Ultralearning – Scott Young
Learning Version 2.0
Learning Helps Make Your Journey More Direct
Formal education provides knowledge related to an indirect path between your learning context and the target environment. For example, we learn French in a classroom, rather than asking a French person for directions. So, it is unsurprising that we struggle to apply our French schooling in the real world. Scott Young recommends making the path between your learning experience and application experience as direct as possible.
Learn By Doing
To hone your directness, you need to start learning things by doing. Young also calls this approach “project-based learning.” Situating your learning directly in your target environment means you skip the challenge of transferring your skills. Arguably, the most effective way to adopt project-based learning is immersive learning—for example, a French student spending a year working in France. The author admits that some skills are unsafe to learn immersively, like flying a plane. But you can engage in a similar environment to an immersive environment through simulations.
Avoid Cramming Information
In 2015, Nigel Richards won the World Scrabble Championships. The remarkable thing is that he did not speak French. Despite the 386,000 French words approved by Scrabble, Richards could win by committing these words to memory. This is a perfect example of ultralearning.
To become highly effective, you will need to commit important information to memory. Don’t commit things to memory in one burst. Avoid cramming and space out your memorization sessions to ensure long-term memory. So, set aside a few days per week to memorize the information.
Informational Feedback
The next type of feedback is informational feedback. Informational feedback involves highlighting problem areas and isolating mistakes based on the moment you receive it. For example, when an audience member walks out of your speech,
The final and most effective form of feedback is corrective feedback. This type of feedback tells you precisely what you are doing wrong and how to rectify it moving forward. When obtaining feedback, you should accept all feedback. But you should always prioritize corrective feedback, then informational feedback, and finally outcome feedback.
Three Ways
Scott Young offers three approaches to help you identify your optimal learning strategy:
Create a Metalearning Map
These maps should break your topic down into 3 categories:
1.1. Concepts: relate to what you need to understand.
1.2. Facts: relating to what needs to be memorized.
1.3. Procedures: relate to what needs to be done.
You must appreciate that not all skills will require all 3 procedures. E.g; learning a basketball shot will require you to focus on the procedure almost entirely. Once you have considered each of the categories, you should focus on the most relevant category.
Use the Map to Identify Challenges
After establishing your meta-learning map, you must identify which aspects of learning might prove challenging. After noting these challenges, you should brainstorm techniques to overcome them. These techniques often require you to engage in a specialist activity, like spaced repetition, if you have to remember lots of information.
The Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro technique is potentially the most effective way to use timers like this. With this technique, you need to set a timer for 20 minutes. After these 20 minutes, you can take a five-minute break. After the break, set another timer for 20 minutes and repeat.
After using these techniques to develop focus, you must learn how to sustain it. The issue with building momentum while working is that you may fall into autopilot. Autopilot tricks you into thinking you are productive, but in reality, you have lost your focus.
Ultralearners Are Quick Learners
Ultralearning is a strategy for self-directed and aggressive learning that enables a person to acquire new skills quickly. Self-directed learning means that a person takes control of their learning rather than waiting to pay for expensive tuition and tutors. Aggressive means that, instead of spending years on something without making significant progress, a person directs their limited time and effort towards what works.
Spaced Repetiion
Spaced repetition is potentially the most effective technique to learn information. Test your knowledge of discrete chunks of information in a randomized way. If you can easily remember a topic, you can push it further back in your revision schedule. On the other hand, you should revise the topic you have difficulty with sooner. Attempting to retain information while it is difficult will create stronger long-term memories.
Develop an Optimal Learning Strategy
Meta-learning should always be the start of your ultralearning journey. Meta-learning is the process of learning how to learn effectively. To start implementing meta-learning, you must first establish how information is structured in your chosen field. This means you should avoid just absorbing random information.
Meta-learning requires you to look at the big picture and develop an optimal learning strategy.
The Direct-Then-Drill Approach
Elite athletes, piano prodigies, and successful ultralearners all perfect their techniques to maintain their competitive edge. Start practicing a skill by adopting what Young calls the “direct-then-drill” approach. Start with a direct approach to your skills, so you can identify the areas you need to hone in on. Then, drill through the skills you need to hone and return to direct practice until you notice more skills that need drilling.
Optimize Your Drilling
To optimize your drilling, apply yourself to a rate-determining step. In ultralearning, this is the step that unlocks the next level of knowledge. Identify these steps and then adopt one of the following approaches: First, you can time-slice by isolating one step and repeating it until perfection. But you can only adopt this approach if you can easily isolate a step from the entire process. If you can’t, you can always separate a skill into cognitive components and time-slice them. Alternatively, you can use the copycat method. Choose an idol who excels in the area you want to improve and emulate.
Autopilot
The best way to tackle autopilot is to use interleaving. Interleaving is the act of breaking a project into several short and regularly-spaced sessions.
Finally, monitor your attention and arousal levels and decide on which task to tackle based on these levels. For example, if you feel intense with a narrow focus, you should choose a repetitive task. Conversely, if you are relaxed with a wide-ranging focus, you should choose a creative task.
Establishing How You Are Going to Learn
The best way to establish how you will learn is by researching others who have already acquired a similar skill. Their approach can be used as a benchmark. You can then replicate their methods and techniques with your own unique twist.
Identify a Clear Focus
Sharpening your knife is Young’s analogy for refining your focus. One of the most effective modern approaches to sharpening your knife is removing electronic temptations. For example, switch off your email notifications and stop binge-watching Netflix.
The first challenge to refining your focus will always be getting focused in the first place. The author suggests tricking your brain into thinking you are focused. Set a timer and promise yourself that you can stop working when the timer goes off. You may find that you have built the momentum to continue working by the end of these three minutes.
Improve Retrieval Rates Through Testing
Testing yourself is often an effective way to improve your ability to retrieve a skill. Young offers two methods to improve retrieval rates. Firstly, you can review your learning materials. Specifically, go back over the materials you used when you first studied this topic. The alternative to recalling facts and concepts from memory is significantly more effective. Young cites a 2011 study from Purdue University that found recall is far more effective for long-term learning retention. Despite this, most learners fall back on reviewing old material.
Outcome, Informational and Corrective Feedback
Even if you believe you excel in a field, you still need to accept feedback to continue progressing and improving. Almost all feedback is valuable, but some feedback is more helpful than others. Firstly, Young considers outcome feedback. This is the most basic form of feedback and involves determining whether you have reached your desired outcome. This type of feedback can be encouraging but often lacks enough information to make meaningful changes.
Experimentation Is What Makes You a Genius
Experimentation Is What Makes You a Genius
Young uses Vincent Van Gogh as an example for this final principle. Van Gogh was an art school dropout who was consistently described as an unremarkable painter. Today, he is considered one of the greatest artists ever to live. He achieved this success through consistent experimentation. His distinctive art style changed considerably from his early years. He did not immediately hit on his distinctive aesthetic. So, Young describes experimentation as ultralearning’s secret ingredient.
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