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My wife and I really enjoyed reading and discussing this blog post over our morning coffee. The author said it himself that he has trouble writing and maybe mor

by foxhop 7y ago

My wife and I really enjoyed reading and discussing this blog post over our morning coffee. The author said it himself that he has trouble writing and maybe more importantly posting his work for others to read. That said, I can see how the first paragraph (with it's the self-congratulatory tone) could have primed you with these feelings. I'm a firm believer that there is nothing wrong with re-explaining a well known topic (learning how to learn). After blogging for the last 10 years, I find it amazing how my writing on a topic which I find elementary could be such a great resource for someone else in their research and problem solving. Since you appear well versed in the topic of metacognition, you likely just proved the authors point. You spent time on a beginner/intermediate level resource on metacognition... It is not the authors fault that you experienced diminishing returns on your time and effort.

chaboud 7y ago
Yeah... I don't think you got my point at all (which may be down to how I made it). The author started with "I amaze people with how well I can learn", bridged with "here's my method", which could be reduced to the mixed-media version of the stereotypical programmer who "read one book about that once" (which drives experts crazy), and closed with "I think I've optimized this! Behold!" So it easily reads as hubris, possibly mixed in with some raw horsepower, with a dash of Dunning and Kruger giggling in the corner at invocation of their work in what is likely a demonstration of their work. So it's not the musing on a well-trodden topic that bugged me. It's the tone and subtextual (and, at times, overt) assertions... Two more things, one of them important-ish: 1. I haven't experienced diminishing returns on my time and effort. I learn much more quickly now than I did when I was a fresh-to-industry voracious hot-head, in large part because I've learned how I learn, a mechanism that doesn't map well to all (or, really, many) other learners. My scoffing at 1000X comes from having thought the same sort of thing 20 years ago and having been dead wrong at how much more ceiling there is. 2. I'm in no way well versed in metacognition, proving a different point: One needs merely know more than the others around at the time to seem like an expert, and slinging some language around can buy one a false sense of expertise, for others and oneself.
- foxhop 7y ago
  : )

by foxhop 7y ago

chaboud 7y ago

Yeah... I don't think you got my point at all (which may be down to how I made it). The author started with "I amaze people with how well I can learn", bridged with "here's my method", which could be reduced to the mixed-media version of the stereotypical programmer who "read one book about that once" (which drives experts crazy), and closed with "I think I've optimized this! Behold!" So it easily reads as hubris, possibly mixed in with some raw horsepower, with a dash of Dunning and Kruger giggling in the corner at invocation of their work in what is likely a demonstration of their work. So it's not the musing on a well-trodden topic that bugged me. It's the tone and subtextual (and, at times, overt) assertions... Two more things, one of them important-ish: 1. I haven't experienced diminishing returns on my time and effort. I learn much more quickly now than I did when I was a fresh-to-industry voracious hot-head, in large part because I've learned how I learn, a mechanism that doesn't map well to all (or, really, many) other learners. My scoffing at 1000X comes from having thought the same sort of thing 20 years ago and having been dead wrong at how much more ceiling there is. 2. I'm in no way well versed in metacognition, proving a different point: One needs merely know more than the others around at the time to seem like an expert, and slinging some language around can buy one a false sense of expertise, for others and oneself.

foxhop 7y ago
: )