Page 109 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

of information, accessed through a who le new set of navigat iona l pr inc ipl es,
patterns, and chunks of information, whi ch are soon followed by ano the r set of

principles and chunks designed to assist in the int erpr etation of the last.
Learning chess at this level becomes sitting with paradox, being at pe ace with
and navigating the tension of compet ing trut hs , letting go of any no tion of
solidity.

This is where things get interesting. We are at the moment whe n
psychology begins to transcend techni que. Everyone at a high level ha s a huge
amount of chess understanding, and much of what separates the gr eat from the
very good is deep presence, relaxation of the cons cious mind, whi ch allows the

unconscious to flow unhindered. Thi s is a nuan ced and largely misunde rstood
state of mind that when refined involves a subt le reintegration of the cons cious
mind into a free-flowing unconscious process. The idea is to shi ft the pr imary
role from the conscious to the uncons cious witho ut blissing out and losing the

precision the conscious can provide.
For a physical analogy, consider your vision. Let ’s allow the cons cious mind
to be represented by your area of visual focus, and your unco ns cious to be your
peripheral vision. Chances are you are sitting down readi ng thi s bo ok. Wha t

you see is the book. Now if you relax your eyes and allow your periphe ral vision
to take over, your visual awareness will take in much more, you can see thi ngs
that are well off to the side. Now, the next step is to refocus on the bo ok, whi le
maintaining a peripheral awareness. Thi s is a ski ll that some martial artists

cultivate for situations with multipl e oppo nen ts or other such unpr edi ctabl e
occasions. In a relaxed enough state of mind, you can zoom in on somethi ng in
front of you with great precision whi le maintaining a very shar p awarene ss of
your surroundings. Along these lines, chess pl ayers mus t let the unc ons cious

flow while the conscious leads and follows, sorting out details, put ting thi ngs
in order, m aking precise mathematical calculations .
Most people would be surprised to discover that if you compar e the tho ught
process of a Grandmaster to that of an exper t (a much weake r, but qui te

competent chess player), you will often fi that the Grandm aster cons cious ly
looks at less, not more. That said, the chunks of information that have be en put
together in his mind allow him to see much more with much less cons cious
thought. So he is looking at very little and seeing qui te a lot. Thi s is the

critical idea. I