#digital-garden

Learning by doing, in Public

I've been a learner since day 1 and and plan to be for the rest of my life. The experience of learning excites me. Life just gets so much more interesting if you are always ready to question your own understanding and point of view.

Lifelong learning is like a fountain of youth for the mind, keeping it active, agile, and engaged. It fuels curiosity, fostering a deeper understanding of the world. It opens the door for new possibilities. It also empowers us to adapt to changes, a crucial ability in today's rapidly evolving world.

Pitfalls

Although, learning is fun, it only really makes sense if you exploit the knowledge, skills and experience you built up. You can easily spend your time reading 1 book after another, listening 1 podcast after another, do 1 tutorial after another. But the sheer volume of information can and will become overwhelming, leading to indecisiveness, confusion, and stagnation. Since we are so tiny, and the world is so big, we need to focus our curiosity, else the analysis paralysis takes over.

Moreover, incessant learning without purpose turns into a form of procrastination, a way to avoid taking action. Learning is usually not an aim (although in some cases that too, can be beneficial), but a possible way to achieve our goals.

The Art of Effective Learning

So, how do we learn effectively? Here are three key strategies:

Set Clear Goals

Having a clear objective for learning helps stay focused and motivated. Whether it's to gain a new skill for career advancement, understand a complex topic, or explore a new hobby, a defined goal provides direction to your learning journey.

Learn by Doing

One of the best ways to learn is by getting your hands dirty. That's why the tech tutorials are so popular on Youtube. Applying knowledge through practical projects, experiments, or even better - real-world tasks helps cement understanding and enhances retention.

Learn in Public

Open learning is akin to a group hike through the wilderness of wisdom; everyone benefits from the trials and triumphs of the individual. The lone explorer's discoveries become stepping stones, allowing others to learn from, and build on top of them.

Open building, like a colossal jigsaw puzzle, invites everyone to contribute a piece. Businesses that build in public tap into the collective genius of the community, creating a symbiotic relationship where everyone wins.

TODO Feymann technique

Learn in public, Build in public

Combining the above ideas, if you want to start with a new topic or want to get deeper in another, you should do it in public, while doing it.

An example:
You want to learn how to build a simple chat application on the web powered with GPT4 LLM.

Notes

Great! Now we have to ask the right questions.
What parts can I do? Know-how, public repos, documentation,

What are the anti-goals?

How to do it?

Well, first of all you need to break the problem down into pieces.
For starters it's: