“Chunking is the ability of the brain to learn from data you take in, without having to go back and access or think about all that data every time. As a kid learning how to ride a bike, for instance, you have to think about everything you're doing. You're brain is taking in all that data, and constantly putting it together, seeing patterns, and chunking them together at a higher level. So eventually, when you get on a bike, your brain doesn't have to think about how to ride a bike anymore. You've chunked bike riding.” ThinkingKidsTogetherAbilityLevelsBrainSeeingHigherPatternsAccessInstanceDataRidingBikeDoing YouHigher LevelBike Riding Author:Kevin Maney
“When someone is in a state of flow, that person's brain is not thinking about anything - it's just processing things through chunks at a total instinct level. Athletes in a state of flow describe knowing what will happen just before it does - knowing how a defender will react to a certain move an instant before doing it. Of course, if you know what will happen, you can succeed at doing it, so an athlete in flow has a stand-out game.” IfsThinkingKnowsPersonsDoeStatesHappensMovingCertainCoursesGamesLevelsBrainKnowingSucceedFlowInstinctAthleteInstantStanding OutDefendersChunksProcessing Author:Kevin Maney
“Babies have not yet chunked anything. They aren't doing any high level thinking. All they're doing is sucking in all the data they experience in the world around them, and remembering it, raw. It's basically what extreme savants have happen in their brains.” ThinkingWorldHappensRememberLevelsBrainBabyExtremesDataHigh LevelSavants Author:Kevin Maney
“Our brains seem to have the power to do one or the other - record and remember every detail, or chunk it to higher level concepts and forget the details. We can't seem to do both. The fact that you could not fly over a city and remember every detail is not something to worry about.” FactsSeemsRememberForgetLevelsCitiesBrainWorryRecordsHigherConceptsDetailsHigher LevelChunks Author:Kevin Maney