Hey there, friend.
August is almost over and it flew by. When they said it’s the month of the winds, I never expected it to be so literally.
But anyways…
This time I bring you a new perspective on learning.
Main quest 🛡
I asked an AI about this week's topic.
And it went way off on a tangent.
Even though most of the things it said were correct, it missed the mark on one "crucial" point.
Skill learning is a spectrum.
It balances between independence and convenience.
Here's a nice visual.
Now you might be thinking "why?" Why the tradeoff?
Well, if you look into it, everything that makes you more independent requires work and an investment in effort and time. It's much easier to have someone (or something) do it for you instead.
But then again, if someone else is doing it, means you're dependent on them for getting the result you're after.
Here's an example to illustrate (I came across this one a week ago)
A cabinet in the kitchen got somehow messed up and things were falling from the shelves if I opened up the door. (Thank God nothing broke there.)
I didn't know what to do so I told my father and he grab a couple of tools to fix it.
I was looking at what he did and the rationale behind it. Now, the next time something like that happens, I can try my hand at doing it myself. With it, my repair skill goes up a few points and so does my independence (I no longer rely on someone else).
But you can also see how that requires an effort and trial/error from me.
That's justifiable since it's something that doesn't happen as often (like putting a new glass to a window or fixing a leaky pipe).
In other situations, however, the initial investment might not be worth the effort. Cooking is one of those.
I know how to cook well enough to make breakfast or lunch (and make it sometimes quite nice).
But that activity is so common and so regular, I rather not do it myself and have someone else do it for me (if that someone is more skilled at it, it's even better).
In that case, you could say I'm "at the mercy" of whatever the other person decided to cook. I can think that's justifiable. That way I don't have to think what to prepare for the day and use my mental capacity for other tasks.
So, to recap.
You can choose to reinforce your skillset learning new things (aka adding more tools to your toolbox), and increase your independence more and more.
Or you can choose to learn just a few and rely on other people (or tools) for the rest, increasing your overall convenience.
The astute of you have already realized that the key here is the "can choose to".
That's one of the most important parts of Supercharged Learning in general.
Because if you don't know or don't have the skills, you can't choose. You have to depend on others, whether you like it or not. And that's not a good place to be in. Especially with what's coming in the next years.
Experiments 🧪
As you know, last weekend Friday I got really sick. On Sunday morning, I woke up feeling much better. For me that was a given.
But talking with my nephew and 2 friends, I realized it is quite rare to get sick a few times per year with a few days each time.
I, then tweeted about it, and the response was even more interesting (got 2 DMs out of it).
It got me thinking. I never been like that most of my life. It's all part of a process where my (almost obsessive) curiosity got me into a rabbit hole around improved immunity, health & nutrition, and sleep optimization.
Now I want to ask, would you be interested in reading more about that in future editions?
Reply or comment below and let me know.
From the vault🏛️
Speaking of learning to empower yourself and your independence…
Here’s a post about several of its benefits (if you ever needed more reasons)
That’s all I got for this week.
Get some rest and recharge for the week ahead.
And catch you next weekend.
Cheers,
Juan.