BECOME YOUR TEACHER

Today I want to share with you how I study theory, retaining as much information as possible.

Humble beginnings

Throughout my school years, I disliked studying. I’ve always been told that working is harder than studying, but when I started at 17, I realized that I preferred working eight hours a day instead of drowning in books!

It took me a while to understand that the problem was not the topic I was supposed to study, but how it was presented… and also that I was a lazy teenager without a purpose in life, but that’s another story!

Demotivated teachers, who had no more passion for their job, never put the information into a real context and failed to express the value of their lessons. Most of the high school teachers I met were extremely prepared, but also extremely boring! So boring to transform something amazing like history into a teenager’s worst nightmare! History and science are the most awesome and boring things at the same time… depending on who’s talking about it!

Commitment to the mission

I never blamed my teachers for my academic failures; that’s on me. But when I became an instructor, I promised myself that I would never commit the same mistake! My students deserve my best effort to help them retain the information, regardless of how tired, bored, or uninspired I feel that day!

Giving theory classes became more complex when I started to teach decompression and cave diving. I wanted to find the most efficient and entertaining way to transmit this life-saving knowledge to my students, without inducing a narcoleptic state!

My strategy

I started to make experiments on myself, finding the best way to learn and memorize. I have the attention span of a decapitated chicken, so if it works for me, there is hope also for you!

I spent many months out of the water because of decompression sickness and other health issues. I used this time to deepen my knowledge of many diving-related topics, and I created a sort of encyclopedia that I am still working on. In this period, I perfected my learning abilities, and now I have my bulletproof technique!

When I approach a new topic, I write notes that I will organize as a presentation. These outlines can be used to refresh my knowledge, but also to teach a class. I don’t just take notes; I rearrange the content into an easy, short, and focused essay with bullet points, specific examples that apply to my dives, and also some colorful expressions and jokes that work as trigger words to recall the memory of that topic.

To possess the knowledge about any topic, I cannot simply rely on memory; it has to make sense. Therefore, I need to understand why it is important in my specific context and how it works.

My initial notes will be divided into two groups. First, I will need a general understanding of the topic and its correlation with other subjects. Then, I will focus on the specific details that apply to my environment.

At this point, I will have enough material to create a presentation that will be understandable for me in the future and also for my students. It’s very easy to feel confused reading our old notes, especially if trying to teach it to someone else!

A rewarding conclusion

Let’s make an example! Let’s take an “easy” topic like nitrogen narcosis and see how we can master our knowledge.

After collecting material online and from diving manuals and medical articles, we can organize our notes!

Step 1: the “why”

Nitrogen narcosis will affect our ability to think and respond during deep dives, pretty relevant!

Step 2: General “How”

Nitrogen is an inert gas, which is only relative to our metabolism, and doesn’t imply that there are no other effects on the body. The physiological effects of a gas depend on its partial pressure.

Partial pressure is determined by the ambient pressure and the percentage of gas in a mixture.

Air is 79% N2 and 21% O2. When using other mixtures, we want to calculate our equivalent narcotic depth.

Nitrogen is an anesthetic gas, and at a partial pressure of about 3 BARs it begins to have sensible narcotic effects.

Nitrogen will bond with the neurons in our nervous system, and decrease the following functions:

• Receiving signals from our senses, including our limbs.
• Elaborate on those signals in the brain.
• Send out a response to take action.
• Remember what happened.

Nitrogen narcosis is making us dumber and slower, and we can also forget what happened.

The deeper we go, the stronger it is, and we can have total anesthesia or narcotic shock if we descend too much.

As we ascend and the partial pressure decreases, the narcotic effect will disappear within a few minutes.

Step 3: Very specific “how”

The neurons have axons and synapses. The axon is like a tentacle, and the synapse is a little ball at the end of it that faces the other synapses of the nearby neurons.

The neuron sends an electric message through the axons. When it arrives in the synapse, it triggers a chemical signal that is released towards the next receiving synapse.

There are two types of signals, actuator and inhibitor, like a binary code. The nitrogen bonds with the chemical receptors on the surface of the synapse. It locks the actuator receptors in favor of the inhibitor receptors.

Now, through your nervous system, all the ZEROs are flowing, and many of the ONEs are stopped… There is no action happening; we are numbed, narcotized!

Step 4: Examples and funny details

“Divers who claim they never experienced narcosis at 40mt/140ft were more narcotized than the ones who felt it… That’s science! When narcotized, we are slower, more stupid, and we even forget it.”

“Being exposed to nitrogen narcosis is almost like being drunk! Being used to get drunk helps with the feeling of being narcotized, but it doesn’t reduce the effects… You just stress less about it! Drinking too much is bad!!!”

“The great thing about narcosis is that you can have fun as if you drink, but once you ascend shallower than 25mt/80ft, you have no hangover to deal with the next morning! Kids, don’t try!!!”

Now it’s your turn!

Considering that in life, the only person who really listens to every word you say is you! let’s make an effort and find a good way to communicate with ourselves. Our brain is a computer that we need to learn how to use. Find the best way to study and retain information, and always pretend you are teaching yourself, instead of being just a passive receptor of information.

Take responsibility and get the job done, because only taking notes gives a conclusion to a learning process, not closing the book when you are done reading! Your notes must be excellent. Make sure you will understand the stuff you wrote; you owe this to your future self!

Tomorrow you can start your journey to become a real diving nerd!

Now turn off your computer and go to bed!