If it reduces your desire to click to copy them to cgoban, that's fine. But it's important that you solve them in your head - not on the clicky thing, not on a board, and not in cgoban. 4k problems should be very difficult for you to solve in your head at your level, so take your time and make sure you have it worked out before you place a stone anywhere! If you can't do that with the 4k problems, go back to easier ones.

Thank you very much guys. The reason I do harder problems than my level is because I have passed the others many times and slightly going up. Of course, solving difficult problems do not make me 4 or 3 kuy and I in no way can feel proud of it.

I've got a confession to make.
I do tsumego all wrong.

I know this is the 'wrong way', but it has helped my reading immensely. And when I look at something, I start identifying eyespace, and looking at a few likely variations for my first and second ideas. And I do all that without really 'visualizing' or 'thinking' about it heavily. I just 'know' that with that eyespace, this sequence of moves kills. It's made me stronger, but I don't know that I'm really 'reading' so much as making it instinctive to look at certain spots.

Grinding for Go:

I've got a confession to make.
I do tsumego all wrong.

The only time I read them out in my head is when I'm doing them on KGS or on this forum.
I use Smartgo for the Iphone, and I grind. I click the first spot, and if that's wrong, I click the second spot, then the third, then the fourth, that comes to mind. Then I try to figure out why the first second third, etc were wrong. Then I try to spot what makes the fourth stand out in the configuration. Then I move on.

I do this a lot. I mean, every day at work, I grind through problems I missed. Last time I erased my progress on the medium dificulty problems, I ground through in 3 days. The time before that had taken 3 weeks.

Right now I'm grinding the 1d+ problems on Smartgo.

I know this is the 'wrong way', but it has helped my reading immensely. And when I look at something, I start identifying eyespace, and looking at a few likely variations for my first and second ideas. And I do all that without really 'visualizing' or 'thinking' about it heavily. I just 'know' that with that eyespace, this sequence of moves kills. It's made me stronger, but I don't know that I'm really 'reading' so much as making it instinctive to look at certain spots.

Maybe I should start trying to read more in my daily grinds, but...

I kinda prefer it. I learn a lot of patterns, fairly quickly, and learn what to look for to refute the bad moves I looked at first. Sure, it's not for everyone, but, don't be afraid of just clicking. After all, the only way to learn to click on the right move first every time is to screw it up enough that you know all the wrong moves, and why they're wrong.

Just my thoughts.

CSam

CSamurai, this is my topic, stop going offtopic, or I will call the moderators! If you want help, post a new thread, but don't use mine!

He was questioning an assumption inherent in your original post, which is that you can only learn by reading every problem all the way out.

Reading all the way is the only rational way to improve.

Reading all the way is the only rational way to improve. Sure you can learn vital points, and it will help, but there is no substitute for reading. (Refer to signature.)

What is rational is to study in the way that best combines fun and improvement. If someone finds that doing tsumego isn't making him stronger, why is it "rational" to keep doing it? Why shouldn't he instead focus on shape knowledge, and practice his reading during serious games instead? I read deeper during a tournament match than I bother doing when I'm solving tsumego.

People learn differently. Proclaiming that there is one single "rational" way to improve is ridiculous.

Perhaps you misunderstand what I mean. At the most fundamental level reason is the pattern of thinking that allows one to achieve a desired result. One cannot say whether anything is rational or not without first considering the underlying, ultimately emotionally based, goal. Is it rational to want to live? From a strictly rational perspective, one cannot answer this question. But one can use reason to determine how best to survive. So the underlying assumption of my statement is that the learner wants to become as strong as he/she possibly can. If that is the goal, then reading EVERYTHING one can is necessary. If you do not care about getting stronger, then the best study path is irrelevant.

I think that Monadology was suggesting that there may be ways to become strong without practicing reading everything. For example, if it were possible to become ultimately strong by just practicing memorizing shapes, his point would be valid.

However, I am personally inclined to agree with you - if you want to become strong, you must read as much as you can. While I trust in this axiom, though, it is not proven (eg. It may be theoretically possible to become 9d by simply memorizing shapes - but I doubt it).