Thoughts About Prerequisite Knowledge

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Learning the prereqs is the difference between something seeming confusing/inaccessible versus “wait… that’s all it is???”

It’s easy to think you lack learning ability when really you just lack prereqs.

It’s also easy to think you’re wicked fast when really you’ve just mastered more prereqs than peers.

Cognitive differences exist but they’re often conflated with presence/absence of prereq knowledge.

Imagine how many opportunities you’re blind to because you don’t have the foundational knowledge to even see them whiz by.

Everybody knows that luck is where preparation meets opportunity, but fewer people understand that if you’re not prepared to capitalize on an opportunity, you probably won’t see it in the first place.

The way to “unlock” things that feel inaccessible to you is to shore up your prereqs.

Which sounds simple… until you realize you don’t know what the prereqs are. Or maybe you think you know all the prereqs, but the new thing is still inaccessible because you’re missing prereqs that you don’t even know exist.

This is one reason why expert guidance is so helpful. It’s not just that the expert knows things you don’t. It’s also that the expert knows what things you don’t.

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