Often when I’m reading something very complex, I don’t understand it right away. So I sleep. The next day, I may still be overwhelmed. But I keep reading it again. And again. Little by little, as the days go by, things start to get chunked in my head. My working memory burden is alleviated by this chunking, so when I read it yet again, I start to get it. When I was in college, I would just quit reading highly complex reading material, like quantum physics or great literature, because I assumed I just wasn’t smart enough to ever understand it. As I get older, I realize that while there are so many people who are definitely smarter than me, that doesn’t mean I *can’t* get it. I can. It just take patience and enjoying chewing on things bit by bit. The brain has an amazing capacity for chunking, and once this happens, it can relieve roadblocks to cognitive processing. Just thought I’d share this life insight. Too many people give up too soon because they are comparing their rate of processing to others. That’s so not necessary. What’s the rush?
Scott Barry Kaufman
Psychologist | Author