Free The Power of Forgetting by Mike Byster Page A

two are kissing cousins. The ability to take untraditional shortcuts in math, see equations and words in a whole new light, and generally manipulate and capitalize on pattern recognition in the ways I’m describing in this book is the very stuff of perceptual intuition. What I love about this concept is that it celebrates the art of guessing from an intuitive side of ourselves that we rarely tap but that can be incredibly resourceful when we nourish and utilize it. Said another way, perceptual learning pushes you to get creative where you never had permission to get creative before, and it turns tradition on its head. It forces you to cast aside
—forget
—facts and data in favor of pure intuition. With perceptual learning, the door is wide open for breaking old rules and discovering new ones that will work for you just as well—or even better. When it comes to memory strategies, you have to find what works for you and stick with that. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. And this isthe soul of grooming the brain of a productive thinker who can become more effective by creating brain shortcuts that free up mental space.
    Perceptual learning also helps to address one of the most widespread problems I see in people, adults and students alike: the “I give up” syndrome. All too often I watch individuals try to solve problems by doing only what they’ve always been told to do, and if that doesn’t work they give up. They get stuck and refuse to think of other ways—kind of like hitting a wall in a maze and stopping right there rather than trying a different route. They also tune out their own inner gut instinct, which can be incredibly helpful and valuable. But with exercises and lessons based in perceptual learning, you’re forced to try what makes sense to you and, if that doesn’t work, to keep trying. You’re compelled to seek another way out, another path to the answer.
    Again, the brain is very good at sorting out patterns if you give it the chance and the right feedback. Sometimes it helps to remind yourself that the solution isn’t always the first thing you think of.
    So not only could there be multiple ways to solve a problem, but it may take time to find the best one that works for you. And in that regard, patience and determination become essential.
    The actual science behind perceptual learning is quite stunning. Extensive research has demonstrated that, with practice, neurons in certain areas of the brain specialize to identify these signature patterns. And finding such patterns frees up mental resources for deductive reasoning, which can then be used to check answers or to move on to harder problems. Is this another way of saying that perceptual intuitionis a new form of “cheating”? Not really. While it’s true that creating brain shortcuts is like developing useful “cheats,” they ultimately free up mental space, allowing you to reach a destination sooner. In other words, they let you tap the power of forgetting. Anything that enables you to forget the long road and take an effortless shortcut to a solution is a valuable tool in becoming an efficient thinker. Which is exactly why perceptual learning can be such an innovative, effective way of approaching problems and can outpace traditional problem-solving methods.
    It’s what a lot of highly successful people do, probably without even realizing it. Do professional basketball players really think through their steals and layups? Do doctors mentally thumb through their medical files and old textbooks when they diagnose a patient’s illness? Do singers, actors, dramatists, and public speakers have to focus intently on every single word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph they utter to get through their song, act, or speech? No, they don’t.
    They forget all that previously recorded data rely instead on their intuition, which of course is developed over time and entails practice. To use an analogy I mentioned before, perceptual learning is like