How to Transfer Learning from One Situation to Another

To transfer learning effectively, it is important to abstract what is similar in multiple similar cases. A single case is not sufficient, but two cases or two cases with a diagram indicating relationships are better. However, going from abstractions to instances and vice versa is challenging. Until phenomena are experienced in a particular situation, they are often not believed, even if someone has the abstraction. Education mostly relies on vicarious learning through language and abstractions, so making it concrete is crucial. Experiences can be physical or through reading or conversations, and learning from other people's experiences is possible. When consuming information, we often consume abstractions, which may be an illusion of knowledge. Following someone else's abstraction may work when things go right, but it may fail when things go wrong because the abstraction is based on someone else's experience. To understand the knowledge better, it is important to ask questions about how someone came to their conclusions and to seek firsthand knowledge from the person who had the original experience or created the abstraction.