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Ultralearning: Accelerate Your Career, Master Hard Skills and Outsmart the Competition
Multi-talented author, programmer and entrepreneur Scott Young has learnt four new languages and taught himself the entire four-year MIT curriculum for computer science all within a year. How? By using these seven life-changing ultralearning techniques designed for people, like him, who want to stand apart.
Learning has never been easy, perhaps, because it has never been made easy. Scott Young has observed the passive learning subculture, redesigning it for those who want to accomplish more with his seven principles behind every successful ultralearning project. Whether the goal is to be fluent in a language (or ten languages), earn the equivalent of a college degree in a fraction of the time, or learn multiple skills to build a product or business from the ground up, the principles in Ultralearning will guide you to success.
Scott’s achievements make one thing clear; it is not what you learn, but how you learn that promises success. And, the best way to learn is not just to learn, but to ultralearn.
Both inspiring and practical, this personalised account is a vital read for any driven learner.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2019
6602 people are currently reading
30163 people want to read
About the author
Scott H. Young
14 books705 followersScott Young is the author of Wall Street Journal and National best selling book: "Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career".
Scott has been a prolific writer on his blog since 2006 where he writes about learning, productivity, career, habits and living well. He is know for documenting learning challenges such as the learning a 4-year MIT computer science degree in one year, learning four langauges in one year and learning to draw portraits in 30 days.
His work has been featured in TEDx, The New York Times, Lifehacker, Popular Mechanics and Business Insider.
Find out more at: ScottHYoung.com
Scott has been a prolific writer on his blog since 2006 where he writes about learning, productivity, career, habits and living well. He is know for documenting learning challenges such as the learning a 4-year MIT computer science degree in one year, learning four langauges in one year and learning to draw portraits in 30 days.
His work has been featured in TEDx, The New York Times, Lifehacker, Popular Mechanics and Business Insider.
Find out more at: ScottHYoung.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,349 reviews
August 16, 2020
Warning: The rating on Goodreads is wildly inflated!
"Ultralearning" is a really mediocre book on how to learn an arbitrary skill more efficiently, whether it's a language, programming or playing the piano. I was really suckered in by the fancy title. "Ultralearning?? Shut up and take my money!". But honestly, this book reads like a giant blog post and is exactly type of soft writing that I strongly dislike in non-fiction.
In any case, the book didn't contain that many new insights for me, but here are some points that I did find useful;.
- The Directness Principle. Whenever you want to learn something, try to figure out what the TRUE end goal is. You want to learn German? Well, what do you want to use it for? Is it for reading the newspaper online? Then start by reading the newspaper online. Is it to have drunken chats at the bar? Well, try to have drunken chats at the bar. Whatever it is that you want to learn, figure out the *true* end goal and try to place your practice as close to that end goal as possible. Don't trade it off for other tasks further away from the true end goal, as gains in some other related task will not necessarily easily transfer to your true end goal.
- Drilling/Work your way backwards. Periodically, you should asses the skill you are practicing and try to pin point where your weakest points are, and then spend concerted effort on those parts until they stop being your weakest points.
- Deepening learning by explaining. If you want to cement your understanding on a topic, then try to explain the idea in writing to someone else. If you sense that you are stuck at some point, or if your reasoning isn't particularly clear (You can scrutinise your reasoning by asking yourself WHY multiple times), go back and research the topic further until you fully grasp the topic. If you keep drilling deeper into a topic, this is a good method of learning something by "first principles" rather than just memorising an answer.
In any case, I can't really recommend this book, but if you want a good book on learning and memory, I really recommend the book "Make it Stick".
"Ultralearning" is a really mediocre book on how to learn an arbitrary skill more efficiently, whether it's a language, programming or playing the piano. I was really suckered in by the fancy title. "Ultralearning?? Shut up and take my money!". But honestly, this book reads like a giant blog post and is exactly type of soft writing that I strongly dislike in non-fiction.
In any case, the book didn't contain that many new insights for me, but here are some points that I did find useful;.
- The Directness Principle. Whenever you want to learn something, try to figure out what the TRUE end goal is. You want to learn German? Well, what do you want to use it for? Is it for reading the newspaper online? Then start by reading the newspaper online. Is it to have drunken chats at the bar? Well, try to have drunken chats at the bar. Whatever it is that you want to learn, figure out the *true* end goal and try to place your practice as close to that end goal as possible. Don't trade it off for other tasks further away from the true end goal, as gains in some other related task will not necessarily easily transfer to your true end goal.
- Drilling/Work your way backwards. Periodically, you should asses the skill you are practicing and try to pin point where your weakest points are, and then spend concerted effort on those parts until they stop being your weakest points.
- Deepening learning by explaining. If you want to cement your understanding on a topic, then try to explain the idea in writing to someone else. If you sense that you are stuck at some point, or if your reasoning isn't particularly clear (You can scrutinise your reasoning by asking yourself WHY multiple times), go back and research the topic further until you fully grasp the topic. If you keep drilling deeper into a topic, this is a good method of learning something by "first principles" rather than just memorising an answer.
In any case, I can't really recommend this book, but if you want a good book on learning and memory, I really recommend the book "Make it Stick".
August 14, 2019
Just maybe 10x longer than it needed to be.
September 6, 2019
I wanted to like this book, it has a great premise and the examples are interesting, but it's another example of a non-fiction book with so much padding and fluff! It could have been 10 times shorter, and I would have loved it, but because it was a published book it needs to hit a word count, which sacrificed its quality.
August 4, 2020
Scott Young describes ultralearning as learning something hard in a short period of time. I'm more interested in learning than ultralearning but a few things he talks about can be useful. A lot of 'principles' he discusses are already well-known learning concepts. The best thing I took away from this book is to attack my weakest point first.
He prescribes nine principles for his method:
1. Metalearning - have a road map
2. Focus - concentrate
3. Directness - go into action mode
4. Drill - attack your weakest point
5. Retrieval - test your knowledge
6. Feedback - learn from criticism
7. Retention - learn to remember things
8. Intuition - use play and exploration of concepts
9. Experimentation - go outside your comfort zone
He gives a lot of examples of so called ‘ultralearners’ including the Polgar sisters. There is a lot of repetition in the book. The book could have been a lot shorter. But it is still useful.
He prescribes nine principles for his method:
1. Metalearning - have a road map
2. Focus - concentrate
3. Directness - go into action mode
4. Drill - attack your weakest point
5. Retrieval - test your knowledge
6. Feedback - learn from criticism
7. Retention - learn to remember things
8. Intuition - use play and exploration of concepts
9. Experimentation - go outside your comfort zone
He gives a lot of examples of so called ‘ultralearners’ including the Polgar sisters. There is a lot of repetition in the book. The book could have been a lot shorter. But it is still useful.
August 27, 2019
I don't understand the high reviews on this book. The author seems to be attempting to coin a phrase to describe pretty normal modes of learning outside of school.
August 19, 2019
Most books on learning are narrowly focused on academic tests, but this book actually helps you learn skills you can use in real life. And I think learning to learn is one of the most important things we can do in life.
Some good learning principles from the book:
Directness: the best way to practice is to do very thing you want to do. Instead of reading about painting, actually paint. Instead of taking a test on vocabulary, actually practice speaking the language you're trying to learn. Instead of writing papers on coding, create a program. Direct application is the best practice arena.
Retrieval: When asked, people say that good reviews make them feel like they are more prepared and will remember more. But it actually isn't the best for locking things in our memory. Instead, pushing your brain to remember things is better than reviewing it more often--even when we can't get the right answers. The hard work of racking our brains for the answer (which doesn't feel as good as reviewing) is very productive.
Meta-Learning: Before learning all the specifics, spend time "drawing a map" and learn the big ideas and patterns behind all the specifics. When you have a frame to hang your ideas on, they will stick in your head and make sense.
So, good book, with more tips like this. But the book is focused on "ultralearning" (massive learning in short periods of time) so it's not directly applicable to most people. And there are some missing ideas that I know from my own learning adventures, so while it's very helpful, I couldn't say this is a blow your mind, best book on learning ever. Worth reading, though. 4.5 stars out of 5.
Some good learning principles from the book:
Directness: the best way to practice is to do very thing you want to do. Instead of reading about painting, actually paint. Instead of taking a test on vocabulary, actually practice speaking the language you're trying to learn. Instead of writing papers on coding, create a program. Direct application is the best practice arena.
Retrieval: When asked, people say that good reviews make them feel like they are more prepared and will remember more. But it actually isn't the best for locking things in our memory. Instead, pushing your brain to remember things is better than reviewing it more often--even when we can't get the right answers. The hard work of racking our brains for the answer (which doesn't feel as good as reviewing) is very productive.
Meta-Learning: Before learning all the specifics, spend time "drawing a map" and learn the big ideas and patterns behind all the specifics. When you have a frame to hang your ideas on, they will stick in your head and make sense.
So, good book, with more tips like this. But the book is focused on "ultralearning" (massive learning in short periods of time) so it's not directly applicable to most people. And there are some missing ideas that I know from my own learning adventures, so while it's very helpful, I couldn't say this is a blow your mind, best book on learning ever. Worth reading, though. 4.5 stars out of 5.
August 8, 2019
Ultralearning is “a strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.” The book is Young’s clear, concise, and well-written explanation of how to master this strategy. The excellent chapter on metalearning alone is worth the price of the book and the rest is full of insights and tips that are noteworthy and practical. Get it, read it, and start putting ultralearning principles to practice in your own life.
February 20, 2020
I was drawn to this book because I like to read a lot of self-help / personal development books. I’ve read a good amount of them and I always pull something out of them but I wouldn’t say I absorb 100%. I probably retain subconsciously 50% and apply consciously 10% which I felt is pretty low. I figured reading Ultralearning would help me get more out of the books I plan on reading this year. This was an accurate assumption.
This book will help you learn better. It gives a lot of practical tools to improve your learning and it also provides inspiration to be a better learner. I had never really thought about the process of learning before and this gives you a 3D image of how we learn, apply, and retain information. I believe that anything can be learned and the case studies from the book affirm that belief.
I think this book is best applied to mono-skills. What I mean is, if you have a laser focus on one particular skill, I think this book will help you design a program that will help you maximize your efficiency at learning it. I think this book is better applied to knowledge-based skills than athletic pursuits. If you want to learn something specific, you need to know how to learn before you attack it and the book provides the roadmap and tools to do so.
It’s a good system. It’s clearly laid out and clearly communicated. Hopefully, I can apply it in totality.
NOTES FROM READING:
Bias towards action. It’s not just soaking up knowledge but putting it to use.
Learn by doing. Learn by directly doing what you want to learn. You have to practice the craft.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice but in practice there is.
The author of the foreword ultra learned photography by taking over 100,000 photos - James Clear authored the foreword, my favorite e-newsletter author.
Meta-learning examine successful examples
Learn writing by writing
Always have a challenge
Everyone that wants to succeed at a game, is going to practice the game. You can practice haphazardly or you can practice efficiently. 
What if you immersed yourself in whatever skill you were trying to learn? If it was a language you only spoke the language if it was a skill you surround yourself with the skill
You need inspiration that excites you. It’s more than just money.
Learning at its core is broadening horizons. Seeing things that were previously invisible. And recognizing capabilities within yourself that you didn’t know existed
There are nine universal principles that underlie the ultralearning projects described so far. Each embodies a particular aspect of successful learning, and I describe how ultralearners maximize the effectiveness of the principle through the choices they make in their projects. They are:
Meta-learning: First Draw a Map. Start by learning how to learn the subject or skill you want to tackle. Discover how to do good research and how to draw on your past competencies to learn new skills more easily.
Focus: Sharpen Your Knife. Cultivate the ability to concentrate. Carve out chunks of time when you can focus on learning, and make it easy to just do it.
Directness: Go Straight Ahead. Learn by doing the thing you want to become good at. Don’t trade it off for other tasks, just because those are more convenient or comfortable.
Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point. Be ruthless in improving your weakest points. Break down complex skills into small parts; then master those parts and build them back together again.
Retrieval: Test to Learn. Testing isn’t simply a way of assessing knowledge but a way of creating it. Test yourself before you feel confident, and push yourself to actively recall information rather than passively review it.
Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches. Feedback is harsh and uncomfortable. Know how to use it without letting your ego get in the way. Extract the signal from the noise, so you know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket. Understand what you forget and why. Learn to remember things not just for now but forever.
Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up. Develop your intuition through play and exploration of concepts and skills. Understand how understanding works, and don’t recourse to cheap tricks of memorization to avoid deeply knowing things.
Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone. All of these principles are only starting points. True mastery comes not just from following the path trodden by others but from exploring possibilities they haven’t yet imagined.
It’s easier than ever to find experts in fields. Twitter and Instagram and the web makes finding experts simple. Just follow them and reach out if you have questions.
Use the web to find coursework, syllabuses, and materials on your subject. The quality of your resources will have an enormous impact on your learning. The quality of materials you use can create orders of magnitude difference in your effectiveness.
You need goals methods and resources in your planning stage.
You must learn to have extreme focus and concentration. (Deep Work - Cal Newport)
Start, sustain, optimize your focus. 
The first problem people have is starting to focus. This manifests itself in procrastination. You must tackle your problems.
The first step to getting over procrastination is recognizing that you are procrastinating. Make a mental habit of recognizing when you are procrastinating and if you are avoiding the activity because you don’t want to do it or because you have a strong desire to do something else. Build this awareness.
If you are avoiding the task because you don’t want to do it, just get started, usually, five minutes of just starting will be enough to get over the unpleasantness of the task
Directness is critical to learning and with transfer (the application of lessons learned in another context)
You have to drill a skill. Be specific. Isolate components of the skill.
Retrieval practice is the most effective way of solidifying material. You have to test yourself even when you aren’t ready. Your retrieval practice must be difficult.
Question book method: during note-taking, phrase your notes as questions to be recalled later. Restate the big idea of material as a question.
Feedback is an important ultra learning tool. When feedback attacks your ego it can feel uncomfortable you have to get feedback you can utilize. You don’t want criticism.
Outcome feedback informational and corrective feedback.
Outcome feedback is how you’re doing. Are you doing it wrong? Think of a grade it comes after the fact I can tell you if you’re doing better or worse but can’t tell you why
Informational feedback is what you’re doing wrong but it doesn’t necessarily tell you how to fix it. It’s like showing you the question you got wrong on the test but not giving me the solution
Corrected feedback is what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. It’s informative and applicable. Corrected feedback requires a correct answer. Trying to turn informational feedback and correct feedback can work against you. If you were consistently getting the same type of information that can lead you to a clue or an answer. ���
Question method: what are the three types of feedback
Active recall and rehearsal. You have to practice pulling the information back up in order to have retention. You have to focus on memory. Recall things visually. It’s easier to recall.
The ultra learning ethos. It’s hard work. You have to have the dedication to learn. It may not be a secret beyond Hard work. 
Experience will give you patterns and patterns will give you principles.
Orientation while processing information: students asked to review a list of words. Some were told to notice the letter e, some were asked to determine if the meaning was pleasant or not. When asked to recall the words the ones focused on a deeper meaning and interpretation of the word were able to recall better.
The Fiemman technique: wite the concept. Teach it to an imaginary person.
Work hard on understanding things
Don’t focus on gifts. Focus on efforts.

Your first project:
Do your research - pick your topic and scope, pick your resources, direct practice.
Schedule your time -
Execute your plan - meta-learning, focus, directness, drill, retrieval, feedback, retention, intuition, experimentation
Review your results -
Choose to maintain or master what you learn - maintenance, relearning, mastery, 
What would I want to ultra learn?
Stock trading
Technology- games/websites
Writing
App/website building
Negotiation
Piano
Dropshipping
Government contracting
Speed reading and typing
Virtual reality programming
Real estate
Law
Pop Music / DJ-ing / EDM
SEO
Instagram
Photography
Public Speaking
Stand up comedy
Poker
Question Method & Test:
1. Describe what directness means in regards to Ultralearning.
2. List and describe the nine universal principles of Ultralearning .
3. What is the first step in Focus?
4. What is the first step of overcoming procrastination and how do you overcome it?
5. List and describe the three types of feedback
6. What is the Ultralearning ethos?
7. What is the Fienman technique?
8. List the steps of your first project.
This book will help you learn better. It gives a lot of practical tools to improve your learning and it also provides inspiration to be a better learner. I had never really thought about the process of learning before and this gives you a 3D image of how we learn, apply, and retain information. I believe that anything can be learned and the case studies from the book affirm that belief.
I think this book is best applied to mono-skills. What I mean is, if you have a laser focus on one particular skill, I think this book will help you design a program that will help you maximize your efficiency at learning it. I think this book is better applied to knowledge-based skills than athletic pursuits. If you want to learn something specific, you need to know how to learn before you attack it and the book provides the roadmap and tools to do so.
It’s a good system. It’s clearly laid out and clearly communicated. Hopefully, I can apply it in totality.
NOTES FROM READING:
Bias towards action. It’s not just soaking up knowledge but putting it to use.
Learn by doing. Learn by directly doing what you want to learn. You have to practice the craft.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice but in practice there is.
The author of the foreword ultra learned photography by taking over 100,000 photos - James Clear authored the foreword, my favorite e-newsletter author.
Meta-learning examine successful examples
Learn writing by writing
Always have a challenge
Everyone that wants to succeed at a game, is going to practice the game. You can practice haphazardly or you can practice efficiently. 
What if you immersed yourself in whatever skill you were trying to learn? If it was a language you only spoke the language if it was a skill you surround yourself with the skill
You need inspiration that excites you. It’s more than just money.
Learning at its core is broadening horizons. Seeing things that were previously invisible. And recognizing capabilities within yourself that you didn’t know existed
There are nine universal principles that underlie the ultralearning projects described so far. Each embodies a particular aspect of successful learning, and I describe how ultralearners maximize the effectiveness of the principle through the choices they make in their projects. They are:
Meta-learning: First Draw a Map. Start by learning how to learn the subject or skill you want to tackle. Discover how to do good research and how to draw on your past competencies to learn new skills more easily.
Focus: Sharpen Your Knife. Cultivate the ability to concentrate. Carve out chunks of time when you can focus on learning, and make it easy to just do it.
Directness: Go Straight Ahead. Learn by doing the thing you want to become good at. Don’t trade it off for other tasks, just because those are more convenient or comfortable.
Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point. Be ruthless in improving your weakest points. Break down complex skills into small parts; then master those parts and build them back together again.
Retrieval: Test to Learn. Testing isn’t simply a way of assessing knowledge but a way of creating it. Test yourself before you feel confident, and push yourself to actively recall information rather than passively review it.
Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches. Feedback is harsh and uncomfortable. Know how to use it without letting your ego get in the way. Extract the signal from the noise, so you know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket. Understand what you forget and why. Learn to remember things not just for now but forever.
Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up. Develop your intuition through play and exploration of concepts and skills. Understand how understanding works, and don’t recourse to cheap tricks of memorization to avoid deeply knowing things.
Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone. All of these principles are only starting points. True mastery comes not just from following the path trodden by others but from exploring possibilities they haven’t yet imagined.
It’s easier than ever to find experts in fields. Twitter and Instagram and the web makes finding experts simple. Just follow them and reach out if you have questions.
Use the web to find coursework, syllabuses, and materials on your subject. The quality of your resources will have an enormous impact on your learning. The quality of materials you use can create orders of magnitude difference in your effectiveness.
You need goals methods and resources in your planning stage.
You must learn to have extreme focus and concentration. (Deep Work - Cal Newport)
Start, sustain, optimize your focus. 
The first problem people have is starting to focus. This manifests itself in procrastination. You must tackle your problems.
The first step to getting over procrastination is recognizing that you are procrastinating. Make a mental habit of recognizing when you are procrastinating and if you are avoiding the activity because you don’t want to do it or because you have a strong desire to do something else. Build this awareness.
If you are avoiding the task because you don’t want to do it, just get started, usually, five minutes of just starting will be enough to get over the unpleasantness of the task
Directness is critical to learning and with transfer (the application of lessons learned in another context)
You have to drill a skill. Be specific. Isolate components of the skill.
Retrieval practice is the most effective way of solidifying material. You have to test yourself even when you aren’t ready. Your retrieval practice must be difficult.
Question book method: during note-taking, phrase your notes as questions to be recalled later. Restate the big idea of material as a question.
Feedback is an important ultra learning tool. When feedback attacks your ego it can feel uncomfortable you have to get feedback you can utilize. You don’t want criticism.
Outcome feedback informational and corrective feedback.
Outcome feedback is how you’re doing. Are you doing it wrong? Think of a grade it comes after the fact I can tell you if you’re doing better or worse but can’t tell you why
Informational feedback is what you’re doing wrong but it doesn’t necessarily tell you how to fix it. It’s like showing you the question you got wrong on the test but not giving me the solution
Corrected feedback is what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. It’s informative and applicable. Corrected feedback requires a correct answer. Trying to turn informational feedback and correct feedback can work against you. If you were consistently getting the same type of information that can lead you to a clue or an answer. ���
Question method: what are the three types of feedback
Active recall and rehearsal. You have to practice pulling the information back up in order to have retention. You have to focus on memory. Recall things visually. It’s easier to recall.
The ultra learning ethos. It’s hard work. You have to have the dedication to learn. It may not be a secret beyond Hard work. 
Experience will give you patterns and patterns will give you principles.
Orientation while processing information: students asked to review a list of words. Some were told to notice the letter e, some were asked to determine if the meaning was pleasant or not. When asked to recall the words the ones focused on a deeper meaning and interpretation of the word were able to recall better.
The Fiemman technique: wite the concept. Teach it to an imaginary person.
Work hard on understanding things
Don’t focus on gifts. Focus on efforts.

Your first project:
Do your research - pick your topic and scope, pick your resources, direct practice.
Schedule your time -
Execute your plan - meta-learning, focus, directness, drill, retrieval, feedback, retention, intuition, experimentation
Review your results -
Choose to maintain or master what you learn - maintenance, relearning, mastery, 
What would I want to ultra learn?
Stock trading
Technology- games/websites
Writing
App/website building
Negotiation
Piano
Dropshipping
Government contracting
Speed reading and typing
Virtual reality programming
Real estate
Law
Pop Music / DJ-ing / EDM
SEO
Photography
Public Speaking
Stand up comedy
Poker
Question Method & Test:
1. Describe what directness means in regards to Ultralearning.
2. List and describe the nine universal principles of Ultralearning .
3. What is the first step in Focus?
4. What is the first step of overcoming procrastination and how do you overcome it?
5. List and describe the three types of feedback
6. What is the Ultralearning ethos?
7. What is the Fienman technique?
8. List the steps of your first project.
April 7, 2020
If you want a book on how to learn, then there are better books; you should read this one for the 'ultra' part. There are some nice anecdotes on people who worked their asses off and became some of the best at what they do. Young tries to generalize on their behavior and serves the result as principles on ultralearning, by which is meant the more extreme and dedicated kind of learning. There is a definition somewhere in the book, but I have forgotten what it is. The achievements of these ultralearners, including Ramanujan and Feynnman, are combined with the authors own experience, such as completing the MIT undergrad CS curriculum in a year. If you have not read any Scott H. Young blog posts, then this is pretty cool. Otherwise, the book is pretty much a repetition/compilation of his blog.
May 11, 2023
2->2.5
don't get why james clear and cal newport like this book
don't get why james clear and cal newport like this book
February 4, 2022
If you’re not already an ultra-learner who’s used to do all the stuff by themselves and learn everything by themselves, you might get stressful or disappointed with yourself if you won’t get to apply the hints mentioned in this book. Because being an ultra-learner is not something you could do by just following some instructions. It comes from the inside; comes from a long painful path with lots of failures. And when you had it all, you’re already an ultra-learner; so why bother reading this book?
But since human brain tends to forget important points, maybe skimming such books helps to remind some hints from time to time, but again I deeply warn you, none of these books are written to actually help the readers, but of course the authors’ bank accounts. So maybe I should start writing a book like “Ultra-Smart: Hidden Facts and Beyond” and explain why we shouldn’t rely on self-help books and why we....... you can read the rest of the magical hints in my self-help book someday in the future.
But since human brain tends to forget important points, maybe skimming such books helps to remind some hints from time to time, but again I deeply warn you, none of these books are written to actually help the readers, but of course the authors’ bank accounts. So maybe I should start writing a book like “Ultra-Smart: Hidden Facts and Beyond” and explain why we shouldn’t rely on self-help books and why we....... you can read the rest of the magical hints in my self-help book someday in the future.
January 31, 2021
حجم بیش از حدی توضیح بیهوده داره، میگن که کتاب خيلی خوب و مفیدیه، لااقل من که اون بعد رو ندیدم. نمیتونستم بیشتر از این تحملش کنم، با چندتا ویدیو یوتوب جمعبندیش کردم!
July 3, 2024
I love learning and it is something I want to keep doing all my life.
When I saw this book, it was like: "this is for me!" but in the end...not really.
The first part of the book is very interesting with some incredible examples of people who achieved impressive things. Afterwards he starts explaining everything with too much detail and gets boring.
3 stars.
When I saw this book, it was like: "this is for me!" but in the end...not really.
The first part of the book is very interesting with some incredible examples of people who achieved impressive things. Afterwards he starts explaining everything with too much detail and gets boring.
3 stars.
August 29, 2019
I'm very interested in the topic of "ultralearning", although I hadn't heard that exact term before. More importantly, I've already worked through Scott Young's programme Rapid Learner, which is excellent and covers much of the same material as Ultralearning. So for that reason, not much in this book was new to me.
Still, if you haven't got the time or inclination to work through an expensive six-week online course, this book is an excellent lesson in how humans can learn effectively, efficiently, and fast. Scott gives numerous examples of successful ultralearners, ties it in with the latest scientific research, and organises everything into 9 handy "principles of ultralearning" that you can apply to your next educational endeavour.
(Even better, he makes it all the way through 300 pages without once describing any of his techniques as a "hack" - a word so overused these days that's it's become almost as meaningless as "literally" or "fascist". God I'm sick of being told to "hack" everything.)
The one thing I thought could have been expanded was the section (or rather the paragraph) on mnemonics. Scott mentions these tricks (number pegging etc.) as potentially helpful but is quite dismissive of their benefits, and doesn't elaborate on what they actually are. I think he's right that they aren't the most important weapon in an ultralearner's arsenal, but they're still worth knowing.
That's only a minor quibble: if you want to become a memory master, there are plenty of other resources you can turn to. Scott recommends the book Moonwalking with Einstein, which I haven't read but I'm sure is great. Personally, I learned a lot of useful tricks from the chapter on memory in Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind.
Anyway, that minor omission isn't enough to prevent me from giving 5 stars to Ultralearning. It's a dense, concise, info-packed and practical book that'll teach you how to learn - and it's much better than The Four-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss.
Still, if you haven't got the time or inclination to work through an expensive six-week online course, this book is an excellent lesson in how humans can learn effectively, efficiently, and fast. Scott gives numerous examples of successful ultralearners, ties it in with the latest scientific research, and organises everything into 9 handy "principles of ultralearning" that you can apply to your next educational endeavour.
(Even better, he makes it all the way through 300 pages without once describing any of his techniques as a "hack" - a word so overused these days that's it's become almost as meaningless as "literally" or "fascist". God I'm sick of being told to "hack" everything.)
The one thing I thought could have been expanded was the section (or rather the paragraph) on mnemonics. Scott mentions these tricks (number pegging etc.) as potentially helpful but is quite dismissive of their benefits, and doesn't elaborate on what they actually are. I think he's right that they aren't the most important weapon in an ultralearner's arsenal, but they're still worth knowing.
That's only a minor quibble: if you want to become a memory master, there are plenty of other resources you can turn to. Scott recommends the book Moonwalking with Einstein, which I haven't read but I'm sure is great. Personally, I learned a lot of useful tricks from the chapter on memory in Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind.
Anyway, that minor omission isn't enough to prevent me from giving 5 stars to Ultralearning. It's a dense, concise, info-packed and practical book that'll teach you how to learn - and it's much better than The Four-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss.
February 1, 2020
You’re in good company when your book is recommended by James Clear and Barbara Oakley.
Ultralearning shares some overlapping information with Atomic Habits and Learning How to Learn, but stands on its own with valuable self-study strategies taught in the "Nine Universal Principles of Ultralearning". There’s also overlapping topics from Range (by David Epstein), to the point that both books have chapters on the Polgár family and Vincent van Gogh.
The methods taught in Ultralearning can greatly help any student or self-taught learner. Mapping, drilling, retrieval, retention, etc. It can have massive returns when applied. The main drawbacks are the obvious overlap with other meta-learning books, and that this book could have easily been 100 pages shorter, or been a killer Medium article/personal site post.
Ultralearning shares some overlapping information with Atomic Habits and Learning How to Learn, but stands on its own with valuable self-study strategies taught in the "Nine Universal Principles of Ultralearning". There’s also overlapping topics from Range (by David Epstein), to the point that both books have chapters on the Polgár family and Vincent van Gogh.
The methods taught in Ultralearning can greatly help any student or self-taught learner. Mapping, drilling, retrieval, retention, etc. It can have massive returns when applied. The main drawbacks are the obvious overlap with other meta-learning books, and that this book could have easily been 100 pages shorter, or been a killer Medium article/personal site post.
September 2, 2019
El autor es conocido por haber superado el pregrado de Computer Science del MIT en menos de un año —cuatro años de clases en menos de 12 meses. El autor emplea una estrategia que llama “Ultralearning”. Consiste en adquirir habilidades y conocimientos usando una serie de nueve de principios:
* Meta-aprendizaje
* Foco
* Práctica
* Ejercicio
* Recuperación
* Feedback
* Retención
* Intuición
* Experimentación
Principio de Meta-Aprendizaje. Consiste en aprender sobre aprender. Es decir, no aprender sobre el objeto de estudio sino aprender cómo está estructurado el conocimiento en la materia y aprender cómo adquirirlo. Por lo tanto, el meta-aprendizaje forma el mapa que utilizaremos para no perdernos en el estudio. Para formar el mapa debemos hacernos tres preguntas:
* ¿Por qué?: Nuestra motivación para aprender (Instrumental, Intrínseco)
* ¿Qué?: El conocimiento y las habilidades que deberemos aprender para tener éxito en nuestro proyecto de aprendizaje (Conceptos, Datos, Procedimientos)
* ¿Cómo?: Cómo vamos a aprender la materia (Benchmarking, Emphasize/Exclude Method)
¿Cuánto meta-aprendizaje debemos hacer? Una buena regla es dedicarle un 10% del total del tiempo que vamos a destinar al proyecto.
El meta-aprendizaje no es una fase al principio del proyecto, es importante que al recibir feedback en cada fase, ajustemos nuestro mapa de acuerdo al feedback. Sin embargo, siempre tenemos que tener en cuenta la ley de los rendimientos decrecientes.
Principio de Foco. Consiste en ser capaz de empezar un periodo de concentración, mantenerlo y optimizar su calidad.
Para empezar, no procrastines. Si te encuentras procrastinando, márcate el hábito de empezar el proyecto diez minutos antes de tomarte un descanso. Normalmente, con este tiempo basta para entrar en la zona de confort y dejar de procrastinar.
Para mantenerlo, divide el aprendizaje en bloques cortos —quince minutos a una hora, los estudios demuestran que es mejor—. Además, divide los bloques en diversas materias.
A la hora de optimizar la calidad es importante tener en cuenta el tipo de foco. Dos variables: nivel de alerta y complejidad de la tarea. Las tareas poco complejas, se benefician de un nivel de alerta alto, las tareas más complejas se benefician de un nivel de alerta bajo. El ruido de fondo incrementa el nivel de alerta. Corolario, trabaja desde un café o con música cuando la tarea no sea compleja.
Principio de Práctica (Prefiero llamarlo como al modelo, El mapa no es el territorio). Para la práctica debemos tener en cuenta que el mapa no es el territorio —aprender en Duolingo no es lo mismo que viajar a Paris y forzarnos a hablar francés durante un año—, por lo tanto, debemos intentar aprender lo más cercanos al contexto en el que usaremos nuestro aprendizaje. La práctica es la marca distintiva de cualquier proyecto bajo la estrategia ultralearning. Podemos emplear cuatro tácticas para aprender sobre el contexto del territorio final —o al menos algo cercano—:
* Emprender un proyecto similar al proyecto final: Si organizas tu aprendizaje sobre producir algo, al menos lo terminarás sabiendo producir esa cosa
* Aprendizaje inmersivo: ajusta tu entorno al entorno final. Te expone al rango de situaciones reales en las que aplica la habilidad
* El método del simulador de vuelo: cuando la inmersión no es posible —no podemos practicar pilotaje sobre un avión real—, podemos utilizar un entorno que la simule
* El approach del exceso (overkill): incrementa la complejidad del proyecto para que la habilidad que quieras aprender esté contenida en él
Principio de Ejercicio. Consiste en separar los elementos de nuestro proyecto de aprendizaje y practicarlos individualmente. El concepto químico del Paso limitante de la velocidad nos sirve como referencia. Divide el proyecto, busca el bottleneck y práctica ese elemento individualmente. Este principio entra en conflicto con el principio de la práctica porque el primero nos pide aislar elementos y el último nos pide practicar sobre el territorio como un todo. Tenemos que ver esto como un ciclo que se va alternando y ajustar en base al feedback.
Principio de Recuperación. Pruébate a ti mismo tratando de recuperar información sin abrir la fuente —libro, charla, whatever—. Está probado que este método es mucho más eficaz en la recuperación de información a largo plazo. Intenta probarte incluso antes de comenzar el aprendizaje, así sabrás que contenidos son más relevantes. Para la recuperación puedes emplear:
* Flash cards
* Prueba de recuperación después de la lectura
* El libro de preguntas (Question-book)
* Pruebas a medida: si estás aprendiendo una habilidad compleja —como programar— es mejor que te hagas pruebas a medida para forzarte a recuperar el conocimiento.
* Recuperación sin la fuente.
Principio de Feedback. Ten en cuenta las variables: inmediatez, precisión, intensidad. Búscalo agresivamente pero ajusta las variables para no recibir feedback erróneo o molesto. (Outcome feedback, Informational feedback, Corrective feedback).
Principio de Retención. Perder el acceso al conocimiento ya adquirido es un problema muy estudiado por educadores, estudiantes y psicólogos. Ebbinghaus y la curva del olvido: olvidamos lo que acabamos de aprender, decrecimiento exponencial en el conocimiento. Evítalo con mecanismos de memoria:
* Repasa espaciadamente.
* Mecaniza el conocimiento.
* Práctica más allá de la perfección (overkill).
* Emplea reglas mnemotécnicas —no tienen mucha utilidad en situaciones reales que requiere reacción rápida—.
Principio de Intuición: Entiende las cosas. Emplea la técnica de Feynman.
Principio de Experimentación: Experimenta con todas las fases del proyecto para adaptarlo a tus necesidades, emplea el feedback recibido para mejorar la calidad de tu aprendizaje. Prueba diferentes recursos —vídeo, libros, clases—, diferentes técnicas, diferentes estilos, diferentes horarios, diferentes entornos. Compara los resultados side-by-side.
—
En definitiva ha sido una lectura muy buena. Recomiendo el libro a cualquiera que tenga la misma pasión que yo por ser más eficiente en una de las habilidades más importantes para el nuevo paradigma: aprender.
Durante los últimos 10 años he comenzado cientos de proyectos de aprendizaje que no he finalizado por una mala preparación. Durante los próximos meses pondré en práctica estos principios en un nuevo proyecto de aprendizaje para confirmar mis expectativas. ¡Ya os contaré!
* Meta-aprendizaje
* Foco
* Práctica
* Ejercicio
* Recuperación
* Feedback
* Retención
* Intuición
* Experimentación
Principio de Meta-Aprendizaje. Consiste en aprender sobre aprender. Es decir, no aprender sobre el objeto de estudio sino aprender cómo está estructurado el conocimiento en la materia y aprender cómo adquirirlo. Por lo tanto, el meta-aprendizaje forma el mapa que utilizaremos para no perdernos en el estudio. Para formar el mapa debemos hacernos tres preguntas:
* ¿Por qué?: Nuestra motivación para aprender (Instrumental, Intrínseco)
* ¿Qué?: El conocimiento y las habilidades que deberemos aprender para tener éxito en nuestro proyecto de aprendizaje (Conceptos, Datos, Procedimientos)
* ¿Cómo?: Cómo vamos a aprender la materia (Benchmarking, Emphasize/Exclude Method)
¿Cuánto meta-aprendizaje debemos hacer? Una buena regla es dedicarle un 10% del total del tiempo que vamos a destinar al proyecto.
El meta-aprendizaje no es una fase al principio del proyecto, es importante que al recibir feedback en cada fase, ajustemos nuestro mapa de acuerdo al feedback. Sin embargo, siempre tenemos que tener en cuenta la ley de los rendimientos decrecientes.
Principio de Foco. Consiste en ser capaz de empezar un periodo de concentración, mantenerlo y optimizar su calidad.
Para empezar, no procrastines. Si te encuentras procrastinando, márcate el hábito de empezar el proyecto diez minutos antes de tomarte un descanso. Normalmente, con este tiempo basta para entrar en la zona de confort y dejar de procrastinar.
Para mantenerlo, divide el aprendizaje en bloques cortos —quince minutos a una hora, los estudios demuestran que es mejor—. Además, divide los bloques en diversas materias.
A la hora de optimizar la calidad es importante tener en cuenta el tipo de foco. Dos variables: nivel de alerta y complejidad de la tarea. Las tareas poco complejas, se benefician de un nivel de alerta alto, las tareas más complejas se benefician de un nivel de alerta bajo. El ruido de fondo incrementa el nivel de alerta. Corolario, trabaja desde un café o con música cuando la tarea no sea compleja.
Principio de Práctica (Prefiero llamarlo como al modelo, El mapa no es el territorio). Para la práctica debemos tener en cuenta que el mapa no es el territorio —aprender en Duolingo no es lo mismo que viajar a Paris y forzarnos a hablar francés durante un año—, por lo tanto, debemos intentar aprender lo más cercanos al contexto en el que usaremos nuestro aprendizaje. La práctica es la marca distintiva de cualquier proyecto bajo la estrategia ultralearning. Podemos emplear cuatro tácticas para aprender sobre el contexto del territorio final —o al menos algo cercano—:
* Emprender un proyecto similar al proyecto final: Si organizas tu aprendizaje sobre producir algo, al menos lo terminarás sabiendo producir esa cosa
* Aprendizaje inmersivo: ajusta tu entorno al entorno final. Te expone al rango de situaciones reales en las que aplica la habilidad
* El método del simulador de vuelo: cuando la inmersión no es posible —no podemos practicar pilotaje sobre un avión real—, podemos utilizar un entorno que la simule
* El approach del exceso (overkill): incrementa la complejidad del proyecto para que la habilidad que quieras aprender esté contenida en él
Principio de Ejercicio. Consiste en separar los elementos de nuestro proyecto de aprendizaje y practicarlos individualmente. El concepto químico del Paso limitante de la velocidad nos sirve como referencia. Divide el proyecto, busca el bottleneck y práctica ese elemento individualmente. Este principio entra en conflicto con el principio de la práctica porque el primero nos pide aislar elementos y el último nos pide practicar sobre el territorio como un todo. Tenemos que ver esto como un ciclo que se va alternando y ajustar en base al feedback.
Principio de Recuperación. Pruébate a ti mismo tratando de recuperar información sin abrir la fuente —libro, charla, whatever—. Está probado que este método es mucho más eficaz en la recuperación de información a largo plazo. Intenta probarte incluso antes de comenzar el aprendizaje, así sabrás que contenidos son más relevantes. Para la recuperación puedes emplear:
* Flash cards
* Prueba de recuperación después de la lectura
* El libro de preguntas (Question-book)
* Pruebas a medida: si estás aprendiendo una habilidad compleja —como programar— es mejor que te hagas pruebas a medida para forzarte a recuperar el conocimiento.
* Recuperación sin la fuente.
Principio de Feedback. Ten en cuenta las variables: inmediatez, precisión, intensidad. Búscalo agresivamente pero ajusta las variables para no recibir feedback erróneo o molesto. (Outcome feedback, Informational feedback, Corrective feedback).
Principio de Retención. Perder el acceso al conocimiento ya adquirido es un problema muy estudiado por educadores, estudiantes y psicólogos. Ebbinghaus y la curva del olvido: olvidamos lo que acabamos de aprender, decrecimiento exponencial en el conocimiento. Evítalo con mecanismos de memoria:
* Repasa espaciadamente.
* Mecaniza el conocimiento.
* Práctica más allá de la perfección (overkill).
* Emplea reglas mnemotécnicas —no tienen mucha utilidad en situaciones reales que requiere reacción rápida—.
Principio de Intuición: Entiende las cosas. Emplea la técnica de Feynman.
Principio de Experimentación: Experimenta con todas las fases del proyecto para adaptarlo a tus necesidades, emplea el feedback recibido para mejorar la calidad de tu aprendizaje. Prueba diferentes recursos —vídeo, libros, clases—, diferentes técnicas, diferentes estilos, diferentes horarios, diferentes entornos. Compara los resultados side-by-side.
—
En definitiva ha sido una lectura muy buena. Recomiendo el libro a cualquiera que tenga la misma pasión que yo por ser más eficiente en una de las habilidades más importantes para el nuevo paradigma: aprender.
Durante los últimos 10 años he comenzado cientos de proyectos de aprendizaje que no he finalizado por una mala preparación. Durante los próximos meses pondré en práctica estos principios en un nuevo proyecto de aprendizaje para confirmar mis expectativas. ¡Ya os contaré!
August 19, 2019
من الكتب التي قرأتها لأنه سبق لي أن قرأت مقالات لكاتبها. من الكتب التي أيضا رغبت أن تعجبني كثيرًا لكنني لم أجد ضالتي فيها (أو ربما وجدت بعضًا منها فقط). كتاب يشرح كيف يُمكن لك أن تتعلّم أي مجال/موضوع ترغب فيه بطريقة ذاتية، تكون مُنظّمة ومركّزة.
اشتهر الكاتب بتجربة سبق وأن خاضها والمُتعلّقة بإكمال مُقرر علوم الحاسب في جامعة إم آي تي الذي يمتدّ على 4 سنوات خلال عام واحد فقط وبشكل مركّز وفردي/ذاتي، وهو أمر مُبهر في حد ذاته والسبب في الشهرة التي حقّقها الكاتب، رغم أن هذا الأخير سلك عدّة اختصارات مثلما ذكر في آخر كتابه هذا. كما أنه تعلّم 4 لغات حيّة في عام واحد أيضًا من خلال انتقاله إلى كل بلد يرغب في تعلّم لغته وبذله كامل جهده في تعلّم تلك اللغة. بعبارة أخرى، ما يبدو من تجارب الكاتب أنه جرّب ما تحدّث عنه في هذا الكتاب بنفسه، رغم ذلك بدا لي وكأن الأمر فيه بعض الحشو وكثير من التضخيم.
ربما الخلاصة الأهم التي خرجت منها بعد الفراغ من هذا الكتاب أو هي قناعة ترسّخت لدي مؤخّرا (ربما بسبب أنني كنت أتابع مُحتويات أخرى في نفس فترة قراءة الكتاب أغلبها ذات جانب فلسفي) والتي تدور حول وجوب أن تكون لديك خطّة واضحة ومنهج جيّد لدراسة أي موضوع أو علم/فن. إضافة إلى ذلك فإن التدريب المُستمر والمركّز أمر ضروري للوصول إلى مستوى عالٍ من الفهم والتمكّن من أي موضوع كان. فعلى سبيل المثال القراءة من دون تطبيق أو حتى القراءة بشكل عشوائي دون نهج واضح ومدروس يُتّبع قد يعطيك إحساسًا خاطئًا بأنّك تكتسب المعارف التي ترغب في اكتسابها، لكن ربما تلك العشوائية في القراءة وقلّة/عدم التطبيق قد يجعل كل ذاك المجهود يذهب سُدًى أو ربما حتى يأخذك في الطريق الخاطئ بتكوين معارف/قناعات/أفكار أساسية تكون منقوصة أو حتى خاطئة بالمرّة.
الكتاب جيّد في مجمله، حيث أنه سيذكّرك (إن كنت نسيت) بالمنهج الواجب اتباعه من جديد لمواصلة الدراسة والتكوين خارج دائرة التعليم النظامي والذي عادة توفّر جوًا وتملك من المزايا ما يصعب تحقيقه خارجها، كما أنه قد يوقد شرارة التعلم الذاتي في داخلك إن هي أفلت أو آلت إلى الأفول.
للاطلاع على تحدي إم آي تي آنف الذكر: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/mypr...
كما يُمكنك مشاهدة هذه الفيديو حول نفس الموضوع:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSLo...
قد ترغب في الاطّلاع أيضا على كتاب Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
اشتهر الكاتب بتجربة سبق وأن خاضها والمُتعلّقة بإكمال مُقرر علوم الحاسب في جامعة إم آي تي الذي يمتدّ على 4 سنوات خلال عام واحد فقط وبشكل مركّز وفردي/ذاتي، وهو أمر مُبهر في حد ذاته والسبب في الشهرة التي حقّقها الكاتب، رغم أن هذا الأخير سلك عدّة اختصارات مثلما ذكر في آخر كتابه هذا. كما أنه تعلّم 4 لغات حيّة في عام واحد أيضًا من خلال انتقاله إلى كل بلد يرغب في تعلّم لغته وبذله كامل جهده في تعلّم تلك اللغة. بعبارة أخرى، ما يبدو من تجارب الكاتب أنه جرّب ما تحدّث عنه في هذا الكتاب بنفسه، رغم ذلك بدا لي وكأن الأمر فيه بعض الحشو وكثير من التضخيم.
ربما الخلاصة الأهم التي خرجت منها بعد الفراغ من هذا الكتاب أو هي قناعة ترسّخت لدي مؤخّرا (ربما بسبب أنني كنت أتابع مُحتويات أخرى في نفس فترة قراءة الكتاب أغلبها ذات جانب فلسفي) والتي تدور حول وجوب أن تكون لديك خطّة واضحة ومنهج جيّد لدراسة أي موضوع أو علم/فن. إضافة إلى ذلك فإن التدريب المُستمر والمركّز أمر ضروري للوصول إلى مستوى عالٍ من الفهم والتمكّن من أي موضوع كان. فعلى سبيل المثال القراءة من دون تطبيق أو حتى القراءة بشكل عشوائي دون نهج واضح ومدروس يُتّبع قد يعطيك إحساسًا خاطئًا بأنّك تكتسب المعارف التي ترغب في اكتسابها، لكن ربما تلك العشوائية في القراءة وقلّة/عدم التطبيق قد يجعل كل ذاك المجهود يذهب سُدًى أو ربما حتى يأخذك في الطريق الخاطئ بتكوين معارف/قناعات/أفكار أساسية تكون منقوصة أو حتى خاطئة بالمرّة.
الكتاب جيّد في مجمله، حيث أنه سيذكّرك (إن كنت نسيت) بالمنهج الواجب اتباعه من جديد لمواصلة الدراسة والتكوين خارج دائرة التعليم النظامي والذي عادة توفّر جوًا وتملك من المزايا ما يصعب تحقيقه خارجها، كما أنه قد يوقد شرارة التعلم الذاتي في داخلك إن هي أفلت أو آلت إلى الأفول.
للاطلاع على تحدي إم آي تي آنف الذكر: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/mypr...
كما يُمكنك مشاهدة هذه الفيديو حول نفس الموضوع:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSLo...
قد ترغب في الاطّلاع أيضا على كتاب Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
November 5, 2019
A good structured guide for approaching focused learning. Some of the bits I already was familiar with through Levi’s “Becoming a Superlearner”, but this book expands on the ideas and also nicely generalizes and structures them.
If you’re in IT and constant learning is part of your job, you should give this one a try
If you’re in IT and constant learning is part of your job, you should give this one a try
August 25, 2019
ULTRALEARNING: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.
This book really hit the spot for me. It combines learning, productivity, and doing things in unconventional ways to increase effectiveness. There was no way I was not going to read this. I think I learnt about it from a mention by Cal Newport somewhere. It has a similar feel to his own writing.
I found much of the advice matched my own experience of language learning: while I didn't have names for the principles, I definitely used a lot of them.
Examples of ultralearners in the text are not just from language learning, but also public speaking, the authors’ own experience learning of the MIT curriculum, chess, drawing, etc. The anecdotes are actually useful in giving examples of the principles in use, not just sprinkled through the text as filler.
The author touches lightly on many different learning tools, but the focus is more on the principles held in common by these learners. The idea is that regardless of what you're studying, you can use the same principles to learn more quickly and more effectively than you would in a traditional school environment period (not a high bar, maybe). With self directed learning, staying motivated is often the bottleneck, and this book delivers plenty of motivation (enough to get you started, probably not enough to keep you plugging away for a few months, you have to work that part out yourself).
I am also reminded how good we have it right now. Learning a language has never been so easy. You can consume foreign media 24/7, for free, without needing to be in the country (although that does help a lot still). Anki, sub2srs, podcasts, youtube, newspaper websites, blogs, online chat, etc. etc.
Upon finishing I couldn’t wait to design your own project and become fluent in some new skill. It made me feel nostalgic for my language learning days. I already have a couple of pages of notes written for a “learn to write better” project. Worst case scenario, my writing improves. (Best case scenario, nobel prize?)
This book really hit the spot for me. It combines learning, productivity, and doing things in unconventional ways to increase effectiveness. There was no way I was not going to read this. I think I learnt about it from a mention by Cal Newport somewhere. It has a similar feel to his own writing.
I found much of the advice matched my own experience of language learning: while I didn't have names for the principles, I definitely used a lot of them.
Examples of ultralearners in the text are not just from language learning, but also public speaking, the authors’ own experience learning of the MIT curriculum, chess, drawing, etc. The anecdotes are actually useful in giving examples of the principles in use, not just sprinkled through the text as filler.
The author touches lightly on many different learning tools, but the focus is more on the principles held in common by these learners. The idea is that regardless of what you're studying, you can use the same principles to learn more quickly and more effectively than you would in a traditional school environment period (not a high bar, maybe). With self directed learning, staying motivated is often the bottleneck, and this book delivers plenty of motivation (enough to get you started, probably not enough to keep you plugging away for a few months, you have to work that part out yourself).
I am also reminded how good we have it right now. Learning a language has never been so easy. You can consume foreign media 24/7, for free, without needing to be in the country (although that does help a lot still). Anki, sub2srs, podcasts, youtube, newspaper websites, blogs, online chat, etc. etc.
Upon finishing I couldn’t wait to design your own project and become fluent in some new skill. It made me feel nostalgic for my language learning days. I already have a couple of pages of notes written for a “learn to write better” project. Worst case scenario, my writing improves. (Best case scenario, nobel prize?)
August 17, 2019
A good companion to Cal Newport’s ‘Deep Work.’ According to Young, ultralearning is a “strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.”
December 28, 2019
Fantastic!
I’ve always loved learning and is naturally self-taught in several things. Nice to know that there is a science to it, and that I’m not among oddballs.
I’ve always loved learning and is naturally self-taught in several things. Nice to know that there is a science to it, and that I’m not among oddballs.
September 23, 2019
Push yourself out of your comfort zone and don't forget about metalearning. I really wanted to like this book because of the title and concept (while considering myself an ultralearner also) but eventually was not very impressed. The book was only 300 pages long but could have been significantly shorter as could not be considered very "dense". It was built upon a relatively limited number of examples: home-schooling for MIT Computer Science degree, learning new language in 3 months, improving drawing skills. Longest description was about Judit Polgar and how his father was scientifically growing her into a chess genius from birth. From theory perspective the book did not offer much novel ideas compared to other books on learning techniques.
Ultralearning principles:
1) Metalearning - learning how to learn
2) Focus (references to Cal NewPort's Deep Work), appropriate level of focus for a task (mostly not FLOW).
3) Directness - matching the context in which you plan to apply what you learn
4) Drill -drilling the weakest skills that are holding you back.
5) Retrieval - spend as much time as possible recalling what you know about a topic, even to the point of testing yourself on it before you start studying, to prepare your brain for the information to come.
6) Feedback - The most effective feedback comes from an expert coach who designs a training plan specifically for you and tells you what you're doing right and wrong as you carry out the plan. From basic tools, selecting practice problems that you have an answer key for.
7) Retention - Using four memory mechanisms: spacing out your learning, turning skills into procedures, learning beyond basic competence, using mnemonics.
8) Intuition - After you have learned a topic, you should not have just a collection of facts and procedures, but a flexible understanding that allowed you to answer deep questions about it and seamlessly connect it to other topics (Feynman Technique).
9) Experimentation - Throwing out the mainstream metalearning knowledge about topic and just experimenting what best works for you.
ULTRALEARNING: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.
First, ultralearning is a strategy. A strategy is not the only solution to a given problem, but it may be a good one. Strategies also tend to be well suited for certain situations and not others, so using them is a choice, not a commandment.
Second, ultralearning is self-directed. It’s about how you make decisions about what to learn and why. It’s possible to be a completely self-directed learner and still decide that attending a particular school is the best way to learn something.
Finally, ultralearning is intense.
How many of us have dreams of playing an instrument, speaking a foreign language, becoming a chef, writer, or photographer? 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.
In the words of the economist Tyler Cowen, “Average is over.” In his book of the same title, Cowen argues that because of increased computerization, automation, outsourcing, and regionalization, we are increasingly living in a world in which the top performers do a lot better than the rest. Driving this effect is what is known as “skill polarization.”
Ultralearning principles:
1) Metalearning - learning how to learn
2) Focus (references to Cal NewPort's Deep Work), appropriate level of focus for a task (mostly not FLOW).
3) Directness - matching the context in which you plan to apply what you learn
4) Drill -drilling the weakest skills that are holding you back.
5) Retrieval - spend as much time as possible recalling what you know about a topic, even to the point of testing yourself on it before you start studying, to prepare your brain for the information to come.
6) Feedback - The most effective feedback comes from an expert coach who designs a training plan specifically for you and tells you what you're doing right and wrong as you carry out the plan. From basic tools, selecting practice problems that you have an answer key for.
7) Retention - Using four memory mechanisms: spacing out your learning, turning skills into procedures, learning beyond basic competence, using mnemonics.
8) Intuition - After you have learned a topic, you should not have just a collection of facts and procedures, but a flexible understanding that allowed you to answer deep questions about it and seamlessly connect it to other topics (Feynman Technique).
9) Experimentation - Throwing out the mainstream metalearning knowledge about topic and just experimenting what best works for you.
ULTRALEARNING: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.
First, ultralearning is a strategy. A strategy is not the only solution to a given problem, but it may be a good one. Strategies also tend to be well suited for certain situations and not others, so using them is a choice, not a commandment.
Second, ultralearning is self-directed. It’s about how you make decisions about what to learn and why. It’s possible to be a completely self-directed learner and still decide that attending a particular school is the best way to learn something.
Finally, ultralearning is intense.
How many of us have dreams of playing an instrument, speaking a foreign language, becoming a chef, writer, or photographer? 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.
In the words of the economist Tyler Cowen, “Average is over.” In his book of the same title, Cowen argues that because of increased computerization, automation, outsourcing, and regionalization, we are increasingly living in a world in which the top performers do a lot better than the rest. Driving this effect is what is known as “skill polarization.”
April 19, 2020
Another one of those popular science books that is 90% based on the author's own experience, anecdotal stories and opinions (from mostly other such authors).
The book aims to structure the process of “ultralearning”, but comes off as an attempt to draw the first map of unfamiliar territory. It feels like it’s all duct-taped together with some of the parts described superficially, and others incoherently pulled together to form a whole.
A for effort, and 2/5 for execution. In its current form it does not hold a candle to Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, but hopefully, it will inspire actual experts to publish more books in this field.
The book aims to structure the process of “ultralearning”, but comes off as an attempt to draw the first map of unfamiliar territory. It feels like it’s all duct-taped together with some of the parts described superficially, and others incoherently pulled together to form a whole.
A for effort, and 2/5 for execution. In its current form it does not hold a candle to Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, but hopefully, it will inspire actual experts to publish more books in this field.
January 14, 2024
Biết đến Scott Young qua mấy dự án của anh, những dự án nghe tưởng chừng như bất khả thi hay chắc chỉ có thiên tài mới làm được: học chương trình 4 năm ngành computer science của đại học danh tiếng MIT chỉ trong 1 năm, một năm không dùng tiếng Anh đi du lịch 4 nước để học ngoại ngữ của các quốc qua này, một tháng học vẽ chân dung tả thực.
Sự thành công từ các dự án này cộng với việc theo dõi newsletters hàng tuần của anh là lý do kéo mình tới cuốn sách. Những nguyên tắc anh đưa ra không quá mới, nhưng cách phân tích đào sâu vào từng khía cạnh quả thực đáng mở rộng tầm mắt. Phần tâm đắc nhất cho bản thân mình là nguyên tắc thứ 3 “Directness: Go straight ahead”, cũng là khía cạnh mình thấy độc đáo nhất trong mọi dự án của các Ultralearner khác. Nguyên tắc thứ 5 “Retrieval: Test to learn” cũng nêu ra được nhiều khía cạnh độc đáo về cách tự kiểm tra bản thân như thế nào để thực sự hiệu quả.
Những phần khác cũng ok, nhưng nếu ai chưa đọc nhiều về dòng sách này thì mình khuyên nên tìm đọc cuốn “Phương pháp học tập siêu tốc” của Bobbi Deporter sẽ dễ hiểu hơn rất nhiều. Ngoài ra, về phần làm sao để nâng cao khả năng hiểu sâu vấn đề thì Scott chưa thực sự thuyết phục. Xem video này của tiến sĩ Justin Sung sẽ hiểu: https://youtu.be/q7lY-FytO3U?si=aC6Nz....
Sự thành công từ các dự án này cộng với việc theo dõi newsletters hàng tuần của anh là lý do kéo mình tới cuốn sách. Những nguyên tắc anh đưa ra không quá mới, nhưng cách phân tích đào sâu vào từng khía cạnh quả thực đáng mở rộng tầm mắt. Phần tâm đắc nhất cho bản thân mình là nguyên tắc thứ 3 “Directness: Go straight ahead”, cũng là khía cạnh mình thấy độc đáo nhất trong mọi dự án của các Ultralearner khác. Nguyên tắc thứ 5 “Retrieval: Test to learn” cũng nêu ra được nhiều khía cạnh độc đáo về cách tự kiểm tra bản thân như thế nào để thực sự hiệu quả.
Những phần khác cũng ok, nhưng nếu ai chưa đọc nhiều về dòng sách này thì mình khuyên nên tìm đọc cuốn “Phương pháp học tập siêu tốc” của Bobbi Deporter sẽ dễ hiểu hơn rất nhiều. Ngoài ra, về phần làm sao để nâng cao khả năng hiểu sâu vấn đề thì Scott chưa thực sự thuyết phục. Xem video này của tiến sĩ Justin Sung sẽ hiểu: https://youtu.be/q7lY-FytO3U?si=aC6Nz....
November 30, 2019
This book is a great, easy to read primer on the process of learning. To take the definition from the author, Ultralearning is "A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense."
This book had a very similar feel as atomic habits in terms of its structure. A story would introduce a concept then the author would break down the learning areas further into sub-topics, which are easy to digest and implement if one wishes. I lament that the author did not use more varied examples for learning projects as I felt like I kept reading about his experiences when learning languages. Nonetheless, it is up to the reader to execute his own learning regime and many of the concepts the author spoke to are universal in nature.
Here were some of the key takeaways I took from the book:
1. The 9 principles of ultralearning. (page 48)
A. Metalearning: First Draw a Map.
B. Focus: Sharpen Your Knife.
C. Directness: Go Straight Ahead.
D. Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point.
E. Retrieval: Test to Learn.
F. Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches.
G. Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket.
H. Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up.
I. Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone.
2. Metalearning - understanding your why, what and how. (page 57)
3. Rate-determining step - "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." (page 110)
4. Retrieval post learning - restate big idea of chapter as a question. (page 131)
5. Feynman's method of learning. (page 192)
6. Key questions to ask when executing your ultralearning plan. (page 222)
This book had a very similar feel as atomic habits in terms of its structure. A story would introduce a concept then the author would break down the learning areas further into sub-topics, which are easy to digest and implement if one wishes. I lament that the author did not use more varied examples for learning projects as I felt like I kept reading about his experiences when learning languages. Nonetheless, it is up to the reader to execute his own learning regime and many of the concepts the author spoke to are universal in nature.
Here were some of the key takeaways I took from the book:
1. The 9 principles of ultralearning. (page 48)
A. Metalearning: First Draw a Map.
B. Focus: Sharpen Your Knife.
C. Directness: Go Straight Ahead.
D. Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point.
E. Retrieval: Test to Learn.
F. Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches.
G. Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket.
H. Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up.
I. Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone.
2. Metalearning - understanding your why, what and how. (page 57)
3. Rate-determining step - "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." (page 110)
4. Retrieval post learning - restate big idea of chapter as a question. (page 131)
5. Feynman's method of learning. (page 192)
6. Key questions to ask when executing your ultralearning plan. (page 222)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2019
There is better and clear how to use one: Learning How to Learn, which is actually used in real schools, can be verified by anyone that "it's possible to teach oneself anything", and can be summarized into "there are three barriers that prevent students from learning: "absence of mass*", too steep a gradient, and the misunderstood word". Study Tech
* "Absence of mass" is the idea that abstractions must be illustrated physically (including physical contact with the equipment, as an example) before they can be fully understood.
* "Absence of mass" is the idea that abstractions must be illustrated physically (including physical contact with the equipment, as an example) before they can be fully understood.
March 25, 2023
Anecdotal to the extreme. Othwerwise banal: People who are obsessed/passionate about a topic can learn a lot about it through intensive immersion.
Alternative:
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Alternative:
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
November 28, 2019
Great book! I took copious notes. I almost wish for some more specific step-by-step ideas, as the concepts are largely taught via stories and examples, but I understand how tricky of a thing that would be to do.
April 8, 2021
Reread - 5/1/21 - 20/1/21 (Audio and Physical for notes). 5/5.
Personally really enjoyed this book and will be employing much of these notes as a template for future learning endeavours (have already created learning templates for my Task Manager app Omnifocus and also utilised the Metalearning concept for some subjects I have taken on this year to good effect)
Notes below:
Ultralearning: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.\
- Ultralearning is a strategy (well suited for some situations but not others)
- Ultralearing is self-directed
- Ultralearning is intense
With ultralearning, deeply and effectively learning things is always the main priority.
Traits of Ultralearners:
- They usually worked alone, often toiling for months and years without much more than a blog entry to announce their efforts.
- Their interests tended toward obsession. T
- hey were aggressive about optimizing their strategies, fiercely debating the merits of esoteric concepts such as interleaving practice, leech thresholds, or keyword mnemonics.
- Above all, they cared about learning. Their motivation to learn pushed them to tackle intense projects, even if it often came at the sacrifice of credentials or conformity.
Ultralearning isn’t easy. It’s hard and frustrating and requires stretching outside the limits of where you feel comfortable.
Case for Ultralearning:
1. For your work
2. For your personal life
3. Economics: Average is over
- Globalisation, regionalisation etc.
4. Education: Tuition is too high
- Skill gaps
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if ultralearning is a suitable replacement for higher education. In many professions, having a degree isn’t just nice, it’s legally required. Doctors, lawyers, and engineers all require formal credentials to even start doing the job. 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.”
5. Technology: New Frontiers in Learning
- Online courses, space repetition system, forums, document readers, etc.
6. Ultralearning project can augment the other skills and assets you’ve cultivated in your work
7. Benefit of skills learnt
- blend the practical reasons for learning a skill with an inspiration that comes from something that excites them
8. Stretching self-conception
- “There’s an added benefit to ultralearning that transcends even the skills one learns with it. Doing hard things, particularly things that involve learning something new, stretches your self-conception. It givs you confidence that you might be able to do things that you couldn’t do before”
Talent vs Learning:
“I take a middle position between those two extremes. I think that natural talents exist and that they undoubtedly influence the results we see….I also believe that strategy and method matter, too. Throughout this book, I will cover science showing how making changes to how you learn can impact your effectiveness. Each of the principles is something that, if applied appropriately, will make you a better learner regardless of whether your starting point is dull or brilliant.”
Time for Ultralearning:
1. Pursuing ultralearning part-time
“Spending fifty hours a week on a project will accomplish more than spending five hours a week on it, even if the efficiency is the same, and thus the most captivating stories usually involve heroic schedules. Though this makes for good storytelling, it’s actually unnecessary when it comes to pursuing your own ultralearning projects. The core of the ultralearning strategy is intensity and a willingness to prioritize effectiveness.”
2. Pursuing ultralearning during gaps in work and school
3. Integrate ultralearning principles into the time and energy you already devote to learning
Principles:
1. Metalearning: First Draw a Map
“Start by learning how to learn the subject or skill you want to tackle. Discover how to do good research and how to draw on your past competencies to learn new skills more easily.”
“Over the short term, you can do research to focus on improving your metalearning before and during a learning project. Ultralearning, owing to its intensity and self-directed nature, has the opportunity for a lot higher variance than normal schooling efforts do. A good ultralearning project, with excellent materials and an awareness of what needs to be learned, has the potential to be completed faster than formal schooling. ”
“Over the long term, the more ultralearning projects you do, the larger your set of general metalearning skills will be. You’ll know what your capacity is for learning, how you can best schedule your time and manage your motivation, and you’ll have well-tested strategies for dealing with common problems. As you learn more things, you’ll acquire more and more confidence, which will allow you to enjoy the process of learning more with less frustration.”
Note: “A good rule of thumb is that you should invest approximately 10 percent of your total expected learning time into research prior to starting.”
i. Determine Why (motives to learn - focus project on what matters to you)
- Instrumental learning: learning with purpose of achieving a different, nonlearning result
- Tactic: The Expert Interview Method
- talk to people who have already achieved what you want to achieve
- The key is to write a simple, to-the-point email “explaining why you’re reaching out to them and asking if they could spare fifteen minutes to answer some simple questions. Make the email concise and nonthreatening. Don’t ask for more than fifteen minutes or for ongoing mentorship. Though some experts will be happy to help you in those ways, it’s not good form to ask for too much in the first email.”
- Intrinsic projects: are those that you’re pursuing for their own sake
- “Even if your project is intrinsically motivated, asking “Why?” is still very useful. Most learning plans you might choose to emulate will be based on curriculum designers’ ideas of what is important for you to learn. If these aren’t perfectly lined up with your own goals, you may end up spending a lot of time learning things that aren’t important to you or underemphasizing the things that do matter. For these kinds of projects, it’s useful to ask yourself what you’re trying to learn because it will help you evaluate different study plans for their fit with your goals.”
ii. Determine What (knowledge and abilities that need to be acquired to be successful - concepts, facts, and procedures)
A. Brainstorm
Write down ‘Concepts”, ‘Facts” and Procedures”
- “Then brainstorm all the things you’ll need to learn. It doesn’t matter if the list is perfectly complete or accurate at this stage. You can always revise it later. Your goal here is to get a rough first pass. Once you start learning, you can adjust the list if you discover that your categories aren’t quite right.”
- Concepts: “ideas that you need to understand in flexible ways in order for them to be useful”
- Facts: “write down anything that needs to be memorized. Facts are anything that suffices if you can remember them at all. ”
- Procedures: “write down anything that needs to be practiced. Procedures are actions that need to be performed and may not involve much conscious thinking at all.”
B. Draw your map
- “Once you’ve finished your brainstorm, underline the concepts, facts, and procedures that are going to be most challenging. This will give you a good idea what the major learning bottlenecks are going to be and can start you searching for methods and resources to overcome those difficulties. You might recognize that learning medicine requires a lot of memorization, so you may invest in a system such as spaced-repetition software.”
- “You might look at some of the particular features of the concepts, facts, and procedures you’re trying to learn to find methods to master them more effectively.”
iii. Determine How (resources, environment, methods for learning)
A. Benchmarking
- Finding common ways in which people learn the skill or subject
- Can help design default strategy as a starting point
- e..g syllabus, resources recommended for those not of the academic background of the subject, online recommendations etc
B. Emphasize/Exclude Method
- Once found default curriculum, consider making modifications (“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.”)
- “The Emphasize/Exclude Method involves first finding areas of study that align with the goals you identified in the first part of your research”
- “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.”
2. Focus: Sharpen Your Knife
“Cultivate the ability to concentrate. Carve out chunks of time when you can focus on learning, and make it easy to just do it.”
“In the realm of great intellectual accomplishments an ability to focus quickly and deeply is nearly ubiquitous.”
“The struggles with focus that people have generally come in three broad varieties: starting, sustaining, and optimizing the quality of one’s focus. Ultralearners are relentless in coming up with solutions to handle these three problems, which form the basis of an ability to focus well and learn deeply.”
A. Problem 1 - Failing to Start Focusing (aka Procrastinating)
- “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.”
- “Much procrastination is unconscious. You’re procrastinating, but you don’t internalize it that way. Instead you’re “taking a much-needed break” or “having fun, because life can’t always be about work all the time.”
- “The problem is when they’re used to cover up the actual behavior—you don’t want to do the thing you need to be focusing on, either because you are directly averse to doing it or because there’s something else you want to do more. Recognizing that you’re procrastinating is the first step to avoiding it.”
- “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. You might even want to ask yourself which feeling is more powerful in that moment—is the problem more that you have a strong urge to do a different activity (e.g., eat something, check your phone, take a nap) or that you have a strong urge to avoid the thing you should be doing because you imagine it will be uncomfortable, painful, or frustrating? This awareness is necessary for progress to be made, so if you feel as though procrastination is a weakness of yours, make building this awareness your first priority before you try to fix the problem.”
- “Once you can easily and automatically recognize your tendency to procrastinate, when it occurs, you can take steps to resist the impulse. One way is to think in terms of a series of “crutches” or mental tools that can help you get through some of the worst parts of your tendency to procrastinate. As you get better about taking action on the project you’re working on, these crutches can be changed or gotten rid of altogether when procrastination is no longer a problem.”
- “A first crutch comes from recognizing that most of what is unpleasant in a task (if you are averse to it) or what is pleasant about an alternative task (if you’re drawn to distraction) is an impulse that doesn’t actually last that long. If you actually start working or ignore a potent distractor, it usually only takes a couple minutes until the worry starts to dissolve”
- Five minute rule (to get started)
- Pomodoro Technique (to avoid too many breaks)
- “Keep in mind that it’s essential not to switch to a harder goal when you’re still mostly impeded by an earlier problem. If you still can’t start working, even with the five-minute rule, switching to harder and more demanding crutches may backfire.”
- “Eventually, if working on your project is not troubled by extreme procrastination, you may want to switch to using a calendar on which you carve out specific hours of your day in advance to work on the project. This approach allows you to make the best use of your limited time. However, it works only if you actually follow it. If you find yourself setting a daily schedule with chunked hours and then frequently ignore it to do something else, go back to the start and try building back up again with the five-minute rule and then the Pomodoro Technique.”
Personally really enjoyed this book and will be employing much of these notes as a template for future learning endeavours (have already created learning templates for my Task Manager app Omnifocus and also utilised the Metalearning concept for some subjects I have taken on this year to good effect)
Notes below:
Ultralearning: A strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.\
- Ultralearning is a strategy (well suited for some situations but not others)
- Ultralearing is self-directed
- Ultralearning is intense
With ultralearning, deeply and effectively learning things is always the main priority.
Traits of Ultralearners:
- They usually worked alone, often toiling for months and years without much more than a blog entry to announce their efforts.
- Their interests tended toward obsession. T
- hey were aggressive about optimizing their strategies, fiercely debating the merits of esoteric concepts such as interleaving practice, leech thresholds, or keyword mnemonics.
- Above all, they cared about learning. Their motivation to learn pushed them to tackle intense projects, even if it often came at the sacrifice of credentials or conformity.
Ultralearning isn’t easy. It’s hard and frustrating and requires stretching outside the limits of where you feel comfortable.
Case for Ultralearning:
1. For your work
2. For your personal life
3. Economics: Average is over
- Globalisation, regionalisation etc.
4. Education: Tuition is too high
- Skill gaps
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if ultralearning is a suitable replacement for higher education. In many professions, having a degree isn’t just nice, it’s legally required. Doctors, lawyers, and engineers all require formal credentials to even start doing the job. 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.”
5. Technology: New Frontiers in Learning
- Online courses, space repetition system, forums, document readers, etc.
6. Ultralearning project can augment the other skills and assets you’ve cultivated in your work
7. Benefit of skills learnt
- blend the practical reasons for learning a skill with an inspiration that comes from something that excites them
8. Stretching self-conception
- “There’s an added benefit to ultralearning that transcends even the skills one learns with it. Doing hard things, particularly things that involve learning something new, stretches your self-conception. It givs you confidence that you might be able to do things that you couldn’t do before”
Talent vs Learning:
“I take a middle position between those two extremes. I think that natural talents exist and that they undoubtedly influence the results we see….I also believe that strategy and method matter, too. Throughout this book, I will cover science showing how making changes to how you learn can impact your effectiveness. Each of the principles is something that, if applied appropriately, will make you a better learner regardless of whether your starting point is dull or brilliant.”
Time for Ultralearning:
1. Pursuing ultralearning part-time
“Spending fifty hours a week on a project will accomplish more than spending five hours a week on it, even if the efficiency is the same, and thus the most captivating stories usually involve heroic schedules. Though this makes for good storytelling, it’s actually unnecessary when it comes to pursuing your own ultralearning projects. The core of the ultralearning strategy is intensity and a willingness to prioritize effectiveness.”
2. Pursuing ultralearning during gaps in work and school
3. Integrate ultralearning principles into the time and energy you already devote to learning
Principles:
1. Metalearning: First Draw a Map
“Start by learning how to learn the subject or skill you want to tackle. Discover how to do good research and how to draw on your past competencies to learn new skills more easily.”
“Over the short term, you can do research to focus on improving your metalearning before and during a learning project. Ultralearning, owing to its intensity and self-directed nature, has the opportunity for a lot higher variance than normal schooling efforts do. A good ultralearning project, with excellent materials and an awareness of what needs to be learned, has the potential to be completed faster than formal schooling. ”
“Over the long term, the more ultralearning projects you do, the larger your set of general metalearning skills will be. You’ll know what your capacity is for learning, how you can best schedule your time and manage your motivation, and you’ll have well-tested strategies for dealing with common problems. As you learn more things, you’ll acquire more and more confidence, which will allow you to enjoy the process of learning more with less frustration.”
Note: “A good rule of thumb is that you should invest approximately 10 percent of your total expected learning time into research prior to starting.”
i. Determine Why (motives to learn - focus project on what matters to you)
- Instrumental learning: learning with purpose of achieving a different, nonlearning result
- Tactic: The Expert Interview Method
- talk to people who have already achieved what you want to achieve
- The key is to write a simple, to-the-point email “explaining why you’re reaching out to them and asking if they could spare fifteen minutes to answer some simple questions. Make the email concise and nonthreatening. Don’t ask for more than fifteen minutes or for ongoing mentorship. Though some experts will be happy to help you in those ways, it’s not good form to ask for too much in the first email.”
- Intrinsic projects: are those that you’re pursuing for their own sake
- “Even if your project is intrinsically motivated, asking “Why?” is still very useful. Most learning plans you might choose to emulate will be based on curriculum designers’ ideas of what is important for you to learn. If these aren’t perfectly lined up with your own goals, you may end up spending a lot of time learning things that aren’t important to you or underemphasizing the things that do matter. For these kinds of projects, it’s useful to ask yourself what you’re trying to learn because it will help you evaluate different study plans for their fit with your goals.”
ii. Determine What (knowledge and abilities that need to be acquired to be successful - concepts, facts, and procedures)
A. Brainstorm
Write down ‘Concepts”, ‘Facts” and Procedures”
- “Then brainstorm all the things you’ll need to learn. It doesn’t matter if the list is perfectly complete or accurate at this stage. You can always revise it later. Your goal here is to get a rough first pass. Once you start learning, you can adjust the list if you discover that your categories aren’t quite right.”
- Concepts: “ideas that you need to understand in flexible ways in order for them to be useful”
- Facts: “write down anything that needs to be memorized. Facts are anything that suffices if you can remember them at all. ”
- Procedures: “write down anything that needs to be practiced. Procedures are actions that need to be performed and may not involve much conscious thinking at all.”
B. Draw your map
- “Once you’ve finished your brainstorm, underline the concepts, facts, and procedures that are going to be most challenging. This will give you a good idea what the major learning bottlenecks are going to be and can start you searching for methods and resources to overcome those difficulties. You might recognize that learning medicine requires a lot of memorization, so you may invest in a system such as spaced-repetition software.”
- “You might look at some of the particular features of the concepts, facts, and procedures you’re trying to learn to find methods to master them more effectively.”
iii. Determine How (resources, environment, methods for learning)
A. Benchmarking
- Finding common ways in which people learn the skill or subject
- Can help design default strategy as a starting point
- e..g syllabus, resources recommended for those not of the academic background of the subject, online recommendations etc
B. Emphasize/Exclude Method
- Once found default curriculum, consider making modifications (“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.”)
- “The Emphasize/Exclude Method involves first finding areas of study that align with the goals you identified in the first part of your research”
- “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.”
2. Focus: Sharpen Your Knife
“Cultivate the ability to concentrate. Carve out chunks of time when you can focus on learning, and make it easy to just do it.”
“In the realm of great intellectual accomplishments an ability to focus quickly and deeply is nearly ubiquitous.”
“The struggles with focus that people have generally come in three broad varieties: starting, sustaining, and optimizing the quality of one’s focus. Ultralearners are relentless in coming up with solutions to handle these three problems, which form the basis of an ability to focus well and learn deeply.”
A. Problem 1 - Failing to Start Focusing (aka Procrastinating)
- “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.”
- “Much procrastination is unconscious. You’re procrastinating, but you don’t internalize it that way. Instead you’re “taking a much-needed break” or “having fun, because life can’t always be about work all the time.”
- “The problem is when they’re used to cover up the actual behavior—you don’t want to do the thing you need to be focusing on, either because you are directly averse to doing it or because there’s something else you want to do more. Recognizing that you’re procrastinating is the first step to avoiding it.”
- “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. You might even want to ask yourself which feeling is more powerful in that moment—is the problem more that you have a strong urge to do a different activity (e.g., eat something, check your phone, take a nap) or that you have a strong urge to avoid the thing you should be doing because you imagine it will be uncomfortable, painful, or frustrating? This awareness is necessary for progress to be made, so if you feel as though procrastination is a weakness of yours, make building this awareness your first priority before you try to fix the problem.”
- “Once you can easily and automatically recognize your tendency to procrastinate, when it occurs, you can take steps to resist the impulse. One way is to think in terms of a series of “crutches” or mental tools that can help you get through some of the worst parts of your tendency to procrastinate. As you get better about taking action on the project you’re working on, these crutches can be changed or gotten rid of altogether when procrastination is no longer a problem.”
- “A first crutch comes from recognizing that most of what is unpleasant in a task (if you are averse to it) or what is pleasant about an alternative task (if you’re drawn to distraction) is an impulse that doesn’t actually last that long. If you actually start working or ignore a potent distractor, it usually only takes a couple minutes until the worry starts to dissolve”
- Five minute rule (to get started)
- Pomodoro Technique (to avoid too many breaks)
- “Keep in mind that it’s essential not to switch to a harder goal when you’re still mostly impeded by an earlier problem. If you still can’t start working, even with the five-minute rule, switching to harder and more demanding crutches may backfire.”
- “Eventually, if working on your project is not troubled by extreme procrastination, you may want to switch to using a calendar on which you carve out specific hours of your day in advance to work on the project. This approach allows you to make the best use of your limited time. However, it works only if you actually follow it. If you find yourself setting a daily schedule with chunked hours and then frequently ignore it to do something else, go back to the start and try building back up again with the five-minute rule and then the Pomodoro Technique.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2021
A little bit "squishy", this is more of an example book than either a science-driven study (which the author admits) or a self-help book. Think of it as a "survey course", an overview of ways people have taken on extreme feats or alternate paths of learning.
An interesting tidbit, that I cannot quote exactly, was that the old model of learning, that if you learn subject A, such as Greek, it makes it easier to do other learning. Apparently that has been debunked, and this is no longer a valid model. (I really hacked up that description -- but the three takeaways I got were: our current educational model is sloppy, study what you need, and inspire students to want to learn first instead of forcing subjects on them.
Alphabet Game, 'U' title.
An interesting tidbit, that I cannot quote exactly, was that the old model of learning, that if you learn subject A, such as Greek, it makes it easier to do other learning. Apparently that has been debunked, and this is no longer a valid model. (I really hacked up that description -- but the three takeaways I got were: our current educational model is sloppy, study what you need, and inspire students to want to learn first instead of forcing subjects on them.
Alphabet Game, 'U' title.
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