strategy for acquisition of skills and knowledge that is both intense and self-directed
skill polarization
high skill and low skill jobs replace medium skill jobs, driving income inequality that increases at the extremes
Metalearning
how we think about learning itself
the map we draw for our learning
answer the why, what, and how of learning:
why: understanding motivation, can be driven through expert interviews to vet your project merits
what: knowledge and abilities required to be successful, can write concepts, facts, and procedures to be learned
how: resources, environment, method for learning, can benchmark against path that already exists (e.g., curricula) or emphasize/exclude by amplifying that which enables goals, omitting what doesn’t
Focus
ability to concentrate, can be broken up into starting, sustaining, and optimizing
procrastination:
recognize when you are doing it
get over initial unpleasantness of starting
pomodoro technique: 25 minutes on with 5 minute break
distraction:
2 states of focus: delivery practice and flow
large periods of focus might not be optimal, ~1 hour might be best
multitasking is not good for learning
environment, task, and mind are all sources of distraction
sustaining:
need right levels of arousal based on task at hand
Directness
learning being tied to situation or context you want to use your learning in
transference - learn something in one context and use in another
formal discipline theory - now defunct idea that brain is a muscle and general training has mental benefits
ways to induce directness:
projects
immersion
simulation
overtraining
Drill
isolate parts of a skill to focus on, then integrate those parts to the whole
practice skill directly, analyze skill and break into components to practice individually, then back to direct practice and integrate
Retrieval
trying to recall concepts from memory
it is better to try and recall something from memory (self-testing) than passively reading notes or creating a mental concept map
judgments of learning - how well we think we know something
desirable difficulty - retrieval is better learning if act of retrieval is successful
forward testing effect - retrieval helps general learning in the future as well
methods for retrieval:
flash cards: ideal for cue/response
free recall: remember as much as you can
question book: take notes as questions to be answered in review
self-generated challenge: create a challenge for later
closed book learning: draw concept map without the book
Feedback
more feedback isn’t always better – effect on motivation is key
feedback aimed at ego is less effective
best feedback is “informative and useful”
outcome feedback: binary feedback, are you doing it right or wrong, least granular
informational feedback - tells you what you are doing wrong but not how to fix it
corrective feedback - tells you what you were doing wrong and how to fix it
usually only available through coach or mentor
concentrate on the signal over the noise
assess how feedback is affecting learning rate (meta-feedback)
high-intensity, rapid feedback might be occasionally useful
Retention
forgetting curve - discovered by Ebbinghaus, initial forgetting spikes immediately after learning and lessens over time
theories on why we forget:
decay: memories disappear over time
interference: some memories overwrite others
forgotten cues: we forget the cue to bring the memory up
ways to retain memories:
spaced repetition: lots of science behind this, helpful for cue/response -> spreading retrieval over time leads to more effective learning
proceduralization: automatic memories are far more durable, so learn important, widely needed skills to automatic memories
overlearning: practice beyond what is necessary to succeed
mnemonics: access memories via keyword or spatial map (like memory palace) - a bit more brittle and limited in use cases than it appears
Intuition
having enough experience to be able to run new evidence against mental models to make predictions about how things work
methods for building intuition:
don’t give up on problems too easily
use concrete examples to check learning
ask a lot of questions
take time to actually prove things
think about how you would convey a concept to someone who doesn’t know, or, if it’s a problem, explain how you would solve it and why that solution makes sense
Experimentation
need to experiment to find your own path, differentiate yourself in master, and lessen the stagnation of skills after learning the basics
you can experiment with:
methods, resources, & materials for learning
what to learn after the basics
what style to use
growth vs. fixed mindset - growth mindset believes that humans can improve their inherent ability to learn, while fixed says that mental capacity is fixed
some ways to experiment:
copy, then create
A/B testing of methods
introducing new constraints
hybrid of skills (e.g., communication and programming)