I have heard that the way it is presented is very dry. I have read a summary on reddit and I think it is good, but I just don't have the time to spend on it.
“Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
161–170 of 196 posts
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#162Can anyone of you report any long term benefits from these kind of courses? Personally, I think those classes (haven't looked into the coursera one) only present obvious stuff.
I've once worked through "Make it stick", a book that is often recommended when it comes to learning. What I've found is that there is nothing wrong with the content but it did not really help.
I imagine that most people who struggle with learning deal with some kind of psychological issues that need to get addressed. They need to learn how to deal with stuff like frustration, worries, perfectionism or self esteem.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ng's ML course was one of the first ML MOOC courses. Right now you have hundreds if not thousands of excellent ML courses to choose from.
Do you have any specific recommendations, especially ones that are more recent and/or have a high level of relevance and foundational information?
I like Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization on coursera
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/jhu-data-science
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> A lot of it is cruft and motivation for the underlying core ideas. Someone else made the exact same remark about Cal Newport's book "Deep Work" earlier this week in another thread. I find this to be true about a lot of books/courses/content of a "self-help" nature that are designed to be practical and applicable - the real helpful stuff boiled down to its essence could fit in a tri-fold pamphlet (or a 350-line pas…
My favourite example of this is Harold Pollack who got tonnes of media coverage for coming up with 9 rules for personal finance which fit on an index card. I listened to his interview on Freakonomics, and he's now selling a 256 page book called "The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicate". 256 pages, about his rules that fit on an index card. As an aside I always hear podcast adverts for https…
A book that can be adequately summarized isn't worth reading at all.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> A lot of it is cruft and motivation for the underlying core ideas. Someone else made the exact same remark about Cal Newport's book "Deep Work" earlier this week in another thread. I find this to be true about a lot of books/courses/content of a "self-help" nature that are designed to be practical and applicable - the real helpful stuff boiled down to its essence could fit in a tri-fold pamphlet (or a 350-line pas…
Specifically calling out the Deep Work book, I recall after the 6 months of promo, talks, and general marketing of the book the author wrote a blog post calling for participants to actually, well, you know, help test if the ideas in the book actually had any scientific merit. I was already pretty disillusioned with the self help crowd (even those who claimed a scientific background), but that was the nail in the coff…
That doesn't make sense. Cal Newport's audience was built from the beginning around one person's efforts to get more work done. It's always been an anecdotal/self-experimental approach. Why quit reading now?
Probably the biggest testable assertion Cal makes is that focus is a muscle that can be strengthened and called on a schedule rather than a depletable, fickle resource. This is consistent with current research: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/03/psychologys-favorite-th...
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#166Can anyone of you report any long term benefits from these kind of courses? Personally, I think those classes (haven't looked into the coursera one) only present obvious stuff. I've once worked through "Make it stick", a book that is often recommended when it comes to learning. What I've found is that there is nothing wrong with the content but it did not really help. I imagine that most people who struggle with lear…
> Can anyone of you report any long term benefits from these kind of courses?
None. It's like all self help books or "learning to read" books or etc. The only thing it does is make you feel like you are accomplishing something and actually "learning". But you are just wasting time.
The title is even self-defeating. "Learning how to learn". How can you learn to learn without already knowing how to learn in the first place.
In order for the class to be useful to you, you would have to already known how to learn to learn the material.
Ultimately, those truly motivated would have gone on to learn what they wanted regardless of this course. And those unmotivated will not go on to learn regardless of this course.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem of low information density isn't new. Most of the "classics" of western literature have the same problem. We're just more attuned to it now because we've been trained by internet articles to expect an idea to be introduced, explored and concluded in 1000-2000 words. Beyond that, these days many people won't even bother with that if there isn't a quick hook or a TL;DR that sucks them into reading further.
> The problem of low information density isn't new. Most of the "classics" of western literature have the same problem. I would submit that you may not be tuned into the value in them, if you think that. Maybe it's true of some, but most are just an acquired taste of the same sort as, say, the freer-form varieties of jazz, or classical music. It takes some work and some experience before you get what they're doing, b…
I've spent a lot of time digging through the major works of post enlightenment philosophers. Even fairly "concise" (by the standards of the day) writers like Hume, Nietzsche and Bertrand Russell belabor points far beyond what was necessary for me to apprehend their meaning.
I'm of the opinion that if you have to be "trained" to find a work aesthetically appealing, it isn't inherently aesthetic. By analogy, some women find pretend rape and pain sexually gratifying, but I don't think anyone would argue those acts are inherently erotic.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#168Took the course. A lot of it is cruft and motivation for the underlying core ideas. The techniques suggested are things many people are already familiar with: recall, deliberate practice, interleaving, spaced repetition, Einstellung, Pomodoro, Feynman Method, Cornell notes or similar (to force recall), exercise regularly, sleep well, focus on concepts not facts (chunking), etc. A composite of these dramatically enhan…
I took this course and felt the teachers were not inspiring or motivating. The classes felt boring and went too deep into theory.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
My favourite example of this is Harold Pollack who got tonnes of media coverage for coming up with 9 rules for personal finance which fit on an index card. I listened to his interview on Freakonomics, and he's now selling a 256 page book called "The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicate". 256 pages, about his rules that fit on an index card. As an aside I always hear podcast adverts for https…
A book that can be adequately summarized isn't worth reading at all.
It is like reading a book without all the context. What is the point of takeaways if you don't know when to apply them? I will be wary of people reading summaries.
Re: “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course on Coursera
#170Can anyone of you report any long term benefits from these kind of courses? Personally, I think those classes (haven't looked into the coursera one) only present obvious stuff. I've once worked through "Make it stick", a book that is often recommended when it comes to learning. What I've found is that there is nothing wrong with the content but it did not really help. I imagine that most people who struggle with lear…
> Can anyone of you report any long term benefits from these kind of courses? None. It's like all self help books or "learning to read" books or etc. The only thing it does is make you feel like you are accomplishing something and actually "learning". But you are just wasting time. The title is even self-defeating. "Learning how to learn". How can you learn to learn without already knowing how to learn in the first p…
> The title is even self-defeating. "Learning how to learn". How can you learn to learn without already knowing how to learn in the first place.
Don't be overzealous in finding mistakes if you want to to understand. Approach things with a positive attitude. "Learn how to learn" can easily mean "Learn how to learn better". Almost nothing is black-and-white.
That's just a little trick for you to learn I guess :-)