{"id":23650,"date":"2015-03-12T16:57:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T20:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=23650"},"modified":"2015-03-12T16:57:23","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T20:57:23","slug":"having-fun-with-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/03\/12\/having-fun-with-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Having fun with learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

It sounds like an oxymoron, I know, but I think it\u2019s really important to have fun with your studies. There are a few reasons for this. On the one hand, you\u2019ll have an easier time studying and learning if you like studying and learning. You may also be able to remember things better<\/a> through fun and humour, than you would with other brute memorization and learning techniques. It might also make that content you learn more accessible for the non-academic community<\/a> (we\u2019re all about the social transmission of knowledge these days). For me, it helps to understand content if I can learn it in a fun way.<\/p>\r\n

So, that said, here are the top five ways I have fun with my learning.<\/p>\r\n

1. Weird associations. <\/strong>Sometimes you remember things through associations. We used to be taught the order of the planets by thinking \u201cmy very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas\u201d (though these days, she probably just serves us noodles<\/a>).\u00a0When I try to remember which ancient Greek philosopher came first, Plato, Aristotle, or Socrates, I just picture them all hanging out in a spa together, talking about the [im]plausibility of each other's theories: S-P-A, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. These are simple ones, but they get continually more bizarre as time proceeds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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2. Bad puns.<\/strong> This Valentine\u2019s Day, I wrote and tweeted 288 philosophy-related pickup lines; and, in general, I\u2019m always making bad puns. Like weird associations, bad puns help me to make more connections with the things I\u2019ve learned, while having a lot of terrible fun doing so. Now, whenever I learn a new concept, I try to keep in mind how I might be able to turn it into a pun.\u00a0Trying to recall some geneaology of Ancient Greece? Try the line: \"Is your father Charmantides? Because you're Gorgias.<\/a>\" And then, when trying to remember the father's name, just run by (1) and make an association: I think of Charmander <\/a>the pokemon, because the pick up line is supposed to imply that the other is also hot.<\/p>\r\n

3. Songs<\/strong>. I\u2019ll leave this one to Sarah's latest post<\/a>. But while I never sing outside of the shower, I constantly have songs stuck in my head. Why not<\/a> make them<\/a> educational<\/a>?<\/p>\r\n