Bill Gates: Reading Tricks From The Tech Mogul That Can Help You Decode Even The Toughest Things
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the most successful individuals, has a unique approach to learning and retaining information. When Gates seeks to grasp a subject thoroughly and remember it effectively, he doesn't limit himself to reading about the topic at hand. He delves into related subjects, creating a broad framework that he can use to place the new knowledge. This strategy, he explains in one of his video interviews, allows him to have a map with which to navigate through complex information.
Gates elaborates that if one is studying a field like science, it's advantageous to explore the history of science and learn about individual scientists, their challenges, and insights. «So, you have the timeline, or you have the map...the branches of science,» he emphasizes. This approach provides a cognitive structure that facilitates the assimilation of new information.
He goes on to emphasize that reading extensively helps create similarities between different topics, making it easier to understand and remember them. However, when faced with learning something entirely new without a pre-existing framework, the process becomes significantly more challenging.
Supported by Neuroscience
Recent research in neuroscience supports Gates' approach. A study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, involving 360 volunteers, revealed the inherent tendency in humans to seek patterns and similarities in the data they encounter. Participants were presented with rows of grey squares, some of which turned red, and instructed to press corresponding keys when this happened. The keys followed either a «modular» pattern, based on three linked pentagrams, or a «lattice» pattern, based on five linked
