Start here
Read a satisfying portion. Explain one important idea without looking. Check one gap. Use the idea in a new example. Return to it later.
This is my primary process for a book, topic, or philosopher. The learning work normally adds about 5–8 minutes to an ordinary reading session.
To customize it: “Use My Learning Process to make a custom learning process for [book, topic, or philosopher]. Check my existing notes and build from where I actually am.”
Book refresher command
Say “Give me a refresher on [book]” or use
$book-refresher [book]to create or resume a separate working note with recall questions, checked reading routes, and an optional essay assignment. This is the requested workbook option alongside the short in-note process below. Try the Crucible of War workbook.
Follow up with “Quiz me one question at a time,” “Read my refresher note and check my answers,” or “Review the essay in that note.” Ask to save feedback when wanted; original answers and drafts stay intact.
What this is meant to improve
The earlier assessment identified a gap between understanding an explanation with support and independently producing an argument when the situation changes. I already have notes about recall, spacing, and speaking. The useful next step is to practice a complete explanation, correct its weakest part, and try it in a slightly different situation.
A blank answer can mean missing understanding, a missing reason, retrieval difficulty, or trouble expressing the connection. The repair table matches the fix to the cause.
The aim is to enjoy reading while gradually becoming able to explain, connect, assess, and use what matters. Leisure reading can remain leisure reading. Use the full process for material I want to retain or apply.
The six steps
1. Choose one question and a small destination
Once at the beginning, about 3 minutes. Ask: “What do I want to understand, and what would I like to be able to explain or do?”
Write one sentence in the existing book or topic note. For example: “Explain Hume’s is-ought argument, give an example, and identify what it does not establish.”
Skim the contents or an overview to find a starting point. For a large topic, choose one bounded question first. Keep the larger map brief. I can change the question as I learn.
2. Read a manageable portion
Read to a natural stopping point: a section, an argument, a chapter, or a scene. A difficult paragraph can be enough. There is no required page count.
Mark only what I may need to find again: an important claim, a useful example, or a genuine question. Preserve a page or timestamp when available. Let the reading remain interesting; lengthy transcription can wait.
If the passage makes little sense, ask for a short explanation or worked example, then return to it. Supported understanding is a legitimate starting point.
3. Close it and explain one complete idea
About 1–2 minutes. Say it aloud by default. Live argument is the goal, and speaking is the hardest medium to fake. Handwrite or type only when speaking isn’t possible. Answer in connected sentences:
“The question is . The author thinks because . An example is .”
For an argument, include the reason that connects the claim to the conclusion. Remembering a label such as autonomy or is-ought is a starting cue; explain what work it does.
If I get stuck, use one cue or a brief worked explanation, then try again. Distinguish an answer produced with help from an independent answer. This attempt also helps reveal what I have not understood. ⁽1⁾
4. Check and repair the important gap
About 2 minutes. Reopen the source. Check the author’s actual claim, its supporting reason, and any qualification that changes its meaning.
Correct the most consequential gap in my explanation. Then say or write the corrected version once. I can record an unresolved question instead of solving every foundation immediately.
Keep the corrected insight and source location in the existing Obsidian note. Paper or Goodnotes can hold the rough attempt. There is no need to copy the same material into every tool.
5. Use it once, with a small change
About 2–3 minutes for an important idea. Choose one task:
- Apply it to an example the author did not use.
- Compare it with one relevant idea I already know.
- Give a serious objection and consider the author’s likely reply.
Name the connection explicitly: “This supports/challenges/differs from because .” Add a link to an existing note when the connection is useful.
Required for argumentative material
When the material takes a side on something contested (ethics, religion, politics, history with a thesis), also do this, whichever task above I chose:
- State the strongest opposing move in one line, as its advocate would put it.
- Give my own reply aloud in 30 seconds from my own position, not the author’s.
- Add the move to that topic’s move list. Example: Morality and Religion - Move Drill. If the topic has no list yet, start one with this move.
This is the step that turns reading into something I can say when someone else sets the cue.
If I am still learning what the author means, begin with an accurate example before attempting a rebuttal. I can understand a position without adopting it. Practice with changed examples is meant to help the idea travel beyond its original wording. ⁽2⁾
Example: after reconstructing the is-ought argument, test a new case: “Competition occurs in nature; therefore we ought to reward the strongest.” Identify the missing normative premise. Then ask whether the same requirement applies to an argument beginning with a fact about divine commands. Keep that application separate from what Hume’s passage itself proves.
6. Return briefly and move forward
At the next study session, spend 1–3 minutes explaining the previous idea before opening the note. Later, revisit the most valuable ideas after roughly a week; a further return around a month can help for material I intend to keep using. Adjust to actual difficulty and interest.
Change the cue: explain it to a friend, answer a differently phrased question, or use another example. Check the answer afterward. The goal is flexible understanding, not memorizing one script.
Use the existing Book Revisit panel in Command Center and Book Revisits (file not included in this release) for book reviews. Keep topic practice in its existing learning note or Speaking Reps. Select a few worthwhile returns rather than building another review queue. A missed return does not create catch-up homework.
Keep it light and enjoyable
Busy-day version: read, close the source, and say one useful idea in 30 seconds. If uncertain, check the relevant passage. That is a complete small session.
At a natural milestone, such as finishing a chapter cluster or the book, make a compact What I should retain section: the central question, a few essential ideas, one argument or interpretation with support, a useful example, and an open question. Let it accumulate from corrected attempts. Substantial book summaries should also follow the established retention guidance in Goodnotes and Obsidian - Reading and Review Workflow.
A voice memo, an explanation over a walk, a small drawing, or a conversation can be the output. Flashcards, essays, and elaborate maps are optional tools for a particular need. For argumentative material, the opposing-move step in Step 5 is not optional. Stop after one useful correction and a reasonable retry; continuing the reading is part of the process.
Adapt the task to what I am studying
| Material | A useful small output |
|---|---|
| An argumentative book | Explain the main claim, one supporting reason, and a qualification. |
| A history book | Explain what changed, why the author thinks it changed, and one piece of evidence. Use a short timeline or map when sequence or geography is the obstacle. |
| A philosopher | Identify the problem, reconstruct one argument, and distinguish it from one rival answer. Start with an accessible passage and a supporting explanation as needed. |
| A broad topic | Make a brief map of the main questions, select one, and compare two serious answers before expanding. |
| Fiction or poetry | Discuss a scene, image, character choice, or theme and support the interpretation with the text. Preserve room for ambiguity and enjoyment. |
If I get stuck, choose the matching repair
| What happens | Next move |
|---|---|
| I cannot explain it even with the note open. | Get a simpler explanation and one worked example, then reconstruct it. |
| I understand with the note open but go blank without it. | Use one cue, attempt a short answer, then return later with less help. |
| I remember the claim but cannot explain “because.” | Rebuild the missing premise or inference from the source. |
| I can repeat it but cannot handle a new case. | Work through one changed example and explain what stays relevant. |
| I know the pieces but speak in fragments. | Give a short whole response: answer, reason, example, qualification. Correct one part and retry. |
Enough to move on: I can give a broadly accurate explanation, show how its main reason works, and identify a limitation or question. Deeper foundational disputes can stay open while I continue learning. Fluent delivery and genuine understanding should be checked separately.
Instructions for making a custom learning note
Use this note as the general method. An existing subject plan still supplies its sources, sequence, and recorded progress. The customized plan should fit that subject and my starting point.
Copyable request for the assistant
Use My Learning Process to build a manageable learning process for [book/topic/philosopher], aimed at [what I want to understand or do].
- Read this guide and the relevant existing vault notes. Reuse demonstrated progress and identify what remains uncertain. Do not treat guided answers as independent mastery or restart completed work.
- Put a short Learning process section near the beginning of the existing book/topic note. Do not create a separate plan note. For a contested topic, point to its move list, or start one, rather than writing a longer plan. Keep this general guide primary.
- Give me one clear goal and about 2–4 short stages for the next bounded unit, using actual passages, chapters, or resources. Specify one small output per stage. Use verified page numbers when available; otherwise use a reliable chapter or section. Keep any larger curriculum outline brief.
- Make the first exercise about 5–10 minutes. Put Next action near the top. Include a worked example when needed, then let me attempt a complete explanation before feedback. During coaching, give one main correction and one retry with a changed cue or example. Ask follow-up questions one at a time, within a bounded exercise. Avoid extending the plan into a chain of prerequisite quizzes.
- Connect the ideas to useful existing notes, distinguish the author’s claims from my views and AI synthesis, and leave unsupported conclusions open. Keep source citations usable in Obsidian. If the note analyzes a supplied video or debate, put its complete supplied transcript at the bottom.
- Include a compact retention section and a few targeted recall/application prompts. Reuse the existing review system. End the first exercise with a clear stopping point; record only work I actually complete. Create no automatic reminders.
How this fits the existing vault
This guide combines the useful parts of the existing methods into the default sequence above. The older notes remain available for their specific purposes:
- Process to Read a Book: Adler’s questions, inspectional reading, and optional deeper work on important books. Its older output quotas are extended reference material.
- Memory Retrieval Techniques and Active Learning: the wider collection of recall and study techniques.
- Goodnotes and Obsidian - Reading and Review Workflow: handwriting, source preservation, visual exercises, and the established book-summary retention section.
- How to Study Like a Philosophy PhD Student - ParkNotes: detailed primary-source and seminar study methods.
- Adversarial Debate Prep - A Learning Method and Speaking Reps: stronger opposition, argument testing, and formal spoken practice when the goal calls for them.
- Learning Checklist: the earlier extended learning-and-writing checklist.
- Morality and Religion - Learning Path: an existing subject-specific plan whose progress and open foundations should be preserved.
Session log
One row per session, written right after it. Helped means I needed a cue, the note, or feedback before I could give the answer. The log is evidence the process is actually running; a run of empty weeks is the signal to look at, not something to catch up on.
| Date | Idea or move | Independent or helped | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
Brief research basis
These studies support practicing reconstruction and application. The exact time limits and six-step format above are a practical adaptation for me, not a protocol tested as a whole. The studies concern educational materials; they do not establish that recalling an argument makes it true or that one exercise guarantees philosophical understanding.
1. Reconstruction: Jeffrey D. Karpicke and Janell R. Blunt, “Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping”, Science, 2011. In the reported science-text experiments, retrieval practice benefited later comprehension and inference performance.
2. Changed examples: Andrew C. Butler, Allison C. Black-Maier, Nathaniel D. Raley, and Elizabeth J. Marsh, “Retrieving and applying knowledge to different examples promotes transfer of learning”, 2017. The authors’ abstract reports four experiments in which applying concepts to different examples improved later transfer to new examples. Abstract consulted.