Nearly five years ago, I read this book, “Beginners,” by Tom Vanderbilt. In fact, I had written a review of it here. One of the many memorable learnings from there I had was that “The brain wants to be puzzled and learn something new. It likes learning for learning’s sake. Taking gaps in learning – and making mistakes again – solidifies learning.”

The point is that when you are learning something now, take a break after some time. And then come back to it again. The brain is rechallenged to learn, but already has a better basis. Making mistakes again and recognizing that the same mistakes were made before actually cements the learning in the brain for later recall.

I recently put that to the test.

About nine months back, I spent some time learning Morse code. As you can imagine, it was not easy for an old guy like me, and I would often confuse myself. After a few weeks, I stepped away from it.

And then picked it up again earlier last week. On the first day, I recognized some of my old mistakes (”F” and “L” – which one has the dash in second place and which one has it in third place? Or “G” and “W” – they are opposites of each other, but which one has the dot in the front and which one in the end?)

Funny thing… From day three onwards, it has been perfect recall. Every single time. I am reading sentences and writing them out in Morse code (by hand, not with a Morse machine) without making a single mistake.

Fascinating how the brain works.