Barbara Oakley. (№ 424850)

When you are trying to absorb new material, you need to learn it. Teach it diligently, focusing your attention on it. Then take a break, or at least briefly focus on something else. During this apparent relaxation, the brain is in a "scattered" state, which allows it to continue to work in the background to help you see the whole problem. As if it were neural cement that had been allowed to dry. If you don't, if instead you try to memorize the material, then the foundation on which your knowledge is built will look something like this: a messy heap of fragmentary information is an unstable foundation.