How To Learn From Your Mistakes

Mr. Simborg made a good point. I have experienced the same frustration trying to learn from my computer backgammon game (Gnubg). However, the process he used to switch from memorizing to learning was not well explained. I would like to know more about where he got the advice he really needed. Does he have a lot of friends he corresponds with on a regular basis? Did a few key pieces of advice about how to manipulate Snowie help? Did he pay for a tutor? Information like this would be very helpful.

Great article Phil, and thanks for all of the time you devote to sharing your experiences with the rest of us. Another interesting thing to consider is what we look at in the Snowie analysis. I used to click from error to error reviewing each and trying to understand where my misconception was. But it is not only the errors that need reviewing. What about the plays where we made the right choice, but were unsure? It is very interesting to see how close the other choices under consideration actually were. Or, sometimes it is just helpful to review our correct choices and to understand why they were correct, therebye reinforcing a possible uncertain decision.

Thanks for the information - all of you. It was very helpful in filling out my understanding of "learning" from my mistakes. I do read and follow the comments on matches from another site. The exercise is very helpful, but I often feel like I'm just shooting in the dark. Without some experienced guidance on a regular basis, the learning curve seems to be a bit steep. Not that I'm not willing to tackle it, just that it seems more hit or miss.

Good article! Now I'll have to check out that "dice" button myself!

Ray