The Least Efficient Learning Strategy

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The least efficient learning strategy is to ask “why am I so dumb” over and over. A more efficient strategy is to ask “what (prerequisite knowledge) am I missing” and go back and fill it in.

If you started a TV show midway through the season and couldn’t make sense of what’s going on, you wouldn’t fault yourself for that, you wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that “this show is too smart for me and I’ll never understand it.”

You would immediately realize “well duh, of course this episode makes no sense, I haven’t seen (or have forgotten) the previous episodes. I need to go spin up on them.”

It’s the same situation in learning, even if lots of people don’t realize it.

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