Fixing the rules in my mind

[donger]

Dear Powerscore,

I am rereading the Logic Games Bible and it states that I should "fix the rules in my mind." I interpreted that as I should internalize the rules such that I memorized them without referring back to my main diagram. As such, it takes quite a lot of time to do so -- relative to simply plotting them on the main diagram after having memorized half of them and looking back to the main diagram when necessary. My question concerns the extent to which I should fix the rules in my mind and what exactly fixing the rules in my mind means. Sometimes there are a significant number of rules and it seems impossible to memorize of all of them in reasonable time.

Thank you!

Donger

[BethRibet]

Hi Donger,

Thanks for the thoughtful question. It's absolutely in your interests to be able to refer back easily to your main diagram. Nor is it practical to rely exclusively on memory about the content of the rules; you can review the written version, and any abbreviated diagram notes you've made of them freely.

When the Bible says "fix the rules in your mind", I would interpret that to mean:

1) Be as clear as possible about what the rules say
2) Take just 5-15 seconds to go over them again mentally after you've diagrammed so that your recall as you proceed will hopefully be a bit faster

Keep in mind that your main diagram is meant to capture everything you can infer from the rules, as well as anything explicitly stated that can readily be fixed on the diagram. But with rules that have conditional statements for instance, your main diagram may not represent everything you need to know from the rules (though additional notes, or diagrams that map out possibilities may), so if you were to rely only on the diagram, it might slow you down.

Ideally you want to have the content of the rules in mind, so that you don't have to keep thoroughly re-reading them with every question (though you may still reference back when needed), have a complete and carefully constructed diagram, and any secondary diagrams (for instance, templates, or those that map out possibilities, or particular rule scenarios), and reference between all as needed, depending on the question at hand.

I hope that helps!

Beth