#6 Brain Hacks - Learn through Analogies

You're smart and know a lot! This powerful technique will help you leverage what you already know to learn more deeply and more efficiently. Learn the science behind analogies.

Create analogies to connect new learning to what you already know.

An analogy is a comparison between two things for the purpose of clarification and explanation. When you personally take time to create an analogy, you link new material to ideas already in your brain.

• A simple way to create an analogy is to use a phrase like “This is like...” or “This reminds me of...” For example, if you're learning a new process, you might say, “This new process is like baking a cake.”
• Or you might create an analogy comparing a computer microchip to an architect's drawing of a home. Or for blockchain, picture a spreadsheet copied across a network of computers.

Creating analogies helps your brain more easily internalize, recall and apply what you're learning.

• This hack works because of the principles of contextual learning and generative learning.
• Research shows that memories aren't one singular item or fact but a collection of related items in your brain.
• The brain stores memories in a network of associations, connecting new material with things you already know and things that have been marked as important to you.
• When you link new material to existing knowledge, it conceptualizes the new information and unfolds the big picture.

This helps the brain store and retrieve new things even faster.

Find out more about these
techniques.