Memorizing is a task of system 2 (thinking). The best method for memorizing is spaced repetition, for all we know. Absorption is the task of system 1 (intuition). We have no clue when system 1 decides to absorb some stuff.
Absorption is not the preferred method of system 1, since it consumes mental resources. The priest who used a cheat sheet for a prayer he had to pray every day, still needed the sheet after 25 years.
Only a serious effort by system 2 would have freed him from his cheat sheet . Probably one evening of serious training with system 2 would have been enough to free him forever. It's a bit like striking a match. If you don't add enough initial energy, it will not ignite.
If you don't realize that you hit a barrier and underestimate the value of an effort by system 2, you tend to procrastinate it or even think it is not necessary at all.
The absorption itself by system 1 is effortless. It only doesn't ignite when system 2 is not making an effort that is serious enough. With enough attention. With enough focus.
The three movers in tactics contain enough material to chew on. Just grabbing the concept of a pin or a double attack is not enough. You must dive in deeply with system 2 until you clarified every detail. What does every move do in detail? Leave no stone unturned. 7 circles is way too few.
You will find that you need to get back to the same problems over and over again. You peel the layers of the onion, and you memorize layer by layer.
Until the words of system 2 start to become an unnecessary burden. They are way too slow and impractical to describe the whole solution. Then you get the feeling that you already know what the position is about. Instantly. That is the sign that you reached the right level of absorption. Instantly. No delay.
Do you remember the forehead of Tom Hanks from the previous post? If you look at caricatures, you often think "I know that guy, but I can't come up with his name!" Somehow you must install the cues in system 2. So that thinking with system 2 leads to the automatic retrieval of everything that system 1 can bring up. The task here is to let logical thinking be your guide (system 2), and your intuition (system 1) be it's assistant.
Somehow, faces are so important to us, that system 1 decides to absorb them no matter what. While prayers and chess positions are not so high on the ladder of importancy. So we must force matters by deliberate practice.
I think focus and repetition are an integral part of absorption, although (obviously) it does not occur under conscious control of System 2. Consider the FFA recognition of Tom Hank’s face based on a partial caricature (his forehead and the various nooks and crannies of his hair line). After watching a single Tom Hanks movie, you will have seen his entire face from several different angles – front, left side, right side, perhaps even from the rear. Why would this absorption occur? Because it can be vitally important for survival to be able to “read” the clues displayed on another person’s face. You give no logical thought (“intention”) to “repeating” or “memorizing” the various clues and attaching them to a specific person. There are ALSO emotional connections (“triggers”) that are made via the “story” that is being told. That makes it much easier to associate the collection of images with the name and the person, so that (eventually) you will correctly recognize the entire face from just seeing a small portion of it. The process is automatic; you don’t have to employ System 2 for it to occur.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been solving some really difficult problems of late, simply because that is where I’ve gotten to in various books. What I’ve found is that I can “see” the contours of the various tactical devices in the starting position but not necessarily the order in which to play them – unless I recognize the entire problem as one that I have attempted and solved many times. In that case, the answer flows into conscious grasp immediately.
The problem with this approach is that by-and-large, each of those complex problems is unique “one-of-a-kind” solutions. I can always go back to the position again and again, “seeing” the same tactical devices AND the order in which they must be applied for that one problem, and NOT being able to utilize that same solution for any other problem.
I’ve noticed that things seems to go better if I begin each solution search with just becoming consciously aware of the SALIENT surface clues – PoPLoAFun. This is similar to the FFA partial recognition of a face. It is NOT the same thing as trying to identify candidate moves; that comes much later in the process. An integral component is to utilize the GM Tisdall notion of “stepping stones”. Just LOOK at what’s obvious, then start combining those “clues” using the concept of forcing moves to prioritize the individual moves. As soon as one (or more) tactical devices has been completed, then pause, fix that new position firmly in mind, then look for the next most forcing device that can be applied. Some new lines of attack and required squares will almost always be available that were NOT “visible” in the starting position. Repeat this process until reaching a point at which the result is obvious. (I try NOT to end my exploration when I conclude that tactical quiescence has been reached; at a bare minimum, go one more move beyond quiescence before considering the position to be “final.”)
The difficulty in DOING this process consistently is that logically thinking about a step-by-step process simultaneously with doing the process itself causes interference. It also requires hard mental discipline to stay focused, which is where I find I have the most trouble. I “see” the contours and (too often) ASSUME I have seen everything required to completely solve the problem/position.
Repeating puzzles helps to ingrain the solution AND the process of “seeing” the solution – IFF you view the position and “see” something new/additional each time you solve it – and that you are consciously aware that you have seen something new/different. If that “AHA!” feeling does not happen, then you have wasted your time.