Continuous Learning
There is a fundamental difference between observing and actual learning by doing. Yes, merely observing may give ideas and even insights, but only practice makes an actual change in abilities. This is the wisdom behind the famous (and probably fake) Bruce Lee quote “Knowing is not enough. We must do.”
Observing someone playing a cello, or painting a portrait is the best examples. Another obvious example is observing a Moto Grand Prix and actually driving a bike even at a modest speed. Watching Muay Thai videos will not make you a fighter.
Last but not least, when one observes a football game from an elevated spot it looks very different from the point of view of each actual palyer, who controls a ball perhaps a few seconds before passing it along. They also see the field very and fundamentally different. From the above it seems that whole patterns move across it, while in reality the individual behavior of each player is almost independent – it is the mind of an external observer that creates the pattern it observes.
The most fundamental principle is that stories and even observations are different from actual experiences of the doers. This is why there is so much bullshit and confusion about everything. We mistake stories and observations for what is actually going on.
In software the action is in self-control, the ability disentangle and dissect actual real-world problems to create optimal abstractions and a layered hierarchical structure which represents a set of interacting parts (processes). What they post on YouTube about Nodejs, or React or Rust is just bullshit.
When people have the right understanding (adequate representation of reality inside their heads) the great products emerge. The C programming language, and especially Erlang emerged form telecoms, which solve real physical constraints. Smalltalk has been envisioned by a trained biologist, early LISPs have been influenced by emergent biological science (the discovery of the structure of DNA).
In sort, a knowledge is to have an accurate inner map of the territory and this “map” is constantly reshaped and maintained by actual doing, by being a doer, not a mere idle observer.
As they are
To see “things” as they are is, arguably, the single most important principle of Buddhism and early Upanishads.
This is a conscious regular effort which must become a habit - question and explain everything to yourself.
Jigsaw Puzzle
A partially solved Jigsaw puzzle is the best (less wrong) metaphor. It means no contradictions and multiple causality.
It also means building up on stable intermediate forms (previous results).
The problem is that the jigsaw puzzle has many dimensions and a depth and nesting (layers of complexity) on each of those.
One maintains a constantly updated (and constantly decaying) inner representation of the environment (the World) in one’s brain.
The “knowledge” is in the structure and in “weights” (individual neuron’s states).
(a partial map, a picture with missed pieces)
Connect (relate) with what is already known (already on the “map”) and check for contradictions. Reject everything which contradicts with What Is.
Extracting
Extract knowledge - principles, “laws”, rules from books and papers, by filtering out useless verbiage and bullshit. and building one’s own understanding - inner “maps” or “semantic networks”.
Re-create concepts
Trace concepts (generalizations and abstractions) back to where it came from - to praricular aspects of What Is.
Re-create concepts from What Is (the first principles) to see what they really are (how they made up). In this way all math is easy.
Zoom in and out
Reduce to the underlying principles and build up again.
All religions are nothing but social conditioning, which is based on a language and abstract concepts, which, in turn, is just supervised learning and then reinforcement learning (which is a universal process in biology).
An evolved and genetically transmuted particular structure - the “language area” in the brain is a required machinery. Thinking in terms of language (concepts) and introspection of this process of thinking are also required to create a complete illusion (or Maya).
This is, roughly, how one does it.
Exo-cortex
The “second cortex” meme.
org-mode(basic structure and nesting)LaTeX(fine structure and nesting)pandoc(convert between formats preserving the basic structure)
Principles
Declarative knowledge (what is, whys, hows, events, facts) A semantic map which means links or relations between concepts (to which words are associated).
Words are mere labels.
Write it down
Write down things in my own words. Don’t just copy and paste chunks of text verbatim.
Whys and Hows
Do not try to merily memorize particulars. Develop your own understanding of underlying principles (inner maps).
Pen and paper
Paper and pensil - diagrams, pictures, colors, etc.
as many valid associations (semantic links) as possible
Sets and Relations
Math is about generalized abstract notions and generalized, abstracted out patterns.
It could be reduced to the very basis, which are Sets and Relations, which in turn reflect how the mind of an external observer works.
Hacks
visualize “schemes” (multiple connections)
priming (activating, loading)
replay as remembering
Long Term Potentiation (a “muscle” - changes with use) used a lot - becomes more efficient
pre-existing “crude maps, jigsaw pictures”
Structured writing is a “second cortex”