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Learning to Learn

(kevin.the.li)
320 points jklm | 1 comments | 22 Oct 24 00:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.2s | source
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setgree ◴[22 Oct 24 14:34 UTC] No.41914724[source]▶
Something from Andrej Karpathy on learning that stuck with me [0]:

> Learning is not supposed to be fun. It doesn't have to be actively not fun either, but the primary feeling should be that of effort. It should look a lot less like that "10 minute full body" workout from your local digital media creator and a lot more like a serious session at the gym. You want the mental equivalent of sweating. It's not that the quickie doesn't do anything, it's just that it is wildly suboptimal if you actually care to learn.

[0] https://x.com/karpathy/status/1756380066580455557?lang=en

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zer0tonin ◴[22 Oct 24 16:02 UTC] No.41915657[source]▶
This is complete bs.

I've learned 2 languages to fluency by mostly watching movies. I've learned the linux cli by setting up a minecraft server for my friends in high school. I've learned programming by making IRC (and later Discord) bots for communities I was part of.

All of this was fun, and it worked better than staring at a textbook and hoping that my "effort" pays off.

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1. coolThingsFirst ◴[23 Oct 24 01:04 UTC] No.41920519[source]▶
That wont work with real science. Math requires the process which he describes. As do algorithms.

In my experience it’s same with gym, lifting weights slightly too difficult.

The least productive method that Ive used with very little results is jumping to problems almost impossible for me. It did absolutely nothing.