How to improve critical thinking and awareness

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on difficulties in critical thinking and awareness during physics studies. The individual struggles to stay on topic when answering questions and often forgets material learned within weeks. Suggestions include taking time to think before responding and regularly reviewing past topics to reinforce understanding. The participant also describes a specific example of misunderstanding a fundamental concept in spatial translation, indicating a gap in comprehension despite prior study. Overall, the conversation highlights common challenges faced by students in maintaining focus and retaining information.
weirdlycool
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I'm studying physics, and I've covered calculus and general physics.

My problem is:
-My critical thinking is really not good.
-Whenever someone is asking me about say, object A, I would answer something that is not related to object A (I'm not aware of it until that person tell me that I haven't answered his question/ I'm out of the topic).
-I tend to forget the things I've learned in say, two weeks time.
-Typical problems of poor students

Do anyone know what my problem is? I'm not sure if this is just the common problem i.e. lack of focus or awareness. I feel that I'm focused in what I'm doing but still, somebody would tell me that I'm not in focus, etc. Can somebody recommend me a book or any tips on how to resolve and improve my skills? Thanks.
 
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weirdlycool said:
I'm studying physics, and I've covered calculus and general physics.

My problem is:
-My critical thinking is really not good.
-Whenever someone is asking me about say, object A, I would answer something that is not related to object A (I'm not aware of it until that person tell me that I haven't answered his question/ I'm out of the topic).
Maybe you're answering too soon; i.e., answering before thinking about what actually was asked. This is probably related to your first point, about critical thinking.
weirdlycool said:
-I tend to forget the things I've learned in say, two weeks time.
The fix for this is to go back and review the earlier topics. Doing something once is probably not enough to get the procedure firmly fixed in your mind.
weirdlycool said:
-Typical problems of poor students
Such as? Please elaborate
weirdlycool said:
Do anyone know what my problem is? I'm not sure if this is just the common problem i.e. lack of focus or awareness. I feel that I'm focused in what I'm doing but still, somebody would tell me that I'm not in focus, etc. Can somebody recommend me a book or any tips on how to resolve and improve my skills? Thanks.
 
weirdlycool said:
Whenever someone is asking me about say, object A, I would answer something that is not related to object A (I'm not aware of it until that person tell me that I haven't answered his question/ I'm out of the topic).
.

Too general. Can you give us a very specific example?
 
Mark44 said:
Maybe you're answering too soon; i.e., answering before thinking about what actually was asked. This is probably related to your first point, about critical thinking.
The fix for this is to go back and review the earlier topics. Doing something once is probably not enough to get the procedure firmly fixed in your mind.
Such as? Please elaborate
What i mean by typical problems of students are maybe out of focus, can't take up the problems very well and sometimes I tend forget what was just said by my professor. What do you think I should do?
 
micromass said:
Too general. Can you give us a very specific example?

For example, in the topic of spatial translation, given the translation operator T(α) and suppose I want to translate by a finite distance α, but finite translations can just be derived from infinitesimal translations ε. So we can construct α in the context of ε. T(α) = (T(α/N))^N as N→∞.
The professor asked me, if α is how much I want to translate and I wrote α/N as the infinitesimal rotation, how many times should I move to reach α? I answered α even though clearly it should be N so that (α/N)N, the N's cancel. These basic stuff that is already obvious, I still can't understand why I'm making those mistakes, at that time I'm sure that I'm correct but after some time when the professor keeps showing me the obvious and somehow the correct answer that is the time I will sort of realize that I'm wrong but still need time to realize the answer. I don't know what is wrong with me.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

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