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Do the Real Thing

scotthyoung.com

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Re: Do the Real Thing

#11

Post by zomglings »

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing".

Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own.

Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also watch professional players and read their analyses of games.

Want to get better at programming? Write a lot of programs. Yes. But also read a lot of high quality code written by others.

Want to become a better mathematician? Spend your time mastering mathematical knowledge and techniques. Yes. But also spend some time trying to get in the heads of the masters - learning their patterns of thought at the mathematical and meta-mathematical levels.

The increased accessibility of this kind of content is one of the greatest achievements of the internet.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#12

Post by aazaa »

> People trying to get in shape who buy fancy workout gear instead of exercising.

Translating this idea to learning a programming language, the best way to learn a language is to apply it to something real, almost immediately. Following tutorials has a use, but you'll get a lot more out of it after having flailed around trying to make the most ridiculously minimal version of something you really want to build.

This is one of the main problems with science education. In most cases, there's nothing like the "flail around" stage while you try to do something applied but which you are desperately underqualified to do.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#13

Post by kalonis »

zomglings wrote: post #11

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing". Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own. Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also wa…

Just watching someone doing the real thing is one of the most prominent strategies to avoid doing the real thing.

It is not enough to watch someone very skilled do the real thing. You have to imitate them: Reading a lot of great novels will not make you a better writer. Instead write a story in the style of any writer you admire and you will learn a lot while still doing the real thing. The same is true for almost any art you want learn.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#14

Post by travisjungroth »

gfodor wrote: post #10

You gotta do both. Research, analyze, digest, and then execute. With time, you can reduce the duration of the cycle. Taking the first step often requires a lot of research and thinking, and then a lot of execution to go from zero to one. Then, iterate, with shorter cycles. Failing to think is as much a problem as failing to execute, you have to balance it.

> Taking the first step often requires a lot of research and thinking

I generally agree with your comment, but strongly disagree with this part. You will have much more success if you take this first step as soon as possible. No research, no thinking. And a “real thing” first step. You want to start running? Put on some shoes and go for a run. Don’t sign up for a race, don’t look up running tips, don’t buy nice shoes. Just go run for a bit.

Coding? Pop open repl.it. Scuba? Get your head under water. Even for things that might be out of reach like flying an airplane, read up on something specific like how to land.

With your very first step out of the way, you can then start thinking a bit more.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#15

Post by OGWhales »

zomglings wrote: post #11

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing". Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own. Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also wa…

Truly watching others is the most natural way to learn. It applies to all aspects of life. I’ve often felt school, while important, was ill preparing people for actual jobs. Shadowing people is immensely helpful and something my school forced me to do and I was grateful for.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#16

Post by Kye »

zomglings wrote: post #11

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing". Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own. Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also wa…

Recent practical example: I had a lot of trouble picking which photographs out of 20-100 of a subject to use. Enough were sharp, well-composed, and properly exposed to make it near impossible to pick.

I've been watching James Popsys' videos[1] lately. He doesn't take the greatest photos in the world from a technical standpoint, but there's a theme that runs through most of his videos and pictures: tell a story.

It's a lot easier to pick the best photos out of a bunch of technically decent photos when "best" is well-defined. And it turns out fit in a story about the subject is a solid criteria for best.

When I got my camera, I got this photo of a squirrel: https://kyefox.com/2020/05/20/squirrel-surprise/

It's fine. Not bad, not great.

Then, after thinking about that advice, I decided to tell a story: https://kyefox.com/2020/06/20/eastern-gray-squirrels-at-play...

They're all worse in technical terms than that one photo, but they're better because they fit into a story.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6WYZrzBuNQnz_2F4EqjhDQ

Re: Do the Real Thing

#17

Post by zomglings »

kalonis wrote: post #13
zomglings wrote: post #11

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing". Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own. Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also wa…

Just watching someone doing the real thing is one of the most prominent strategies to avoid doing the real thing. It is not enough to watch someone very skilled do the real thing. You have to imitate them: Reading a lot of great novels will not make you a better writer. Instead write a story in the style of any writer you admire and you will learn a lot while still doing the real thing. The same is true for almost an…

Very true. I don't mean this as a strategy for procrastination, but rather as a strategy for finding patterns/modes of thought that would otherwise have been difficult for you to discover on your own from first principles.

It is very important to test out first hand by "doing the real thing" the ideas you discover by watching skilled people.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#18

Post by jkhdigital »

travisjungroth wrote: post #14
gfodor wrote: post #10

You gotta do both. Research, analyze, digest, and then execute. With time, you can reduce the duration of the cycle. Taking the first step often requires a lot of research and thinking, and then a lot of execution to go from zero to one. Then, iterate, with shorter cycles. Failing to think is as much a problem as failing to execute, you have to balance it.

> Taking the first step often requires a lot of research and thinking I generally agree with your comment, but strongly disagree with this part. You will have much more success if you take this first step as soon as possible. No research, no thinking. And a “real thing” first step. You want to start running? Put on some shoes and go for a run. Don’t sign up for a race, don’t look up running tips, don’t buy nice shoes…

I tend to agree with this line of thinking... reminds me of Mike Tyson’s admonition “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” You want to take that first punch as soon as possible.

Re: Do the Real Thing

#19

Post by zomglings »

Kye wrote: post #16
zomglings wrote: post #11

Definitely agree with the article, and would like to offer a useful supplement to "doing the real thing": "watch someone very skilled do the real thing". Watching a pro can really accelerate skill acquisition because it will expose you to high quality ideas that would have been difficult to develop on your own. Want to get better at Backgammon/Chess/Go? Play a lot of games (at various time controls). Yes. But also wa…

Recent practical example: I had a lot of trouble picking which photographs out of 20-100 of a subject to use. Enough were sharp, well-composed, and properly exposed to make it near impossible to pick. I've been watching James Popsys' videos[1] lately. He doesn't take the greatest photos in the world from a technical standpoint, but there's a theme that runs through most of his videos and pictures: tell a story. It's…

"I'll be invisible if I stay perfectly still" is a great photograph. Actually, that picture (with the caption) stands by itself - it tells its own story.
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