Een chunk (letterlijk ‘brok’) is een verzameling elementen die sterke associaties met elkaar hebben. Samen vormen ze een betekenisvolle informatie-eenheid. Die chunks, groot of klein, gebruiken we in ons interne informatieverwerkings- en geheugensysteem. Ons brein houdt namelijk van logica en voorspelbare patronen. Het opdelen van informatie gebeurt automatisch en continu, maar kan ook bewust worden ingezet. Dat heet doel-georiënteerde chunking.Ons brein kan slechts een aantal zaken opslaan in het kortetermijngeheugen. Maar door veel gegevens te groeperen in kleinere brokjes informatie, kunnen we de limieten van ons geheugen uitdagen. En dus meer informatie verwerken en onthouden.

he problem of reading scientific texts seems to lie in the fact that here one needsnot a short-term memory but a long-term memory in order to gain reference pointsfor distinguishing the essential from the unessential and the new from the merelyrepetitive. But one cannot remember everything. That would be memorization. Inother words, you have to be able to read highly selectively and pull out widelyinterconnected references. One must be able to understand recursions. But howdoes one learn this, if no instructions can be given; or at best aboutconspicuousness (as in the previous sentence for example “recursions”, but not“must”)?Perhaps the best method is to take notes – not excerpts, but condensedreformulations of what has been read. The re-description of what has already beendescribed leads almost automatically to the training of an attention for “frames”,for schemes of observation or even for conditions that lead to the text offeringcertain descriptions and not others. In doing so, it is useful to always consider:What is not meant, what is excluded, when something specific is asserted? Whentalking about “human rights”: What does the author distinguish his statementsfrom? From non-human rights? From human obligations? Or culturallycomparatively or historically from populations that do not know human rights andcan live with them quite well?

Multiple-choice questions test nothing but passive-recognition knowledge, not active usable knowledge.

12. Creativity and Pattern RecognitionTrigger Type: Creative triggerCreativity involves generating novel and original ideas or solutions. When you’re engaged in creative endeavors, you’re challenged to think outside the box, explore unconventional approaches, and break away from routine thought patterns. Pattern recognition refers to the ability to discern meaningful patterns or connections within information or experiences. It involves finding order and coherence in complexity and identifying recurring themes or elements. Pattern recognition is crucial in various activities, such as problem-solving, artistic expression, or learning new skills. Creativity and pattern recognition complement each other in the flow state, leading to a profound sense of engagement. Creative insights often emerge from recognizing patterns and making connections between seemingly unrelated elements.

We know from modern neuroscience that prediction is a core property of human intelligence. Perhaps the game of predict-the-next-word is what children unconsciously play when they are acquiring language themselves: listening to what initially seems to be a random stream of phonemes from the adults around them, gradually detecting patterns in that stream and testing those hypotheses by anticipating words as they are spoken. Perhaps that game is the initial scaffolding beneath all the complex forms of thinking that language makes possible.

But it's not a trivial problem. I have compiled, at latest reckoning, 35,669 posts - my version of a Zettelkasten. But how to use them when writing a paper? It's not straightforward - and I find myself typically looking outside my own notes to do searches on Google and elsewhere. So how is my own Zettel useful? For me, the magic happens in the creation, not in the subsequent use. They become grist for pattern recognition. I don't find value in classifying them or categorizing them (except for historical purposes, to create a chronology of some concept over time), but by linking them intuitively to form overarching themes or concepts not actually contained in the resources themselves. But this my brain does, not my software. Then I write a paper (or an outline) based on those themes (usually at the prompt of an interview, speaking or paper invitation) and then I flesh out the paper by doing a much wider search, and not just my limited collection of resources.