# Ultralearning ## Metadata * Author: [Scott H. Young and James Clear](https://www.amazon.comundefined) * ASIN: B07K6MF8MD * ISBN: 0008305706 * Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K6MF8MD * [Kindle link](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD) ## Highlights Directness is the practice of learning by directly doing the thing you want to learn. Basically, it’s improvement through active practice rather than through passive learning. The phrases learning something new and practicing something new may seem similar, but these two methods can produce profoundly different results. Passive learning creates knowledge. Active practice creates skill. — location: [60](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=60) ^ref-21663 --- You can know every fact about an industry and still lack real-world expertise because you haven’t practiced the craft. — location: [67](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=67) ^ref-19868 --- “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”* — location: [70](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=70) ^ref-29553 --- “In many fields a year of focused work plus caring a lot would be enough.”* — location: [105](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=105) ^ref-4905 --- Start speaking the very first day. — location: [196](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=196) ^ref-46791 To me this means to just execute the learning. Initiate ths proccess of developing the skill. Do so immediately, knowing that the beginning will be incredibly error filled and yet build greater comprehension. To break it down simply, the sooner you get started the better. --- Lewis was fearless, diving straight into conversations and setting seemingly impossible challenges for himself. — location: [199](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=199) ^ref-7057 Fearlessly intelligent, courageously curious. --- Spaced-repetition software — location: [257](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=257) ^ref-63605 Investigate this software for personal uses. --- Eric Barone, however, decided to work on his game entirely alone. — location: [282](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=282) ^ref-60053 Reference this for Aaron at Cafe Vita. --- When he encountered a difficulty in his art, he broke it down: “I asked, ‘What goal do I want to reach?’ and then ‘How might I get there?’” — location: [296](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=296) ^ref-16069 Question yourself. What are you doing? Why are you doing what you are doing? --- Barone released Stardew Valley in February 2016. — location: [308](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=308) ^ref-59202 --- Ultralearning: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense. — location: [432](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=432) ^ref-2182 --- Your deepest moments of happiness don’t come from doing easy things; they come from realizing your potential and overcoming your own limiting beliefs about yourself. Ultralearning offers a path to master those things that will bring you deep satisfaction and self-confidence. — location: [458](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=458) ^ref-53828 Self-mastery and self-development manifest actual happiness. --- mastering the art of learning hard things quickly — location: [461](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=461) ^ref-6295 --- Therefore, even for those who do go to college, there are very often skill gaps between what was learned in school and what is needed to succeed. — location: [496](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=496) ^ref-23953 Theory vs practicality or actual experience. --- However, those same professionals don’t stop learning when they leave school, and so the ability to teach oneself new subjects and skills remains essential. — location: [504](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=504) ^ref-34298 Continued self-directed education & self-development is essential to building long-lasting success. --- spaced-repetition systems — location: [515](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=515) ^ref-58146 Investigate for personal needs. --- Instead it was a compelling vision of what they wanted to do, a deep curiosity, or even the challenge itself that drove them forward. — location: [543](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=543) ^ref-16029 Personal motivation and self satisfaction over finances. --- The best ultralearners are those who blend the practical reasons for learning a skill with an inspiration that comes from something that excites them. — location: [548](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=548) ^ref-7238 --- The ultralearners I mention should serve as exemplars you can use to see how a principle applies in practice, not a guarantee that you can achieve an identical result with identical effort. — location: [590](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=590) ^ref-3855 There will be various methods and strategies mentioned. We will need to discern what works for us. --- The core of the ultralearning strategy is intensity and a willingness to prioritize effectiveness. — location: [601](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=601) ^ref-31362 Similar to exercise protocol, intensity of the workout and training to failure yield the greatest results. Thus in this instance we are doing likewise for our mental and intellectual muscles. --- Principles allow you to solve problems, even those you may have never encountered before, in a way that a recipe or mechanical procedure cannot. — location: [718](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=718) ^ref-11085 To me this means to understand the core concepts of Ultralearning. As foundational, fundamental elements can be built upon or applied in various ways depending on the task/problem. --- Ultralearning, in my view, works best when you see it through a simple set of principles, rather than trying to copy and paste exact steps or protocols. — location: [721](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=721) ^ref-11315 Lego intelligence, understand the bare building blocks & practical creativity are limitless. To create, configure or design based upon whatever need allows you to expand your boundaries ceaselessly. --- There are nine universal principles that underlie the ultralearning projects described so far. — location: [726](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=726) ^ref-6089 Come back to this and document in greater detail. --- If you know exactly why you want to learn a skill or subject, you can save a lot of time by focusing your project on exactly what matters most to you. — location: [851](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=851) ^ref-53225 --- Breaking things down into concepts, facts, and procedures can enable you to map out what obstacles you’ll face and how best to overcome them. — location: [853](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=853) ^ref-62846 --- Instrumental learning projects are those you’re learning with the purpose of achieving a different, nonlearning result. — location: [860](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=860) ^ref-37123 --- Intrinsic projects are those that you’re pursuing for their own sake. — location: [864](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=864) ^ref-36057 --- If you’re pursuing a project for mostly instrumental reasons, it’s often a good idea to do an additional step of research: determining whether learning the skill or topic in question will actually help you achieve your goal. — location: [868](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=868) ^ref-37309 --- A good way to do this is to write down on a sheet of paper three columns with the headings “Concepts,” “Facts,” and “Procedures.” Then brainstorm all the things you’ll need to learn. — location: [903](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=903) ^ref-51607 Execute this to develop a base level understanding of what needs to be done and the current state of your knowledge or expertise. --- Once you’ve finished your brainstorm, underline the concepts, facts, and procedures that are going to be most challenging. — location: [923](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=923) ^ref-49662 --- Benchmarking and the Emphasize/Exclude Method. — location: [940](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=940) ^ref-35708 Follow up on these concepts more. These are what we'll be actually using for learning execution. --- Expert Interview Method — location: [950](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=950) ^ref-39231 --- For conceptual subjects or topics where you may not even understand the meaning of the terms in the syllabus, it’s probably better to stick closer to your benchmark until you learn a bit more. — location: [957](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=957) ^ref-10219 Work your way up to it. Don't be discouraged by what you do not know. Rather be encoursged by the awareness and retification of this brief gap in skill/knowledge/expertise. --- The Emphasize/Exclude Method involves first finding areas of study that align with the goals you identified in the first part of your research. — location: [958](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=958) ^ref-23940 Meaning, this should ensure that anything being processed for learing should be directly related to the end goal. Otherwise it is a distraction and loss of productivity. --- The second part of the Emphasize/Exclude Method is to omit or delay elements of your benchmarked curriculum that don’t align with your goals. — location: [962](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=962) ^ref-11075 Practicality of learning expertise. Once again, in learning to learn, the development should focus of functionality related to end goal. Don't get lost in extreme mastery to the point of niche insanity. --- You know when you’re procrastinating, so just get started. — location: [974](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=974) ^ref-20389 Alas the core root of my problem. --- A good rule of thumb is that you should invest approximately 10 percent of your total expected learning time into research prior to starting. — location: [976](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=976) ^ref-49799 I've ways struggled with time management. I need to possibly investigate this aspect more. --- Law of Diminishing Returns. — location: [997](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=997) ^ref-58711 --- If you keep doing research, eventually it will be less valuable than simply doing more learning, so at that point you can safely focus on learning. — location: [999](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=999) ^ref-13058 This is what I will work on in my self development. I will begin to execute action towards self mastery. --- Success in one project will give you confidence to execute your next one with boldness and without self-doubt and procrastination. — location: [1008](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1008) ^ref-29985 This is why I must get started for myself. Identify what I want to do first, why, what and how. Do so willingly and immediately. --- Now I will have less distraction. —Leonhard Euler, mathematician, upon losing the sight in his right eye — location: [1020](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1020) ^ref-23553 Indeed, less distractions. --- Why do we procrastinate? The simple answer is that at some level there’s a craving that drives you to do something else, there’s an aversion to doing the task itself, or both. — location: [1072](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1072) ^ref-19529 This is my struggle. I just dont know where to start and if I do, anxiety keeps me from executing. --- Make a mental habit of every time you procrastinate; try to recognize that you are feeling some desire not to do that task or a stronger desire to do something else. — location: [1081](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1081) ^ref-11162 Follow up with this. Procrastination is an issue I need to better work on and identify why I do as mentioned later in this chapter. --- Therefore, a good first crutch is to convince yourself to get over just the few minutes of maximal unpleasantness before you take a break. — location: [1092](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1092) ^ref-26931 Just getting started and doing the task is an area I struggle with. Communicate with yourself, identify the mental blockers & implement this crutch. If we can do the 1st five minutes, this will be the beginning of the pathway to self mastery. --- the Pomodoro Technique: twenty-five minutes of focus followed by a five-minute break. — location: [1098](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1098) ^ref-59871 Ive encountered some success in the past using this method. Allow us to focus with greater intent and begin executing this as a part of your workflow. --- Therefore it was a conscious habit, not merely spontaneous studying, that enabled her many successes. — location: [1112](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1112) ^ref-2796 Effort, dedicated and direct is required for specialization. In order to do this, we must be deliberate about actions and time taken. --- Don’t ever feel bad if you have to back up a stage, either; you cannot control your aversions or tendency to distraction, but with practice you can lessen their impact. — location: [1116](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1116) ^ref-48437 Now that we have the awareness, let us remember that as long as we have this workflow, we can always find a way back to learning. There will be doubt & distraction, now however we have methods to work moving past it. --- This resistance to what is natural may make flow harder to achieve, even though it is ultimately beneficial for accomplishing your learning goal. — location: [1137](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1137) ^ref-11034 Dont focus on flow state as much as focusing on the actual learning itself. As flow state isnt the goal, it is a byproduct of the applied learning experience.Meaning, to me, it occurs in aplication moreso than in the moments of learning/mastery. --- Investments made in pushing through learning now will make skillful practice a much more enjoyable activity down the road. — location: [1142](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1142) ^ref-38137 This is the focus, to learn to persevere when faced with difficult obstacles. Flow is a facet of this feature. That is to say, flow will become simpler to engage with the practice of deliberate focus to learn. --- Similarly, the phenomenon of interleaving suggests that even within a solid block of focus, it can make sense to alternate between different aspects of the skill or knowledge to be remembered. — location: [1147](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1147) ^ref-25141 This allows for the neural pathway to be walked in the same direction & adds a small detour around related topics or concepts to the core skill being mastered/learned. --- What’s needed is a proper balance. To achieve it, fifty minutes to an hour is a good length of time for many learning tasks. — location: [1151](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1151) ^ref-33346 Timing & scheduling dedicated learning sessions. Pomodo method may be best option for me in this aspect. For I struggle with focus and am learning I need an intense direct focus on whatever I am processing. --- More intense strategies, whether solving problems, making something, or writing and explaining ideas aloud, are harder to do in the background of your mind, so there are fewer opportunities for distractions to creep in. — location: [1178](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1178) ^ref-32098 --- This means that if you’re struggling with problems in your life, you’ll have a harder time learning well, and you may want to look at dealing with those first. — location: [1183](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1183) ^ref-35233 Unstable emotional state means decreased ability to process information for learning purposes. Thus stabilize foundational aspects of oneself in order to further improve upon them. --- Here the solution is to acknowledge the feeling, be aware of it, and gently adjust your focus back to your task and allow the feeling to pass. — location: [1188](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1188) ^ref-55679 Practice mindfulness, breathing techniques and other therapy based solutions for recentering oneself. --- If instead you “learn to let it arise, note it, and release it or let it go,” this can diminish the behavior you’re trying to avoid. — location: [1195](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1195) ^ref-24113 --- Taking a break from the problem can widen the space of focus enough that possibilities that were not in your consciousness earlier can conjoin and you can make new discoveries. This is a scientific explanation of “Eureka!” moments occurring during leisure or while falling asleep, instead of while at work. — location: [1220](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1220) ^ref-27038 --- This implies that you may want to consider optimizing your arousal levels to sustain the ideal level of focus. — location: [1230](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1230) ^ref-55133 Identify the use of tools such as sound supressing earbuds to assist in this aspect. --- Directness is the idea of learning being tied closely to the situation or context you want to use it in. — location: [1287](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1287) ^ref-52808 Practical application of skills, expertise or mastery or key and essential. Theory whole useful in many a creative endeavor arent as valuable with material application; the ability to impact reality. --- In all these cases the problem is the same: directly learning the thing we want feels too uncomfortable, boring, or frustrating, so we settle for some book, lecture, or app, hoping it will eventually make us better at the real thing. — location: [1295](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1295) ^ref-33485 The reality is greatly this. To be fearful of executing or implementing oneselves true desires. Complacency is death. --- the principle of directness asserts that it’s actually while doing the thing you want to get good at when much of learning takes place. — location: [1320](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1320) ^ref-21391 Practice is learning. Leaning is practicing. Direct mastery means being willing to work on what your working on. To apply what is being learned in order to develop a base level of comprehension. In doing to this increases specialization of the ability attempting to be acquired. --- The easiest way to learn directly is to simply spend a lot of time doing the thing you want to become good at. — location: [1322](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1322) ^ref-5860 I did this initially with learning Linux. It was so new and refreshing from the computing experience I had. How can I tap into that mindframe again? To restore myself in that aspect. --- It happens when you learn something in one context, say in a classroom, and are able to use it in another context, say in real life. — location: [1340](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1340) ^ref-21619 Theory vs Practical. --- The psychologist Robert Haskell has said in his excellent coverage of the vast literature on transfer in learning, “Despite the importance of transfer of learning, research findings over the past nine decades clearly show that as individuals, and as educational institutions, we have failed to achieve transfer of learning on any significant level.” He later added, “Without exaggeration, it’s an education scandal.” — location: [1345](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1345) ^ref-56235 --- Wilbert McKeachie, in reviewing the history of transfer, noted that “Transfer is paradoxical. When we want it, we do not get it. Yet it occurs all the time.” — location: [1378](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1378) ^ref-36395 --- Haskell suggests that a major reason is that transfer tends to be harder when our knowledge is more limited. As we develop more knowledge and skill in an area, they become more flexible and easier to apply outside the narrow contexts in which they were learned. — location: [1383](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1383) ^ref-28158 --- a project to produce an original paper applied learning more directly than simply trying to read a lot of books without creating anything. — location: [1452](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1452) ^ref-28823 This is why I need to continue to take notes, organize them & create a manuscript. --- cognitive features—situations where you need to make decisions about what to do and cue knowledge you’ve stored in your head. — location: [1467](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1467) ^ref-11063 --- flexibility to adopt imagined perspectives. — location: [1543](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1543) ^ref-37305 Writing under the guise of these personas. --- Learning, I’d like to argue, often works similarly, with certain aspects of the learning problem forming a bottleneck that controls the speed at which you can become more proficient overall. — location: [1552](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1552) ^ref-35860 --- By identifying a rate-determining step in your learning reaction, you can isolate it and work on it specifically. — location: [1561](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1561) ^ref-36852 Iterative practice. Practically perform the skill to identify areas for improvement, retention or to move to next phase/aspect. --- That was Franklin’s insight that allowed him to rapidly improve his writing: by identifying components of the overall skill of writing, figuring out which mattered in his situation, and then coming up with clever ways to emphasize them in his practice, he could get better more quickly than if he had just spent a lot of time writing. — location: [1563](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1563) ^ref-33289 This is the difference between mastery/specialization and merely learning a skill at face value. To truly become a thought crafter. --- The reason is that when you are practicing a complex skill, your cognitive resources (attention, memory, effort, etc.) must be spread over many different aspects of the task. — location: [1570](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1570) ^ref-5067 --- A drill takes the direct practice and cuts it apart, so that you are practicing only an isolated component. — location: [1580](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1580) ^ref-23620 --- Direct-Then-Drill Approach. — location: [1585](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1585) ^ref-52033 --- As you approach mastery, your time may end up focused mostly on drills as your knowledge of how the complex skill breaks down into individual components becomes more refined and accurate and improving any individual component gets harder and harder. — location: [1600](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1600) ^ref-53816 --- Drills require the learner not only to think deeply about what is being learned but also figure out what is most difficult and attack that weakness directly rather than focus on what is the most fun or what has already been mastered. — location: [1665](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1665) ^ref-56354 --- that something mentally strenuous provides a greater benefit to learning than something easy. — location: [1672](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1672) ^ref-23968 --- The act of trying to summon up knowledge from memory is a powerful learning tool on its own, beyond its connection to direct practice or feedback. — location: [1731](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1731) ^ref-9470 Per other resources, such as Make It Stick & Learn Better, this statement appears to be true. Retrieval practice is essential for learning retention. --- judgments of learning (JOLs) — location: [1741](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1741) ^ref-61289 --- desirable difficulty.5 More difficult retrieval leads to better learning, provided the act of retrieval is itself successful. — location: [1756](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1756) ^ref-32994 --- Giving someone a test immediately after they learn something improves retention less than giving them a slight delay, long enough so that answers aren’t in mind when they need them. — location: [1760](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1760) ^ref-27660 --- Difficulty, far from being an obstacle to making retrieval work, may be part of the reason it does so. — location: [1762](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1762) ^ref-2531 Walking the neural pathway takes effort. Thus offering the greater reward due to this challenge engraining the information similar to how footpaths occur when walked enough times. This deliberate practice is what creates the learning and develops mastery. --- An interesting observation from retrieval research, known as the forward-testing effect, shows that retrieval not only helps enhance what you’ve learned previously but can even help prepare you to learn better. — location: [1780](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1780) ^ref-1230 --- An analogy here is that trying to retrieve an answer that doesn’t yet exist in your mind is like laying down a road leading to a building that hasn’t been constructed yet. — location: [1786](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1786) ^ref-47380 --- The research is clear: if you need to recall something later, you’re best off practicing retrieving it. — location: [1793](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1793) ^ref-37256 --- Direct practice alone can fail to encourage enough retrieval by omitting knowledge that can help you solve a problem but isn’t strictly necessary to do so. — location: [1814](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1814) ^ref-4461 --- By taking notes as questions instead of answers, you generate the material to practice retrieval on later. — location: [1847](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1847) ^ref-55979 --- By preventing yourself from consulting the source, the information becomes knowledge stored inside your head instead of inside a reference manual. — location: [1866](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1866) ^ref-27437 --- deliberate practice, a scientific theory of the acquisition of expertise initiated by K. Anders Ericsson — location: [1913](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1913) ^ref-30987 --- Kluger and DeNisi argue that the discrepancy is in the type of feedback that is given. — location: [1929](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1929) ^ref-51543 I want to review and notate this further, later. --- Ultralearners need to be sensitive to what feedback is actually useful and tune out the rest. — location: [1941](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1941) ^ref-13221 --- Fear of feedback often feels more uncomfortable than experiencing the feedback itself. As a result, it is not so much negative feedback on its own that can impede progress but the fear of hearing criticism that causes us to shut down. — location: [1952](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1952) ^ref-3247 --- In particular, I want to consider three types of feedback: outcome feedback, informational feedback, and corrective feedback. — location: [1966](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=1966) ^ref-23315 Return to this and elaborate upon it. --- This illustrates that ultralearning isn’t simply about maximizing feedback but also knowing when to selectively ignore elements of it to extract the useful information. — location: [2035](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2035) ^ref-60129 --- “Applied studies using actual classroom quizzes and real learning materials have usually found immediate feedback to be more effective than delay.” — location: [2041](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2041) ^ref-29863 --- For hard problems, I suggest setting yourself a timer to encourage you to think hard on difficult problems before giving up to look at the correct answer. — location: [2057](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2057) ^ref-48417 --- Basically, you should try to avoid situations that always make you feel good (or bad) about your performance. — location: [2084](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2084) ^ref-17729 Its a balance between motivation and challenge. To be good enough to seek out and accomplish more difficult tasks. To know that both failure and success are options. Focusing on not what is simpler to achieve but what will bring forth grander achievements. --- metafeedback. This kind of feedback isn’t about your performance but about evaluating the overall success of the strategy you’re using to learn. — location: [2088](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2088) ^ref-42534 --- If your learning rate is slowing to a trickle, that might mean you’re hitting diminishing returns with your current approach and could benefit from different kinds of drills, difficulties, or environments. — location: [2093](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2093) ^ref-53644 --- High-intensity, rapid feedback offers informational advantages, but more often the advantage is emotional, too. — location: [2102](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2102) ^ref-1398 --- Being in such a situation also provokes you to engage in learning more aggressively than you might otherwise. — location: [2105](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2105) ^ref-28671 --- Though short-term feedback can be stressful, once you get into the habit of receiving it, it becomes easier to process without overreacting emotionally. — location: [2112](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2112) ^ref-10686 --- active recall and rehearsal. — location: [2179](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2179) ^ref-13425 --- decay, interference, and forgotten cues. — location: [2219](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2219) ^ref-5327 --- proactive interference and retroactive interference. — location: [2236](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2236) ^ref-33118 --- spacing, proceduralization, overlearning, or mnemonics. — location: [2279](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2279) ^ref-51217 --- When it comes to retention, don’t let perfect become the enemy of good enough. — location: [2310](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2310) ^ref-38437 I swear I need to work on this particular phrase... --- Scheduling this kind of maintenance in advance can also be helpful, as it will remind you that learning isn’t something done once and then ignored but a process that continues for your entire life. — location: [2315](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2315) ^ref-8244 --- declarative-to-procedural transition of knowledge — location: [2356](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2356) ^ref-12869 --- Because direct use of a skill frequently involves overpracticing certain core abilities, that kernel is usually quite resistant to forgetting, even years later. In contrast, academically learned subjects tend to distribute practice more evenly to cover the entire curriculum to a minimum level of competency in each area, regardless of the centrality of subtopics to practical applications. — location: [2373](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2373) ^ref-56232 --- active recall, spaced rehearsal, and an obsessive commitment to intense practice. — location: [2436](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2436) ^ref-7984 --- Do not ask whether a statement is true until you know what it means. —Errett Bishop, mathematician — location: [2444](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2444) ^ref-50686 --- The surface features of a problem don’t always relate to the correct procedure needed to solve it. — location: [2518](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2518) ^ref-57838 --- One way you can introduce this into your own efforts is to give yourself a “struggle timer” as you work on problems. — location: [2566](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2566) ^ref-44925 --- This process of following along with one’s own example forces a deeper level of processing the material as it is being presented. — location: [2611](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2611) ^ref-31367 --- intuitive understanding. — location: [2623](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2623) ^ref-15022 --- This can occur because when you lack knowledge about a subject, you also tend to lack the ability to assess your own abilities. — location: [2633](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2633) ^ref-27310 Thus assume you do not even if you do. That is to say, as Feyman did, demonstrate it to yourself. Prove the answer exists by working it out and processing it. --- In this instance, it’s very important to go through the problem step by step alongside the explanation you generate, rather than simply summarizing it. — location: [2682](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2682) ^ref-23638 This reminds me of Learn Better or Make It Stick. Find accompanying reference on "generation" with regard to learning a new topic or subject. --- A good strategy to take is to pick a resource (maybe a book, class, or method of learning) and apply it rigorously for a predetermined period of time. Once you apply yourself aggressively to that new method, you can step back and evaluate how well it is working and whether you feel it makes sense to continue with that approach or try another. — location: [2827](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2827) ^ref-1439 Meaning experimentation takes diliberate practice. --- Once again, experimentation plays a pivotal role. Pick some subtopic within the skill you’re trying to cultivate, spend some time learning it aggressively, and then evaluate your progress. Should you continue in that direction or pick another? — location: [2836](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2836) ^ref-445 Once again, we must invest time & effort to identify what to do or where to go next. As mastery develops, we must hone in on what will assist us with further developing specialization. --- There’s a tension, therefore, between spending time trying out different resources, techniques, and styles, and concentrating your efforts on a single approach long enough to become proficient at it. This tension often resolves itself as you cycle through exploring a new avenue in learning and then buckling down to learn it deeply before moving on to something else. — location: [2853](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2853) ^ref-51884 You must develop a greater awareness of the realm of your mastery. That to me means to seek out as much understanding of the foundational realms and also delve into more niche facets of them. The foundations lead to the cracks of futher comprehension. --- To get into the right mental space for experimenting, you need not only to see your abilities as something you can improve but understand that there is a huge number of potential avenues to do this. Exploration, not dogmatism, is the key to realizing that potential. — location: [2869](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2869) ^ref-57972 Try, fail, repeat. Succeed in effort, time deliberately spent towards mastery. --- The reason is that a flurry of random activity doesn’t usually translate into mastery. — location: [2873](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2873) ^ref-23346 This is what I have issues with. I can do but I have been struggling with experimentation. --- Copying simplifies the problem of experimentation somewhat because it gives you a starting point for making decisions. — location: [2878](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2878) ^ref-16377 --- This strategy has another advantage beyond simplifying the choices available to you. In attempting to emulate or copy an example you appreciate, you must deconstruct it to understand why it works. — location: [2881](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2881) ^ref-56237 --- The first is that as in scientific experiments, you will get much better information about which method works best if you limit the variation to only the factor you want to test. The second is that by solving a problem multiple ways or applying multiple solution styles to it, you will increase your breadth of expertise. Forcing yourself to try different approaches encourages experimentation outside your comfort zone. — location: [2896](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2896) ^ref-5130 --- It’s practically an axiom of design that the best innovations come from working within constraints. Give a designer unlimited freedom, and the solution is usually a mess. On the other hand, creating specific constraints in how you can proceed encourages you to explore options that are less familiar to you and sharpens your underlying skills. How can you add limitations to force yourself to develop new capacities? — location: [2904](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2904) ^ref-30968 --- Such synergies become possible once you start exploring how one skill you’ve already acquired can impact another. — location: [2918](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2918) ^ref-50541 --- Pushing out to an extreme in some aspect of the skill you’re cultivating, even if you eventually decide to pull it back to something more moderate, is often a good exploration strategy. This allows you to search the space of possibilities more effectively, while also giving you a broader range of experience. — location: [2934](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2934) ^ref-49438 --- Practicing directly, getting feedback, and trying to summon up the right answers to problems are all ways of adjusting the knowledge and skills you have in your head to the real world. Second, the act of experimenting also lies in the process of trying out your learning methods. — location: [2938](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2938) ^ref-49916 --- Only by experimenting will you be able to find the right trade-offs between different principles—for instance, when directness is more important and when you should focus on drills or whether retention or intuition is the main obstacle to learning. — location: [2942](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2942) ^ref-6303 --- Careful experimentation not only brings out your best potential, it also eliminates bad habits and superstitions by putting them to the test of real-world results. — location: [2964](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2964) ^ref-930 --- The biggest obstacle to ultralearning is simply that most people don’t care enough about their own self-education to get started. — location: [2971](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2971) ^ref-34058 --- The question is whether that spark of interest will ignite into a flame or be smothered prematurely. — location: [2973](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2973) ^ref-55673 --- A solid, well-researched, well-executed plan can give you the confidence to face harder challenges in the future. A bungled attempt is not a disaster, but it may make you reluctant to pursue future projects of a similar nature. — location: [2976](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=2976) ^ref-27919 --- If you don’t set aside time to learn, it will be a lot harder to summon up the motivation to do so. — location: [3011](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3011) ^ref-38140 Learning is a habit and must be built into your routine. --- With ultralearning, as with all self-education, the goal isn’t merely to learn one skill or subject but to hone and enhance your overall learning process. — location: [3088](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3088) ^ref-17810 --- What do you want to do with the skill? — location: [3092](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3092) ^ref-60604 What will be the practical application of the skill? Practical implementation eill assist with retrieval and retention. Because it will constantly walk the neural pathways, further deepening the understanding and connections. --- Habits tend to work best when the act of learning is mostly a process of accumulation, adding new skills and knowledge. — location: [3156](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3156) ^ref-24003 --- It is to create new avenues for learning and to push yourself to pursue them aggressively rather than timidly waiting by the sidelines. — location: [3184](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3184) ^ref-6301 --- However, it is important to keep in mind as László insisted that “play is not the opposite of work” and “a child does not need play separate from work, but meaningful action,” adding “learning presents them with more enjoyment than a sterile game.” — location: [3335](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3335) ^ref-56836 --- After all, becoming good at something is what learning is. — location: [3445](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3445) ^ref-52518 --- Even when learning is the central theme of the story, most biographers are satisfied to be in awe of talent, rather than dig into the specific details of how a person did a particular thing. — location: [3497](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3497) ^ref-38685 --- Knowledge expands, but so does ignorance, as with a greater understanding of a subject also comes a greater appreciation for all the questions that remain unanswered. — location: [3508](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07K6MF8MD&location=3508) ^ref-40896 ---