Ask HN: How did you learn something in depth?

You are just nervous. And it's not necessarily a bad thing - most normal people get nervous, and smart people typically start understanding just how much they don't know which causes even more nervousness.

I was much the same, until I realized just how many people make broad claims like they are objectively right, especially on HN. It's not an insult, but more of presenting opinions as fact ("microservices are bad", "java sucks", "the best way to do x is y").

So, it made me feel better to just speak to what I know as if it's the truth, just like other folks do. I don't wonder if I'm giving a good answer, I speak as if I'm giving the only answer. Not to be a knowitall, but it helps with confidence when speaking if I can maintain that mindset.

You teach others everything you know about it and you keep learning more about it in the meantime. When you get questions from people while teaching, you say "I don't know, but I'm eager to know too" and then you go find an answer.

### How I learn something new, in-depth

I open...

    - ...a text editor (VS Code)
        
        - ...with Dendron (Outfitted with custom kb schemas and snippets, etc)

    - ...a browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.)

    - ...a new diagram (Drawio only)

Example: I want to learn about and become fluent in the topic of X.509 certificates.

1. Open VS Code (Dendron extension starts)

2. CTRL+l and type `crypto.x.509`. This creates a `.md` file in my knowledge base

    a. Because I have a "Crypto" schema setup in Dendron, upon creating the new document under `crypto.`, a markdown template is applied with the following headings:

        i.  ### Acronyms / Definitions

        ii. ### Questions

        iii.### Resources

        iv. ### Footnotes

3. Open Firefox and DuckDuckGo "X.509 standards"

    a. Points to the [ITU-T website](https://www.itu.int/t/aap/recdetails/8529)

4. Find the spec website and download the PDF, save to my `dendron\assets\pdf` directory

5. In a new `crypto.x.509.drawio` file, draw box "ITU-T" on the diagram

6. Copy the spec URL to my `crypto.x.509.md` file under the `### Resources` heading (add some alt text)

7. Read the PDF spec VERY CAREFULLY; creating a box on the diagram _for each noun_ I come across.

    a. Once boxes appear to either work together in a process or are part of the same concept, I contain them in a larger "parent" box

    b. This is good for determining hierarchy and peer relationships

Benefits:

- Its fairly quit to get "a sheet of music" in front of all concerned parties (if you're working on a team)

- I like seeing the diagram and *easily* manipulate thoughts (boxes) and move them into combinations

- Writing everything in Markdown basically creates a website of your notes

- Using Dendron centralizes your knowledge base