Scott Young

I also struggled at first semester in college (I'm in my 3rd year now) with math (particularly Calculus) and found after my first semester it was due to a gap in my knowledge. I did not have a solid enough understanding of trig or high level algebra to calculate or manipulate equations expected of me so I would bomb all the exams.

If you can't fully understand low level concepts how can you even expect to even grasp the broader view? It's like trying to explain multiplication to someone who has no concept of addition. To understand a topic you must also understand all the sub-topics that make it up, and once you grasp all the moving parts a problem by nature become much more intuitive to you. This also includes math equations, if you are expected to know an equation dont JUST memorize it but instead understand why its necessary, how to derive it, and when you can and can't use it. You'll be able to look at an equation/function/program and pull things out automatically just by looking at it that may have taken some time and work to conclude before. This is very similar to Scott Young's learning ideology that I also recommend reading up on. [1]

Therefore after that semester I took some time and reviewed my algebra and basically re-learned trig from the ground up (it was very weak). Calc and Calc2 came a lot easier to me after this.

In college you must continually fill these gaps in your knowledge as every professor is different and has different expectations in student's…

Cal Newport here points to the example of Scott Young, so then I was curious to look up Scott Young and to figure out where he went to university. He writes, "Popular discussion asks whether college is worth the money and time. I can’t say for sure. I went to a mid-tier, public Canadian university, with tuition around $5000 per year and leaving with no student debt, so my experience may be atypical."

http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/tag/university/

I can't say whether or not his study strategies would work as well at a university that is not a "mid-tier, public Canadian university," or whether a student might have to study a lot harder at, say, MIT or the Indian Institute of Technology. Indeed, especially not knowing the exact name of the university from what I have looked up thus far, I have trouble knowing what the admission requirements are at Scott Young's university.

I have to fully agree with Scott Young's advice, "Befriend Exchange Students." That's a great way to learn about the world before accumulating enough money to travel widely.

A question for Cal Newport: how do we know that Scott Young is "one of the world’s most efficient studiers" if we don't know how challenging the courses are at his university? After edit: I see that Young writes, "This is perhaps my only regret in university is that I weighed interest too much over challenge in selecting my major."

http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/tag/university/

Maybe some people who take more challenging majors…

Ok, the knack really seems to be work smarter, not harder. I haven't got it down to pat entirely, but I'm getting there.

If you have to work hard till 4 am to get school work done, you have a problem. You can group the problems though.

1. Wrong work
Odds are you do some work that feels like you're working hard but won't get you anywhere. I had a knack for finding those and working myself stupid over them. "Biology poster? Museum Exhibit it is". Whilst that kind of work can teach you something, don't fret it, and prioritize.

2.Too much work.
Don't follow in my footsteps and become an academic masochist. As said above, prioritize and cut things that aren't means to an end/enjoyable. Working on an important academic project you enjoy? Bullseye, it stays. Studying for a major exam that you require for graduation but hate? Dispatch it cleanly and quickly. There's techniques for that. Jamming on the guitar with friends? Sure, you have to relax after all. Working on a worthless elective class you hate? Do yourself a favor and chop it.

3. Handling work the wrong way
I'm down to 2 hours study for a 1 hour lecture (I think you can go lower), but I have friends who spend 5 on the same thing and grasp less. Is it because my friends are stupid? Hopefully not. But they tackle it the wrong way. Efficiency whilst studying will help you cut a lot of time off.

Also, understand that we run on cycles. Sleep/Wake, Work/Rest, etc. Every project I did where I tried fighting that fact…

excerpt from the book Ultralearning by Scott Youn — https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/.

"Eric Barone had just graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma with a degree in computer science when he thought, Now’s my chance. He had decided that he wanted to make his own video games and that now, before he got comfortable in a salaried programming job, was his opportunity to do something about it. He already had his inspiration. He wanted his game to pay homage to Harvest Moon, a charming Japanese series of games in which the player must build a successful farm: grow crops, raise animals, explore the countryside, and form relationships with other villagers. “I loved that game,” he said about his childhood experience with the title. “But it could have been so much better.” He knew that if he didn’t follow through with his own vision, that improved version would never be a reality.

Developing a commercially successful video game isn’t easy. AAA game companies budget hundreds of millions of dollars and employ thousands of people on their top titles. The talent required is similarly broad. Game development requires programming, visual art, musical composition, story writing, game design, and dozens more skills, depending on the genre and style of game developed. The breadth of skills required makes game development much harder for smaller teams than other art forms such as music, writing, or visual arts. Even highly talented independent game developers…

Scott H Young a writer, programmer, traveler and avid reader of interesting things. For the last ten years he's been experimenting to find out how to learn and think better. Today he swings by the show and talks to us about how we can master hard skills faster!

QUOTES

"The way that mental models become useful is when you really spent a lot of time thinking about them, not when you just heard their name and kind of written them down and understood a few sentences." [00:13:54]

"There is a certain type of person, I guess you could say that like they do need to stop reading, they need to actually start just taking action on things and implementing things." [00:24:23]

"The possibilities of learning are a lot more vast than you've maybe previously considered." [01:02:17]

CONNECT WITH SCOTT
Website: https://www.scotthyoung.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/scotthyoung/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorScottYoung/

SHOW NOTES

[00:03:30] The struggles on the path to becoming an ultralearner

[00:06:22] The pitfalls of motivation

[00:13:18] The benefits and limits of mental models

[00:16:32] The difference between knowing the name of a thing and knowing the thing

[00:23:33] Is reading making you stupid?

[00:26:23] The danger of learning theories and not applying them

[00:27:37] You need to do more than just homework

[00:29:27] What to do when you’re stunned into inaction

[00:33:36] Luck to destiny

[00:40:27] How can we use ultralearning to accelerate,…

> Who is this?

Brilliantly gifted high school student it turns out.

> https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2023/02/21/diego-vera-mit-challenge-math-physics/

> Interviewer: Tell me a bit about your life situation at the time. Were you working on the project full-time? What did you do for funds?

> Diego: The year COVID hit was the most transformative year of my life. I was 15 at the time. A combination of both personal circumstances along with isolation gave me so much clarity—I transformed 180 degrees. During this time, I really got into self-improvement and started working out, meditating, reading, taking cold showers etc.

Personally, I did some of what he did when I was his age, but not to the same extent and I mostly decided to chill out and enjoy college.

At that age it's really risky to do. Really hard to go to college and sit in classes for 4 years if you already know everything. I guess you could go straight to grad school or industry, but you miss out on a lot of the social maturity and friendships you develop in college. Learning all this is almost a curse; he will always, in some sense, be alone in his newfound abilities.

(Sorry for the edits. Done editing before any child comments.)