Beast Mode Study Part II: Wrestle the Bear

<p><strong>DESIRABLE DIFFICULTIES<br></strong><br></p><p>Surely that’s an oxymoron. Surely only a deoxygenated moron would desire difficulties. Life is about finding the easy routes right? Tell me the right route requires relatively relaxing rambling. Desirable difficulties? Damn Daniel! Surely it’s a joke.<br> <br> Let’s break this down to its foundations.<br> <br> Desirable: wished for as being an attractive, useful, or necessary course of action.</p><p>Difficult:  needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand.<br> <br> Desirable – I suppose if the outcome or goal on the other side is attractive even if the initial study is as ugly as a drunk Blobfish. Useful, necessary…<br> <br> Difficult – needing much effort etc. Well I guess that’s the hang up word? Can’t we just find the easier trail? Maybe a travelator like the ones at the airport? Desirable simplicities. It may not be an alliteration but it rings okay I reckon. There must be a reason difficult study is desirable.</p><p><em>Looking up the definition to ensure this isn’t a misread.</em> <br> <br> From the Wikipedia definition: A desirable difficulty is a learning task that requires a considerable but desirable amount of effort, thereby improving long-term performance. ... Research suggests that while difficult tasks might slow down learning initially, the long-term benefits are greater than with easy tasks.</p><p>So it’s not a joke and the truth is, as plenty of research, study and I dare say your own anecdotes say, the most difficult learning periods yield the greatest results.</p><p>This term Desirable Difficulties, was coined by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Bjork">Robert A. Bjork</a>, a UCLA psychologist in 1994. I’m not sure of he is related to the beautifully weird Icelandic avant-garde pop icon Bjork.</p><p> So we’re talking about “beast mode study” methods. How does this apply? </p><p> <br> Last episode we talked about active vs passive recall. Just as passive recall methods may help with temporary