Learning through documentation
On scaling the learning process
Of all the things I heard and thought about since the day my consciousness emerged, I probably remember only a small percentage. I could improve that percentage by focusing more and listening better, but to what extent? If remembering is a problem faced constantly, it shouldn’t be solved by doing the same thing, harder.
Static knowledge is a mere commodity. I’d like to think of my brain as a creative and effective engine of thought with a modest cache for information relevant to my present routine instead of an ever-growing database with as many facts about the universe as possible (most of which will become obsolete or even irrelevant over the course of my lifetime.)
Joggling with knowledge mentally is a very costly affair. It’s risky, because even after you wrap your head around a concept and you’re 100% sure you “get it,” at any point in the future you can lose focus and “lose it.” Again and again. It’s also blocking, because it requires a lot of resources to maintain. One cognizance memorized could prevent another idea from happening.
Passing information responsibility to a persistent medium is very comforting. A simple piece of paper is way better than you at memorizing 250 words. Organizing yourself to have consistent access to external, compartmentalized data is not easy, but a personalized “search engine” is more scalable than continuously optimizing the “storage compression.”
It’s not about the tools, but about the defaults. Documenting knowledge is not an extra layer, but a foundation. Conceptually speaking, instead of fiddling with a thought, you build on it. It’s like starting a conversation that you (or others for that matter) can resume at any time, asynchronously.
Extracting personal context reveals the real value of an idea. If your learning format isn’t relevant to an open audience you might not be structuring your thoughts properly, or avoiding some questions that might expose logic flaws and dismantle your assumptions.
A documented piece of information shouldn’t have any implicit personal dependencies, so exporting your knowledge is an empathy exercise. This doesn’t only help others, but also future you. You can let go of the context required for entertaining an idea if you manage to properly serialize it.
Sharing a document is easier than sharing a brain, so nailing this also enables sharing and collaboration. Being open is key (and open source is a great exercise.) If you live in your head, making things transparent is hard; but if you default to transparency, not being able to get across is pain.
I put this piece together for the same reason, to remember these conclusions in the future without going through the same mental process. They might change in the future, but at least I have the starting point to build on.
Thanks to Bogdan Sandulescu and the uberVU team for continuous inspiration in learning and communication.
