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book2019

Ultralearning

Disciplines:
self-help/self-improvement
parenting/learning

Summary

Scott Young's guide to intense self-directed learning projects — drawn from his MIT Challenge (completing the 4-year CS curriculum in 12 months) and other radical learning experiments.

Core Contribution

The ultralearning methodology: directness (learn by doing the thing, not studying about it), drill (identify weaknesses and isolate them), retrieval (testing beats re-reading), feedback (get immediate, accurate signal), and metalearning (research how to learn the subject before studying it). Young demonstrates through dramatic projects (MIT in a year, fluency in 4 languages in a year) that aggressive self-directed learning can dramatically compress skill acquisition timelines.

Historical Influences

Anders Ericsson Cal Newport

Intellectual Lineage

Deliberate Practice LiteratureSelf-Help

Allied Works

A Mind for NumbersMake It Stick

Contemporaries & Peers

Deep Work The Art of Learning

Minds Influenced

Online Learning CultureSelf-Improvement Industry

Intellectual Posterity

Self-Directed Learning CultureOnline Education

Discussing

Ultralearning

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