How We Learn

What is the best way to reliably achieve virtuosity in a field?

What is the best way to

1. become a fast expert in a new topic and then
2. synthesize and contribute new knowledge?

Andy Matuschak marvels at how fundamentally unserious knowledge workers are about deliberate practice.

Open questions

• Is there a right way to practice deliberately? It seems it’s possible for someone to do something for a long time, and still be very bad at it. What does meaningful deliberate practice look like?
• What are the key threshold concepts in various fields that, once a learner understands, accelerates their progress towards virtuosity?
• If the structure of a syllabus, in itself, is a pedagogical tool, what is a good rubric for constructing effective syllabi?
• The medieval university had a culture of public lectures. What might that look like today?
• What are the most interesting alternative education experiments being conducted today?
• Are competency frameworks, versus discrete courses, better for learners? Is the concept of curriculum too confining?
• What should be the role of apprenticeships in modern education? (link)
• How do you teach taste? (link)

Did this topic remind you of anything? Please send that thing to me, even if you think I might have seen it before! I'm eager for leads and references, even if it's only tangentially related. Some of the best messages I receive begin with “This is kind of random, but this reminded me of...”