#22: Scott Young — Ultralearning, How to Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career
Getting Simple
English - August 06, 2019 04:00 - 2 hours - 112 MB - ★★★★★ - 31 ratingsSociety & Culture Education Self-Improvement Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Scott H. Young on quickly mastering hard skills, acquiring knowledge, and becoming good at things that seem impossible to you right now.
Scott H. Young is an author, entrepreneur, and ultralearner. After learning MIT's 4-year computer science curriculum in less than twelve months, Scott taught himself four new languages in a year. In his book Ultralearning, Scott shares the principles and methods that he and other ultralearners employ to quickly master new skills, acquire knowledge, and become good at things that seem impossible to you right now.
Connect with Scott on scotthyoung.com, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Favorite quotes
"All of us are learning. Otherwise, we would be rocks."
"Ultralearning is not just a philosophy of learning one thing [and getting better at it] but a constant process of taking on projects and learning new things."
"Most people don't do [what would probably work better for learning] because it's kind of scary or frustrating or a little uncomfortable at first."
"Learning is any change that happens in the brain that makes you do something better."
"There are mental and emotional obstacles that often prevent us from doing what [we] know would really make sense for learning better, because we're afraid or think it will be too frustrating or challenging."
"[Deliberate practice] is overriding the habits and patterns that you form."
"I'm always learning about learning."
"[The Feynman Technique] forces you to articulate what you understand and what you don't."
"Paper acts as an extension of your working memory. [Writing things down] is a kind of cognitive enhancement that allows you to think more intelligently about ideas."
"The ultralearning ethos: learning is intrinsically hard."
Episode links
Deliberate practice explained by James Clear
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Stardew Valley by Eric Barone (game)
Goals! An Interactive Guide by Scott Young
Fluent in Three Months by Benny Lewis
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman (autobiography)
The Feynman Technique by Scott Young
Top Performer by Cal Newport and Scott Young (course)
Don’t Break The Chain! (app)
LeechBlock (app)
Screen Time (app)
Text Expander (app)
Scott Young’s book club (podcast)
Study Hacks by Cal Newport
Marginal REVOLUTION by Tyler Cowen (blog)
Slate Star Codex by Scott Alexander (podcast)
Zen habits by Leo Babauta
Anki (space repetition system) (app)
Supermemo (app)
R (programming language)
Books
Ultralearning by Scott Young
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber
People mentioned
Chapters
00:28 · Scott Young
04:31 · Career
08:37 · Going full time
11:05 · Monetizing
12:52 · Writing the Ultralearning book
15:09 · Guinea pigs
18:21 · Pushing yourself
26:12 · Flow vs. deliberate practice
29:22 · Ultralearning principles
35:34 · Self-directed and intense
39:48 · Why does ultralearning matter?
45:17 · Can anyone learn?
49:28 · Your learning approach
53:34 · Directness
01:02:01 · The Feynman technique
01:05:33 · Rubber ducking
01:06:23 · The mindset of experimentation
01:09:24 · Constraints
01:12:23 · The Expert Interview Method
01:14:56 · Masters and mentors
01:19:06 · Role models
01:20:37 · Cal Newport and James Clear
01:22:38 · Daily routine
01:23:16 · Is your life simple?
01:23:49 · Complexities
01:24:44 · Team
01:26:18 · Habits
01:27:45 · Meditation
01:28:35 · Rituals
01:29:44 · Commute
01:29:54 · Working from home
01:30:37 · Sports and hobbies
01:31:24 · Work hours
01:32:57 · Email
01:33:51 · Distractions
01:34:45 · Social media
01:36:46 · A list of ideas
01:37:45 · Curating your work
01:39:39 · Disconnection
01:40:58 · Boredom
01:42:13 · Healthy tech
01:43:28 · Digital clutter
01:44:52 · Workflows
01:45:36 · Away from screens
01:46:17 · The story about who you are
01:49:25 · Successful people
01:50:28 · One sentence to the world
01:50:46 · What would you tell your 20-year-old self?
01:53:54 · Paranoid
01:54:55 · Book (and other) recommendations
01:55:53 · Spaced-repetition systems
01:57:15 · Connect with Scott
01:58:15 · What's next?
01:59:53 · Slowing down
02:01:04 · See you next time
02:01:32 · Scott speaking Spanish
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Theme song Sleep by Steve Combs under CC BY 4.0.
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