How to Never Forget Anything you read – Elon Musk
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses Elon Musk's unique and effective learning techniques, which have contributed greatly to his success. It explains how Musk focuses on deeply understanding core concepts first before learning details, allowing him to link ideas and creatively solve problems. Musk also reads widely across disciplines, synthesizing different fields of knowledge, enabling innovation. The script highlights how Musk's passion for reading and applying what he learns with creativity, clearly evident in his ability to disrupt industries, serves as an inspirational model for learning.
Takeaways
- 😀 Elon Musk is critical of the education system and chose to learn on his own using textbooks and experts rather than relying solely on his college degrees
- 👨🎓 Musk learned rocket science by focusing on understanding the basic physics concepts first before getting into complex details - building a 'semantic tree'
- 📚 Musk's learning strategy involves deeply struggling with problems to gain true understanding that sticks, not just memorizing surface facts
- 🤔 Musk draws connections between different fields like economics, physics and engineering to enable creative problem solving and innovation
- 😎 Musk reads widely across many topics, not just one area - he read the encyclopedia and thousands of books as a child
- 💡 Musk's multi-disciplinary knowledge helps him apply concepts from one domain to disrupt other industries
- 📈 Musk credits his reading and self-directed learning habits as a child and adult for his success
- 🔬 Mixing knowledge from different areas like physics and biology leads to new perspectives and ideas
- 🤯 Struggling hard with a problem helps embed the learning so you never forget it
- 📚 Reading voraciously about many topics facilitates faster and deeper learning
Q & A
What degrees did Elon Musk obtain?
-Elon Musk obtained two degrees - one in economics and one in physics.
Why does Elon Musk criticize the education system?
-Elon Musk thinks the education system does not help with fast and deep learning or focus enough on critical thinking and problem solving.
How did Elon Musk learn about rocket science when starting SpaceX?
-Elon Musk learned about rocket science by reading textbooks, talking to experts like Jim Cantrell, and focusing on understanding the basic physics concepts first before getting into complex details.
What learning strategy does Elon Musk credit for his ability to understand complex topics?
-Elon Musk credits the 'semantic tree' learning strategy - understanding the core, basic ideas of a topic first before learning detailed nuances.
How does the 'semantic tree' strategy help with problem solving?
-By deeply understanding basic concepts, Elon Musk is able to make connections across domains and come up with creative solutions by combining ideas.
Why is struggling with a problem important according to Elon Musk?
-Elon Musk believes that struggling with a problem leads to truly understanding it, which allows someone to explain the details of how they solved it.
How did Elon Musk's wide reading as a child help his learning ability?
-Reading widely about many different topics as a child helped Elon Musk learn how to draw connections between ideas from different fields, leading to innovation.
What is significant about Elon Musk's multidisciplinary approach?
-Elon Musk's ability to connect concepts from different fields enables him to innovate and apply ideas from one domain to transform other industries.
What advice does Elon Musk have for improving learning ability?
-Elon Musk advises reading about many diverse topics to improve understanding of new concepts and enable unique ideas by connecting knowledge across domains.
Why did Elon Musk read the encyclopedia as a child?
-Elon Musk read the encyclopedia out of boredom and after running out of other things to read, fueling his curiosity and range of knowledge.
Outlines
😊 Elon Musk's unique self-taught learning techniques enabled his success
Elon Musk explains how he developed effective self-directed learning techniques like building a 'semantic tree' to deeply understand fundamental concepts before details. This helped him rapidly comprehend complex topics like rocket science without formal higher education. He also read very widely across diverse domains, enabling creative cross-disciplinary innovations.
📚 Reading widely on many topics as a child set the stage for Elon's interdisciplinary expertise
Elon Musk read over a thousand varied books growing up, including the encyclopedia, out of boredom from limited entertainment. This breadth exposed him to many domains, training integrative skills crucial for multivariate thinking. He recommends reading widely on many topics to enhance learning abilities and spark creative connections.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡learning techniques
💡critical thinking
💡problem solving
💡innovation
💡interdisciplinary knowledge
💡semantic tree
💡struggling with problems
💡reading widely
💡applying knowledge
💡synthesizing ideas
Highlights
Elon Musk thinks the education system doesn't help with fast and deep learning or focus enough on critical thinking and solving problems
Musk chose to learn on his own using textbooks and talking to experts in different areas
Musk almost memorized everything he read, helping him learn rocket science and related topics
Musk credits his skill in understanding tough topics to a learning strategy he calls the semantic tree
The semantic tree focuses on really getting the basic ideas or core truths of a topic first
By focusing on the basic parts, Musk makes sure his understanding is strong and he can link complex ideas back to their simple principles
When learning something new, Musk spends time figuring out the most basic parts of that topic
Building a strong base of knowledge helped Musk learn and create new things more effectively
Connecting new information to basic ideas helps Musk take in and use new knowledge better
The semantic tree helps Musk come up with creative solutions by combining ideas from different areas
Struggling with a problem helps you understand it, which is why Musk asks interviewees to explain how they solved difficult problems
Musk proves wrong the saying that if you try to learn many things you won't become an expert in any
Musk read about many different topics which helped him apply knowledge from one area to help in another
Musk's multi-disciplinary approach enables him to innovate by drawing connections between different fields
Boredom led Musk to read thousands of books on many topics, helping him learn and innovate
Transcripts
Elon Musk came out and explained what
happened to him that changed his life
although Elon Musk obtained not one but
two degrees he is not someone who
credits his college education to his
success in fact he feels just the
opposite Elon has his own way of
learning anything he wants and it is
simply because he's honed certain
techniques for Learning and if you
acquire these techniques you can become
a much better version of yourself that's
for sure and specifically musk explained
how he easily understands anything he
wants and never forgets anything he has
ever read so Elon Musk finished his
studies at the University of
Pennsylvania majoring in economics and
physics he wanted to do a PhD at
Stanford University in California but
soon left to start a web software
company ZIP 2 with his brother Kimble
musk didn't go back to University and
has been critical of the education
system he thinks it doesn't help with
fast and deep learning or focus enough
on critical thinking and solving
problems musk chose to learn on his own
using textbooks and talking to experts
in different areas one of the first
experts musk contacted was Jim Cantrell
a specialist in Satellite Systems
according to his LinkedIn Cantrell said
he believed musk almost memorized
everything he read this intense study
helped musk learn enough to have
detailed talks about rocket science and
related topics after this self-taught
phase musk planned the rocket that
SpaceX would later use and Elon Musk
often credits his skill in understanding
tough topics to a learning strategy he
calls the semantic tree this method is
about really getting the basic ideas or
core truths of a topic first like the
main trunk and big branches of a tree
before getting into the smaller detailed
Parts which are like the leaves musk
thinks it's crucial to know these basic
concepts first because they are the base
for more complicated ideas this way of
learning is different from the usual way
of memorizing facts which often starts
with small details the leaves without
really understanding the main ideas the
trunk and branches by focusing on the
basic parts musk makes sure his
understanding is strong and that he can
link complex ideas back to their simple
principles helping him understand new
things better and more fully when musk
wants to learn something new he spends
time figuring out the most basic parts
of that topic for instance when he
wanted to learn about rocket science for
SpaceX he began with the basic physics
of how things move how objects orbit in
space and the science of materials
instead of jumping straight into the
complex details of Rocket design or how
to fly them this way he built a strong
base of knowledge which helped him learn
and create new things more effectively
by always connecting new information to
these basic ideas musk can take in and
use new knowledge better this learning
method like building a semantic tree
doesn't just help him understand
complicated topics but also helps in
coming up with Creative Solutions as it
lets him combine ideas from different
areas leading to Innovative answers for
example here a musk's words that sum up
perfectly his philosophy Elon said when
you struggle with a problem that's
that's when you understand it and so if
you've once you've done that then you
have a pretty good grasp of it in fact
that's one of the ways when I interview
someone to work in the companies would
be to ask them to tell me about the
problems that they worked on and how
they solved them and if someone was
really the person that solved it they'll
be able to answer multiple levels
they'll be able to go down to the Brass
tax and if they weren't they'll get
stuck and then you can say oh this
person was not really the person who
solved it because anyone who struggled
hard with a problem never forgets it
also there's a saying that if you try to
learn many things you won't become an
expert in any but Elon Musk proves this
wrong he learns a lot about different
topics and is very successful history
shows other smart people like Leonardo
da Vinci and Galileo who were good at
many things too this isn't just because
they were talented but also because they
used what they learned in one area to
help them in others this mixing of
knowledge can change how you think and
lead to new ideas for example someone
who knows both physics and biology will
see things differently and have UniQue
Ideas musk studied both economics and
physics which are very different but
knowing both helps him think of new
business ideas his brother Kimble musk
says Elon used to read two books a day
which is a lot he didn't just read about
one topic he read about many this helped
him learn how to use what he knows in
one area to help in another this is why
he could combine his basic knowledge of
artificial intelligence and Engineering
to create Tesla's technology musk is
known for his multi-disciplinary
approach drawing connections between
different fields of knowledge this
synthesis enables him to innovate and
apply Concepts from one domain to
another a skill that is particularly
evident in his ability to disrupt
multiple Industries simultaneously and
musk famously said I was always sort of
really interested in Reading when I was
a kid and I read everything that I could
get my hands on I read the encyclopedia
probably around age 9 or 10 well not
that I actually wanted to read the
encyclopedia but I ran out of things to
read so in desperation I read the
encyclopedia just sort of I got bored
easily and so unless I was doing
something like reading or playing a
video game or watching TV and we had
like terrible TV in South Africa it was
really bad TV so boredom led to a lot of
reading I read thousands and thousands
of books so if you want to be better at
learning try reading about many
different topics just like Elon Musk
this can help you understand new things
more easily and come up with unique
ideas
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