1. I submerge myself into that topic. I read blogs, I watch YouTube videos, I watch recorded conference videos, I talk to people working on that topic. I basically familiarize myself with that topic like I familiarize myself with a new place or the food of a new restaurant.
I just let all the information flow in. Slowly but surely.
I don't bother about getting it. I just learn about it.
When I am thus superficially familiar with the topic, interest and motivation is generated.
2. I then study good resources, the ones considered the best and most helpful- as I find them on relevant forums from real people. I read, I understand. 1 goes on in tandem. I don't intellectually cheap out on learning resources. I take notes on paper and occasionally study them.
3. I do. This is the single most important phase in my learning process. You can only learn properly if you do. I get hands-on practical knowledge and learn things that books or courses cannot teach efficiently. Makes 2 make much more sense, and makes 1 make total sense. Why I am doing something is extremely important. In this phase, I start noticing people who just talk superficially about that topic, like people generally do that about hot tech or quantum mechanics or macroecnomics but they themselves don't understand them well- the influencers, advocate s, popularizers, and the people trying hard to appear smart.
4. I talk about it and/or write about it. With the knowledge gained from amalgamation of 2 and 3, I talk in small groups, I write blogs. Really cement the knowledge and help me bridge gaps.
5. Doing, talking etc. goes on. I sometimes forget too theoretical knowledge that were on top of my head when doing 2, but not needed in the real world. I just have to go back. I am thinking of spaced-repetition or some other technique to remedy this. I am not sure if I should even remedy it.
This is how I do it.
Familiarize -> Learn -> Do
Oh, and I be patient. If I don't immediately gain satisfactory understanding of something (my standards are very high), I just be patient. As I know that the topics I know well, I have spent 2, 4, or even 10 years with some of them. Some things come slow.
And I always remeber when it comes to understanding something-
You must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool
1. I submerge myself into that topic. I read blogs, I watch YouTube videos, I watch recorded conference videos, I talk to people working on that topic. I basically familiarize myself with that topic like I familiarize myself with a new place or the food of a new restaurant.
I just let all the information flow in. Slowly but surely.
I don't bother about getting it. I just learn about it.
When I am thus superficially familiar with the topic, interest and motivation is generated.
2. I then study good resources, the ones considered the best and most helpful- as I find them on relevant forums from real people. I read, I understand. 1 goes on in tandem. I don't intellectually cheap out on learning resources. I take notes on paper and occasionally study them.
3. I do. This is the single most important phase in my learning process. You can only learn properly if you do. I get hands-on practical knowledge and learn things that books or courses cannot teach efficiently. Makes 2 make much more sense, and makes 1 make total sense. Why I am doing something is extremely important. In this phase, I start noticing people who just talk superficially about that topic, like people generally do that about hot tech or quantum mechanics or macroecnomics but they themselves don't understand them well- the influencers, advocate s, popularizers, and the people trying hard to appear smart.
4. I talk about it and/or write about it. With the knowledge gained from amalgamation of 2 and 3, I talk in small groups, I write blogs. Really cement the knowledge and help me bridge gaps.
5. Doing, talking etc. goes on. I sometimes forget too theoretical knowledge that were on top of my head when doing 2, but not needed in the real world. I just have to go back. I am thinking of spaced-repetition or some other technique to remedy this. I am not sure if I should even remedy it.
This is how I do it.
Familiarize -> Learn -> Do
Oh, and I be patient. If I don't immediately gain satisfactory understanding of something (my standards are very high), I just be patient. As I know that the topics I know well, I have spent 2, 4, or even 10 years with some of them. Some things come slow.
And I always remeber when it comes to understanding something-
You must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool
~ Richard Feynman