On turning passive-knowledge into active-knowledge

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“How do you turn passive-knowledge into active-knowledge?”

“Let’s take Opportunity Cost as an example.

By understanding what the concept means, you turn it into passive-knowledge. You shelf it away, add it to your knowledge collection, rarely to be seen again, until you encounter it again.

One way to turn it into active-knowledge is by thinking about it. We could call this deliberate priming. You’ve thus made it more readily available. It’s like you temporarily shelf it on the front row where you can see it all the time.

For instance, it can serve as a reminder of the hidden cost behind EVERYTHING we do, most notably as relates to the most precious of resources: time [<link; short length].

Another way to turn it into active-knowledge is by turning it into a mental model, a tool. You’ve thus given it immediate practical application.

For instance, you can use it for evaluation, to determine the value of an activity.

Ask yourself always,

What is the opportunity cost?

To amplify the effect,
bring to mind the Macro level,
the finitude of life, that there is an end,
your Values and your Purpose,
and then bring to mind the deeply meaningful things you could be doing, or you could have done instead.

The more specific and vivid the better.

FEEL it.”

“So you’re contrasting it with the things that are most meaningful to you, on the background of the Macro level.”

“Yes. Contrasting is another mental model.

Combining mental models is an Art/Game [<link; short] in itself.”