Learning to learn
- Published on
- Shreshth Mehra--5 min read
We can be knowledgeable with another man's knowledge, but we can't be wise with another man's wisdom.
Learning to learn cover
Contents
I have now gone through more cycles of learning from scratch than I can count. Whether it be astronomy, coding in Next.js, or the numerous skills I had to learn during my first startup. The process is always the same: it's painful, my head hurts because I have no clue what I'm doing, and it seems impossible to grasp how others get it so easily.
Besides the headache, the only constant thought is, "I wish I had someone who knows how to do this to help me through it." It would make everything so much easier. But I'm starting to realize that even if I did have this person, it might not be as helpful as I once thought.
For me, the concept of learning to learn is divided into two distinct categories: acquiring skills in focused, well-defined domains with fewer variables, such as engineering or finance, and navigating more complex domains with numerous variables, such as life or startups. Here, I want to focus on the latter.
External Vs. Internal Knowledge
Let's take my first startup as an example. I was building wearable tech that gave gym-goers feedback on their posture. In the startup world, there's this common analogy of "Vitamins vs. Painkillers." The idea is that even though people know vitamins are good for them they forget to take it. Furthermore, the company making vitamins has to educate the customer on why they are good for them. On the other hand, if a person has pain, they’ll go and buy a painkiller themselves. So, the general advice is to make painkillers, not vitamins.
I'd heard this countless times, yet I still poured hours into developing my posture-correcting tech. What’s worse is, when I asked people about Good posture (my vitamin), they'd always say how important it is, misleading me into thinking they'd actually pay for it. After a year and a half of development, testing, and pivoting, I finally arrived at the same conclusion: "Make painkillers, not vitamins."
Here's the thing: there's a difference between knowledge you get externally from a book or someone (External knowledge) and knowledge you develop internally (Internal knowledge). Internal knowledge is more powerful because it's ingrained in your mind. It' been internalized into the workings of your mind and body. Even though I had heard the "painkiller" advice and it made sense, it wasn’t until I learned it myself that I truly understood it. The way I'd describe it then and now hasn't changed, but now I understand it much more intuitively.
Two Types of Advice
Here's what's interesting: the advice to "make painkillers, not vitamins" was sound, but it barely helped me. And now that I've learned it myself, I find myself giving the same advice to others!
It seems like once you've gone through the difficult process of learning something, your brain summarizes it into a neat little package – in this case, "make painkillers, not vitamins." Anyone who's completed the journey will agree, but it's rarely helpful for someone just starting out.
So, it makes me wonder: what kind of advice would I give to someone at the beginning of that journey?
The Most Relevant Advice
It seems that the most relevant advice is to simply do. Just do stuff, make mistakes, and figure it out for yourself.
When I first came to this conclusion, it felt a bit disappointing. I was hoping for some secret formula to solve all my problems, but it seems like the only way to become truly wise is to go through the messy process of screwing up and figuring things out.
And yeah, it is painful and stressful. But there's no way around it. This isn't just about startups either. Think about all the advice our parents give us – we often have to make the same mistakes ourselves before we really get it.
The only other advice that can help reduce the pain and stress of learning something new is "Have patience and trust the process". But just like everything else, if you haven't developed this internally yet, then this is no different than cookie fortune wisdom. Once you've gone through the process enough times and succeeded you learn (internally) to be patient and trust the process. This circles back to the same point as before. Simply do stuff.
Is any advice useful?
I think the important thing to note is that when one starts learning something new, the brain dissects the problems and understands it in a way it best comprehends. However, the brain still requires some cues and direction to help it dissect the problem effectively. The heavy lifting must be done by you and your brain, but the person giving advice can offer some ideas. Or in other words, useful and relevant advice can only give direction you must still walk the path yourself.