Episode Transcript
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There are three ways
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we learned everything.
Seeing, doing and
getting feedback out of it.
Seeing means we just see what others are
doing and we try to copy it.
Doing it, it is more
a deliberate practice.
It is not just repetition but a
thoughtful engagement
where the brain will
become mastery on something.
And continuous feedback which is
something like you are
more engaging into it
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and more tried to
thoughtfully improving it.
Welcome to Ramis books library.
Myself Ramis, our today's book is "Get
better at anything" by Scott H.Young
and "12 maxims for mastery".
So learning, it is there everywhere.
From the very moment you are born to the
until, to the cradle,
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there is learning happening there.
Learning is not something happening only
when you open the book, no?
It is happening every
single moment of your life.
First maxim, problem solving is a search.
Problem is something
which you cannot solve.
So, trying to ride a bicycle, solving a
Rubik's cube or just
going through a maze,
anything can be a problem.
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To solve a problem,
there is a search happening
and that search is in different levels
based on the problem you have.
So first one is
recognizing it, there is a problem,
then analyzing it and synthesizing it.
So in that three buckets, if you try to
improve the way you are
looking at the problem,
that search, you can improve your
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learning and mastery.
Our brain is expert in converting the
problematic, challenging
thing into routine tasks
so that way it will be more efficient.
But the very first time, like you start
riding a bicycle or start driving a car,
that is still a learning
mechanism, a problem to solve.
But later on it is automatic.
So to make that more
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efficient, there is three way to do it.
First one is start with
the right representation.
So try to understand
what exactly is the problem,
try to represent it or try to define it,
what exactly is the problem.
Like you have lot of
problems to start riding a bicycle.
But before that main important thing or
main problem is to
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start riding a bicycle.
But maybe the very focused problem, maybe
the fear that you are going to fall,
maybe that's what the real problem.
So try to see and focus on the right
problem when you are searching for
problem and solving it.
And try to explore the problem space.
Even though you understand what is the
problem, before you dive deep into it,
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try to experiment, analyze
and observe the problem space
and to make sure that you are looking at
the right problem and you are
defining it the right problem.
Then you delve deep into it.
Chapter 2 -
Creativity Begins with Copying
Every great genius you have, from Picasso
to Shakespeare to Michelangelo,
everybody have that imitation happening.
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So Picasso even tell that, first learn
the rule, then break the rules.
So try to understand that defining
mechanism behind each
of their creative things,
then try to improvise it, try to vary it,
have the variability on that.
Like even Mozart, the
greatest musicians of all time,
he try to learn every possible
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combination in as much
reputation as possible
and doing it and having that
improvisation, then he start learning it.
So creativity somehow start with copying,
adapting and improvising and innovating.
That's how it should happen.
So always try to learn from what is
already existing and then try to take the
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skills to the mastery.
Success is the best teacher.
That's the third one.
We usually tell that failure is the best
teacher but actually
success is also a best teacher.
So success will tell
what really is working.
So that will give you some insight.
For example, if you are preparing for an
exam, before you try to learn
from the book what you have,
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try to do it other way.
Try to approach the questions in the last
of each chapter, try to see it how much
of that you can answer.
That success and failure out of the 10
questions, if you are able to
only answer properly 5 of them,
that will give you a
confidence and also a reflection.
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You only know 50% of it.
So you are supposed to learn more 50% but
again it will give you a confidence that
you know something on that topic.
So always success is a
motivator to start something.
It is a positive reinforcement as well as
a motivation and confidence.
It's like a step.
Okay, if you achieve, so actually your
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long term goal can be break down to lot
of short term goals.
So each of that success is something like
a ladder you can step on.
So each one will give you confidence to
do something harder
than which was been before.
When you are trying to do something, the
success will tell you like
what really going to work
and also based on that repeated
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successful encounters, you will become
expert on something.
So expertise is actually like that.
Along with that, if you are successful
that allow you to be more risk taking.
You will not be risk averse.
You will be more open to taking risks and
knowledge actually become
invisible by experience.
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5 step process is to understanding it.
When you try to learn something, you will
have that implicit knowledge.
Then later on it will become automatic.
Then you will become expert on that.
Your brain become less cognitive load on
that particular topic.
Finally, you will be completely
unconscious about what you are doing or
you will be just like
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you are just doing the piano or writing
or putting on the keyboard.
Anything it will become so unconscious
that is somewhere the
epitome of the mastery.
Or two doing it.
We already know about seeing it,
understanding from others.
Now it is deliberate practice doing it.
First one is the difficulty sweet spot.
When we try to learn something, there is
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a level of difficulty which
you can manage and there is
a level of difficulty
which you think overwhelming.
So that sweet spot is the point where you
think this is manageable.
That's what it is.
So effortful retrieval like you learn
something, you try to
effortfully retrieve it.
Not going to a place
where it will jam your brain.
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No, just before that.
That's one way.
Then spaced repetition like
okay, you learn something.
You practice it.
Instead of doing it continuously, you do
something, then you do something else.
Okay, you studied piano,
then you studied something else.
Say violin or something.
Then afterwards, you
are learning piano again.
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That is spaced repetition.
You're keeping some
space between the repetition.
And finally practice loops.
So that loops of retrieval, spaced
repetition and effortful retrieval.
That loop with a desirable difficulty,
that is actually the
sweet spot of learning.
That is actually a difference between the
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independent and guided learning also.
Guided learning is not always like you
have a coach or a teacher.
You yourself, if you are alone itself,
you can do a guided training.
If you try to implement
such difficulty sweet spot.
If you try to have effortful retrieval
using some tests and then you try to
repeat your topics even
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after you go through this many chapters,
the middle of the
book, you try to just do
repetition of the first chapter again.
Spaced repetition and
try to do practice looping.
Anything.
It can be not even on the book.
Even you try to learn a martial arts.
I'm just telling that spaced repetition,
that effortful
retrieval of some techniques
will be actually make you master.
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So that difficulty sweet spot will make
you also put it into
some level of flow state.
Sixth one, mind is not a muscle.
We used to always confuse that brain or
muscle is same as our mind
or a brain, which is not a
muscle when you are doing it will improve
by repetition, but a
brain or that mind learning
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mechanism is not like that.
It will be having a different way of
improvement like critical
learning, learning from other
experience.
Just learning something cannot be
actually used in other place.
Suppose you are very expert in doing a
computer keyboard, you
cannot use that experience in
doing some another
like piano or something.
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There is no actual
change happening between that.
Instead, it is more like a
neuroplasticity where a neuron
firing and wiring such things
that neuroplasticity is improving.
So that metaphor thinking that mind is a
muscle is not always a thing.
Instead, okay, if you can use
metaphorical way one way is
to have if you have a muscle,
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you have some relaxation
period, recovery period same way.
Somehow you can apply that metaphor in
doing that having more
rest, relaxation, meditation,
some improvement like
say one day break for you.
Such things will help you in learning
like say for example, you
have eight hours to learn.
You take one hour break that is somehow
that relaxation will help
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you to improve your learning
and all or if you have seven day
learning, take one day no
learning at all that will help.
So variability over repetition,
repetition as we mentioned doing that was
requirement for mastery but variability
not doing the same thing.
Like say you are practicing karate skill.
You do the same thing again
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and again, it is not mastery.
Instead, if you vary your the way you
punch and the way you
approach that that variability
and also punching it to a punch bag,
punching it with your colleague,
that variability will enhance your
learning in different occasions.
Suppose you go to a championship, a
stranger or you're
fighting with a stranger such
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variability of practice and applying that
skill that will improve
your learning instead of just
doing okay punch punch not like that.
That can be applied in any way even jazz
musicians they were
doing that variability
is improvement if critical for their
skill improvement in any other place.
Like if you try to learn something, try
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to do some level of change
in that learning mechanism,
some variability that variability will
make it more like that
boredom will not be there
and it will actually improve the way of
learning and you'll be more
curious and more interested.
That whole process will be more engaging
and more enthusiastic for you.
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Quality comes from quantity.
So usually there is a maxim telling that
quality is inversely
proportional to quantity which is
wrong.
So if you look at the Thomas Alva Edison
who has 1093 patents
in his whole lifetime,
his achievement is actually
doing more on the quantity.
So with quantity that iterative
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development nowadays we have
scaled agile and such practice.
So that iteration and learning from that
that actually like Picasso
have a famous incident where
one woman actually asked him to just make
a painting on a napkin
and he told this is worth
big amour.
So he was just
telling it just a painting.
So Picasso mentioned to her that it took
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this many years to learn that.
So that much level of quantitative
efforts is required
to improve the quality.
So quality next time when you think about
it, it is not inversely
proportional to quantity.
Okay if you take it in my personal
example I'm telling.
So if you follow our YouTube channel, our
earlier videos is very bad
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comparative but that time we
think that was the best thing.
But that quality is improving when the
quantity of the videos is increasing.
So when we reach 80 or 90
books we learn lot of things.
What works, what did not works
and we try to learn from that.
We improve that and we improve the scale.
That's how it is.
Experience doesn't
reliably match to expertise.
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Suppose you have a person who has 10 or
20 years experience on something,
that doesn't
necessarily equate to expertise.
There is a deliberate practice.
If there is a thoughtful engagement, if
there is a continuous feedback,
if there is across multiple
dimension is exposure is there.
That all depend on expertise.
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So if you have two persons having same
amount of experience,
their expertise will differ based on how
much they learn from that experience.
Some people will get plateau as we
mentioned about previously about
automaticity like learning become
unconscious and all.
Another way the people always try to
challenge themselves.
The way they are
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working, they learn something.
So that expertise will be different from
the other experience
which is taken for granted.
Practice must meet the reality.
So you learn lot of things
about swimming on a book.
But if you are not going to jump out of
water, that's not going to be
practical or expertise
is not going to happen.
Even we come across any context.
Okay, you are learning music,
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but you're not going to do the real life
application of that.
Suppose you want to become a composer,
you're not composing it,
you're just simply learning it or you're
not making anything production that will
actually reduce your amount of learning.
So suppose come back to martial arts
again, you learn some techniques,
but you're not actually doing the actual
fight, then that
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learning will not happen.
Because if you do in the realistic
scenario, you will
understand what is the real life
application of that, you will get a lot
of reflections and
feedback, you can adapt to it,
and you will have
further learning of that.
So that way you will have more contextual
learning, you will get more feedback and
repeat the feedback from that real life
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application, you can
prepare for the complexities.
So like aviation industry, they use the
simulation to use the aircraft and all,
but that will allow them
to approach the complexity.
Many applications, like even if you see
like drills and all
for fire system, safety,
health and safety and all, that real life
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drill, they will make
a fire on a building,
so the team, how the team will apply or
how team will approach the things.
That application in any manner, safety or
in military, military
used to have such drills,
that will allow them to understand how
the team engage and
understand their weakness,
and that way they can
improve their learning.
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Navy SEALs, a lot of people
used to do the same thing.
Improvement is not a straight line.
So when you learn something, there is
three way it is happening.
First one is cognitive, next
one it will become associative,
and the third one it
will become autonomous.
So here improvement cannot be
considered as a straight line.
You always have to look at
the way you are improving,
and sometime you have to change or you
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have to find a new coach,
find a new way of
learning, a lot of such things.
So you cannot take it for
granted, it is always improving.
You should find a plateaus
there, it can have ups and downs.
So always try to renovate, then rebuild,
try to upgrade, then creating something.
Always look at your learning, try to
renovate it, how I can
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make these things better.
Okay, I am doing this audio thing, okay
microphone, how can I do this better?
Okay, maybe I will find a new microphone,
example I am just telling,
or I find a new
camera, anything like that.
Fear failed with expression.
So this applies to also a lot of things.
Suppose you have a fear of doing exams,
you take a lot of text exams,
you will lose that fear of expression.
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Okay, you learn the martial
arts, you fear of fighting,
okay you start doing
actual fights with your thing,
that will allow you to
reduce the expression.
Same way on any other expertise or
things, okay you are afraid of meetings,
or afraid of presentations, afraid of
stage fear, afraid of
driving, whatever you name it,
exposure actually desensitize that.
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It will put your fear into the question
that will desensitize it and
cognitively restructure it.
So you will have a way of learning and
become mastery of that state by exposure.
So if you are learning the skill, not
only just seeing it, doing it,
feedbacking it, just get exposed to it.
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That is one of the best ways to have the
learning, mastery and expertise.
So that's the conclusion of the book.
Until we come across with the next book,
thank you for watching.
Bye for now.