because if it exceeds 10 minutes, it will be difficult to calm down.For example, the study time throughout the night is a whole, and it is best to cut with a 10-minute break.

If you can take a nap in the middle of the day, you will feel more refreshed in the afternoon and evening.

When you are tired from studying, you should take a rest immediately, and you might as well do some physical exercise at the same time.This is an active rest method, which is very helpful for improving learning efficiency.In fact, only when you combine work and rest can learning become easier.

[Easy interaction]

1. Think about it, do you think your study is easy?
2. During the daily study process, do you have guaranteed sleep time?

3. Have you ever had any of the following situations during your studies?
Often feel tired, especially after a night's sleep, and still feel tired after waking up in the morning, or have unexplained extreme fatigue.

Laziness, reticence, depression, reluctance to communicate with others, flustered, depressed, restless, angry, etc.

Loss of appetite, headache, insomnia, etc.

Decreased learning efficiency, inattention, memory loss, etc.

If it basically meets more than two of the above questions, and no other reasons can be found, it means that your study has been overloaded, and it is time to pay attention to adjustments.

【Parent-child total product】

The best way to deal with study overload is to take an immediate break or a half-break to slow down your learning progress.What kind of rest to take depends on the specific situation.for example:
1. Go for a walk in a park or somewhere with a pleasant view.

2. Get a good night's sleep.

3. Keep a diary.Regardless of whether the writing style is smooth or the words are perfect or not, write out your distress.

4. Visit close friends and have a chat with the world.

5. Participate in cultural, entertainment and sports activities that you like.

6. Take sleeping pills in the short term to facilitate adequate rest.

7. Divert attention and cultivate interests such as stamp collecting, collecting, planting flowers and plants, and singing.

【Harvard view】

(End of this chapter)