We've learned not to expect short inferential distances when explaining ideas we understand. We've also learned that leaping too far ahead when explaining ideas like transhumanism can freak people out.
I want to be really really good at explaining ideas. Does anyone have recommendations about how to figure out what the next inferential step is in another person's mind?
Categories which are not answers themselves but are areas in which I expect to find answers:
- Asking filter questions
- Social contexts
- Verbal cues
- Body language
Good question. Unfortunately, it seems that for recall, it's a case of "you either do or you don't", and this is probably where I'm most unique. The best advice I can give is to use the "Remembrance of Things Past" trick: think about any memory related to that time in your life, and see if you can trigger an association that leads back to what you were thinking then.
Very true. A good example is the definition of a limit in calculus. If you try to just read the formal, standard definition, your brain will feel like mush, but if you learn what the definition is trying to accomplish, all the variables it introduces suddenly make sense.