Software Engineer gets Private Coaching
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful discussion, Edgar Cabera, a software engineering student from Mexico, delves into the balance between theory and practice in learning. He emphasizes the importance of not rushing through courses and instead suggests a conservative approach to mastering techniques by gradually integrating them into practice. The conversation explores the concept of 'learning debt' and the benefits of interleaving, challenging oneself with new information in varied contexts to achieve mastery. Cabera also addresses the effectiveness of physical versus digital note-taking, advocating for freehand methods to optimize cognitive processing.
Takeaways
- 📚 Practice and theory should be balanced, with a general guideline of a 1:5 ratio between learning and application to prevent cognitive overload.
- 🔄 It's important to practice new skills immediately after learning them to solidify understanding, but the exact pace depends on the complexity of the material and personal capacity to apply it.
- 🤔 The effectiveness of a technique should be assessed by the effort it takes to perform it and the results it yields, guiding whether to progress to the next technique or not.
- 🏠 Techniques should be built sequentially, like constructing a house, ensuring each is well understood before adding the next to avoid system breakdown.
- 🔍 When learning, be cautious about adding new techniques too quickly, as this can complicate the learning process and lead to inefficiencies.
- 💡 Interleaving techniques and challenging oneself in different contexts is a way to simulate future applications and enhance mastery.
- 🚀 Borrowing time from the future by practicing and applying new skills early can lead to higher mastery levels with less stress when facing exams or real-world applications.
- 🔧 The process of learning should involve hypothesizing, revising, and redoing structures to better encode information into memory.
- 🖌️ Freehand note-taking and mind mapping may be more effective for learning than digital methods due to the physical engagement and cognitive processing involved.
- 📱 While digital tools like Obsidian are excellent for reference and second brain management, they may not be optimal for primary encoding of new information.
- 🎯 Maximizing cognitive resources with minimal effort is key to effective learning, reducing the need for constant revision and preventing exhaustion.
Q & A
What is the main topic of discussion in the video script?
-The main topic of discussion is the relationship between practice and learning, particularly in the context of mastering new skills or techniques, and the importance of balancing theory and practice.
What is the '1 to 5 ratio' mentioned in the script referring to?
-The '1 to 5 ratio' refers to the balance between theory and practice, suggesting that for every unit of theoretical knowledge, five units of practice are needed to master a skill or technique effectively.
Why is it recommended to practice a new technique before moving on to the next one?
-Practicing a new technique before moving on helps prevent cognitive overload and ensures that the learner has a solid grasp of the current technique before adding the complexity of new information.
What is the term 'learning debt' mentioned in the script, and what does it imply?
-'Learning debt' implies the additional effort and time required to relearn or reinforce information that was not properly mastered initially due to rushing through the learning process.
How does the script suggest dealing with the challenge of adding new techniques to one's skill set?
-The script suggests being attentive to the concentration and mental effort required to perform a new technique and assessing its effectiveness. If a technique is easy to perform and yields the expected results, it may be time to add another technique.
What is the significance of 'interleaving' in the context of learning new skills as discussed in the script?
-Interleaving is the process of mixing and challenging oneself with different aspects of learning, which helps in better retention and application of knowledge in various contexts.
What is the speaker's view on the effectiveness of digital note-taking compared to physical note-taking?
-The speaker believes that while physical note-taking tends to be more effective due to the cognitive processes involved, digital note-taking tools currently lack the features to optimize cognitive processing as effectively as physical methods.
What are some of the advantages of freehand note-taking over digital note-taking as mentioned in the script?
-Freehand note-taking allows for better prioritization of information, easier hypothesizing and restructuring of knowledge, more representational flexibility, and better visual anchoring for memory retention.
How does the script differentiate between 'second brain management' and 'primary encoding'?
-Second brain management refers to the use of tools like Obsidian for organizing and referencing information, whereas primary encoding is the initial process of learning and understanding new information, which the script suggests is better done through freehand methods.
What is the recommendation for using Obsidian in the context of the script's discussion on learning techniques?
-The recommendation is to use Obsidian as a reference tool for managing one's 'second brain' and not as the primary method for encoding new information, which should be done through more cognitively engaging methods like freehand note-taking.
What is the overarching advice given in the script for effective learning and skill mastery?
-The overarching advice is to focus on maximizing cognitive resources by balancing theory and practice, challenging oneself through interleaving, and using tools like Obsidian for reference rather than primary learning to achieve effective learning and skill mastery with less effort.
Outlines
📚 Balancing Theory and Practice in Learning
The speaker discusses the importance of balancing theory and practice when learning new skills. They emphasize the need to avoid cognitive overload by maintaining a ratio of about 1 to 5 between theory and practice. The speaker suggests that understanding a maximum of 25% of a technique theoretically is often sufficient before moving on to practice. They also highlight the importance of gradual learning and the potential pitfalls of rushing through material without proper application, which can lead to 'learning debt'. The conversation touches on the idea of borrowing time from one's future to master a skill through consistent practice and interleaving, which involves challenging oneself with new information in various contexts.
🧘♂️ Assessing Technique Effectiveness and Mental Effort
In this paragraph, the focus is on how to evaluate the effectiveness of a learning technique and the mental effort required to perform it. The speaker advises being attentive to the concentration needed to execute a technique and whether its effectiveness aligns with expectations. They introduce the concept of 'Germain load' and explain that if a technique is easy to use and delivers the promised improvement, it's a good sign to progress to the next one. However, the complexity increases with the addition of more techniques, which may require slowing down the learning process. The speaker also warns against neglecting foundational techniques in the pursuit of new ones, which can lead to a breakdown in the learning system.
💻 The Role of Challenges in Mastery and Interleaving Techniques
The speaker elaborates on the concept of interleaving as a method to achieve mastery by challenging oneself with new techniques in various contexts. They argue that it's more efficient to learn and practice in an integrated way rather than mastering one thing at a time and then combining them later. This approach helps to avoid 'learning debt' and ensures that the learner is ready for exams or real-world applications. The speaker also shares personal experiences with learning to code, emphasizing the importance of practical application over mere theoretical knowledge.
🖌️ Comparing Physical and Digital Note-Taking Methods
This paragraph explores the advantages and disadvantages of physical versus digital note-taking methods. The speaker shares research findings that slightly favor physical note-taking due to the cognitive processes involved, such as prioritization and deeper processing of information. They discuss the ease of creating relationships in digital tools, which may not necessarily lead to better organization in one's brain. The speaker also mentions the difficulty of hypothesizing and revising structures in digital formats, the limitations in representing information, and the benefits of visual anchoring in physical note-taking. They conclude by stating their preference for freehand note-taking, while acknowledging the potential for digital tools to improve in the future.
🌐 Utilizing Obsidian for Reference and Second Brain Management
The speaker discusses the use of Obsidian as a tool for managing a 'second brain' and emphasizes its role as a reference tool rather than a primary encoding device. They suggest that while Obsidian is useful for storing and relating information, it may not be the best platform for initial learning and encoding. The speaker proposes the idea of incorporating Obsidian into a broader note-taking strategy, where it serves as a detailed reference for nodes within a mind map. They also touch on the importance of understanding the limitations of tools like Obsidian to use them effectively and avoid inefficiencies in the learning process.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mastery
💡Practice
💡Theory-Practice Balance
💡Overload
💡Concentration
💡Technique
💡Interleaving
💡Cognitive Resources
💡Second Brain
💡Mind Mapping
💡Encoding
Highlights
The importance of balancing theory and practice in learning, emphasizing the need to prevent cognitive overload.
The recommendation to practice new techniques before advancing in a course to maintain a healthy theory-practice ratio.
The 1 to 5 ratio concept, suggesting that only up to 25% of a technique can be understood theoretically without practice.
The advice to be conservative in learning pace to avoid the inefficiency of 'learning debt'.
The significance of interleaving techniques and challenging oneself from different angles to achieve mastery.
The concept of 'borrowing time from the future' to practice and master skills more efficiently.
The discussion on the challenges of applying multiple techniques simultaneously and the need to ensure each is well understood before adding more.
The emphasis on the importance of doing proper interleaving practice to ensure techniques are used effectively in various contexts.
The idea that learning should be stress-free and well-prepared to avoid last-minute cramming.
The comparison between physical and digital note-taking, and the potential advantages of physical methods.
The critique of digital note-taking tools, suggesting they may not be cognitively optimizing enough.
The benefits of freehand note-taking, such as better information prioritization and ease of revising structures.
The limitations of digital mind mapping tools and the need for more effective software for cognitive encoding.
The suggestion to use digital tools like Obsidian for reference rather than primary learning and encoding.
The concept of using digital notes as part of a larger, freehand mind map for better integration and memory.
The final advice on understanding the strengths and limitations of learning tools to maximize their effectiveness.
Transcripts
you're constantly challenging yourself
from different angles and different
context the way that I think about it is
you're borrowing time from your
future in order to become a master at
this you have to be able to mix it and
match it anyway thank you so much for
your time and I have learned a lot and I
have a lot to think about now every
couple of months I find some members in
our IC can study program who are active
and supportive in our community and I
offer them some 30 minute free coaching
sessions some of you do seem to really
like my coaching sty content so I've
decided to record some of these and post
them on YouTube before we jump in I'd
appreciate if you give this video a like
and if you're interested in joining the
full program yourself then you can check
out iin study.com there's a link in the
description my name is Edgar cabera I'm
from Mexico studying software engineer
it's in the University of Las that's
about it I'm
in ER I'm in second H second year of the
career and I'm still I'm about halfway
through the career
awesome and what's the main I suppose
things that you would like me to help
you with yeah I think one of the things
that I have seen a lot of focus and it's
like I think it's very important it's
about the relationship between practice
and what you learn in the course so what
I want to learn is do I need to always
like during every single lecture or
every single video do you always have to
immediately go and practice those stuff
before advancing into any other stuff of
the course or can I like I have this in
mind and then I can continue like a few
lectures from their course and then
practice like everything in bulk having
the consideration that I need to keep
that relationship like one to five
between theory and practice so whenever
you learn any new technique or any new
skill you just what you're trying to do
is prevent yourself from having overload
so there always needs to be this Theory
practice balance right yeah so you you
can technically go at any Pace that you
want M it it just depends on the density
of the theory and your ability to
convert that into practice MH and
usually what I find is that the amount
that you'd need to know to understand
how to use any new technique or any new
learning strategy if we think about the
total amount that you can know about a
certain technique um and if you know
100% of this technique that means that
you can do it perfectly accurately then
the amount that you can know about a
technique based purely on just a
theoretical understanding without any
real experience or practice using it
there's usually no more than 25% like at
a maximum this this is why I often say
there's a 1 to five ratio at least
because sometimes it's very it's it's
much lower sometimes it's only 2 or 3%
this is really obvious when we think
about other skills like you could
understand how to do go rock climbing
yeah but the amount of actual practice
You' need to not you know fall off and
die is much much more um and so this is
the same thing here is that the amount
of theory depends on the difficulty of
the technique and then it depends on how
um how much of it that you've understood
but the tricky part and this is the
reason why I usually tell people to be
very conservative and just like learn
one thing and practice practice practice
practice is because this is a relatively
small percentage so what that means is
someone that you know has you know
really really understands the theory of
very deeply before practice at most
they're going to understand like 25% of
it but if you understand less of it
maybe you understand 10% less and maybe
that means that you only understand 15%
now that doesn't seem like a very big
difference 25% versus 15% but relative
to how much You' need to know it's a big
difference right because the amount of
practice that you need here this is now
1 to four in this situation whereas in
here here it's closer to like one to you
know like seven to be able to do it
which means that you need like almost
double the amount of practice to be able
to gain the Mastery there so the other
issue is that when you have skills and
techniques applied in the real world and
the real world settings with like
multiple curriculums and pressures and
you know assessments and things like
that there are other variables that are
then added on so let's say now we've got
two different techniques that are added
on at the same time well now we have to
try to practice two separate techniques
and understand the cause and effect
relationship between the technique and
the impact that it's having and then
even at just two techniques that can
become you know quite challenging so one
of the things that I would normally as a
rule recommend is first of all to just
play it safe yeah because there's really
nothing worse than wasting time on going
too fast yeah yeah which is
counterintuitive but the second thing is
that you can try to do more and try to
move a little bit faster but when you're
doing the technique be really really
attentive to two things the first is how
much concentration and mental effort
does it take for me to just be able to
do the technique not even thinking about
doing it correctly just doing it and
then the second thing is how effective
am I finding the technique and is that
aligned with how effective I'm told it's
meant to be when I teach people
techniques I'm I'm pretty clear about
how effective it's meant to be some of
them are going to be like amazing some
of them it's like it improves a little
bit so if I've said something improves a
little bit and you try it and it's easy
to use and it's improved it a little bit
and the amount of effort you need to
spend to do the technique is is very low
that's something that we call Germain
load was a complicated topic but if that
happens then you can move on to add the
new the next technique and if you add
the next technique and you now think
okay it's still pretty easy then you can
move on to the next one it gets harder
though because as you add more and more
techniques the whole system also needs
to function so you might be able to do
each individual technique very well but
when you try to do all three
simultaneously it might get much much
harder so what that would mean is you
need to just slow down there but if you
use a technique and you think okay I'm
getting the result that I'm told I
should get but the amount of effort and
concentration I need to be able to pull
it off is very high then you should not
because as soon as you add another
technique on it's going to be harder or
you think it's very easy to do it but
I'm not getting the result that I'm that
I'm meant to be getting that's even
worse because it means you're not even
doing it right so the effort is not
there because we're not doing the right
thing it's kind of like saying hey I
think going to the gym and working out
is really easy I don't spend any effort
at all lifting weights and then you see
what they're doing and all they're doing
is going inside and looking at
themselves in the mirror so it's like
they're not even doing the right process
yeah so that's usually what I look for
if I see that someone is using a new
technique they're finding that it's
relatively easy and getting the effect
that they're meant to be getting then
they should be ready to move on and then
when they add a new technique on then we
look again the whole system isn't
working one of the things also that you
have to be really really mindful is that
when we are building the techniques we
have to build them like we're building
the foundations of a house like they are
stacking and building on top of each
other a lot of the time what will happen
is that people will start using a
technique they'll be fine at it this is
fine they're work they're using it very
well mhm and then they'll add another
technique on and they're like okay
that's fine they're using it well and
then they'll come to add on a new
technique and because it's too hard to
use all three at the same time they
stopped using this one and now they're
using this one and then they add another
one on and then you know this this one
kind of forc through and eventually what
happens is that you know everything will
sort of topple and it becomes a mess and
the system is broken down and then they
start running into really fundamental
issues really common example here would
be like the really getting into the
mapping process and nonlinear not taking
and they're doing that and doing that
and doing that and they forgotten
completely about doing space retrieval
yeah right so so it's it's kind of like
a long answer to to your question but
did that answer it no no yeah yeah
totally because I have like that um
because when I started like H seeing
stuff through the course and through
your YouTube channel and H because I
already have like some notion on how
Lear happens and how to learn new skills
and stuff because I I really like I
really enjoy the process of acquiring
new stuff to do like being able to be
the better version of myself so I have
always failed in that process in the
process of practicing enough because I
get so passionate about the topic that I
just need to learn more and learn more
and learn more and if you do it just for
the because you just like the topic and
you are just interested about it I think
that that's okay but if you want to
apply it you really need to practice it
before going to the next thing because
it has happened to me for example with
coding because when I started before I
started ER going to University like in
high school and stuff I saw a lot of
YouTube videos about coding and then
when I tried to do it I realized that I
couldn't retrieve anything about what I
have supposedly learned so it's just a
something that I knew had a problem with
with retrieving stuff to actually apply
it um but I didn't exactly know how to
do it like how to patch that hole Yeah
another thing that I'll add on to that I
just thought of when you were explaining
is that you you have to make sure that
you challenge yourself properly before
assessing that you're able to do it
correctly and this is the idea of
interleaving right is that it's not
enough just to say okay I can do it well
in the simple direct method of practice
or execution that I've learned coding is
actually really good example of this is
that it's really really possible and
actually frankly very easy because
there's so many courses and things out
there that just teach you about coding
it's very easy to learn like a lot of
theory about lots of different functions
and then you can follow everything step
by step okay I've learned about this
function okay can I write that line of
code yes okay can I turn that into
something else yes all right like let's
move on to the next one let's introduce
some more variables can I like declare a
variable yes okay can I call the
variable yes can I use it in a function
yes and then you can continue to do that
you're able to do it simply and simply
but until you actually step outside and
say okay well let's try to use all of
these together in a different context
outside of how I learned it am I able to
manipulate and use this information in a
different way and still retain that
level of Competency and this is the this
is the way that it has to be trained you
take a piece of theory you practice it
you can do it simply sometimes you can
do it in this in one go sometimes it
takes a little bit more after after you
do that you can add on the next thing
you add on the next thing and then you
try to use it and then you try to mix it
and then you try and can you still do it
okay now you add on the next one so
you're constantly mixing and
interleaving and challenging yourself
from different angles and different
context with each new thing that you add
on and the way that I think about it is
you're borrowing time from your future
to do
this like in order to become a master at
this you have to do all of this anyway
you have to be able to mix it and match
it anyway usually what people will do is
they'll try to get a Mastery of the
things step by step first and then
they'll try to mix it together to get
the Mastery but by doing that they're
suffering because they're now operating
at a lower efficiency right now so
they're they're going to struggle with
actually being able to learn it properly
right now because of the fact that their
memory is not going to be as strong and
they're going to forget things and now
they have to spend more time learning it
and relearning I call this learning debt
right and so instead if we just use the
time we were going to to spend anyway
and we do it now then we can gain that
Mastery so that by the time we are at
the bottom and we're actually properly
done we also have a very very high level
of Mastery it also is much less
stressful in curriculums or in an exam
because when you get to the time of an
exam you know you're basically ready to
sit the exam straight away there's
nothing more that has to happen but you
know people generally tend to want to go
fast and just cover as much stuff as
possible and so yeah yeah I'm actually
like really guilty about that because
see out of these YouTube videos that
that is like learn JavaScript or learn
go or learn X language in five hours so
in your head you think I just need to
get through this course and then I'm
Gonna Know It And then I try to do
something with the language and can't
remember anything yeah when you have
finished like a semester of University
and then the the the finals are coming
up and then you realize that because of
trying to like free up time free of time
by going as fast as possible you just
have like yeah like you said you have
just stolen yourself from being able to
actually learn properly from the
beginning and it's less stressful if you
can do like this Tiny Steps From the
Beginning than trying to recompile
everything at once the other stuff that
I wanted to um ask about is I usually
use obsidian obsidian is like the place
where I have my most notes I first tried
to do settle casting I couldn't retrieve
anything I because I had so many notes
and because settle casting like didn't
work for me in the fact that my brain
couldn't like remember what exact
combination of words I use to retrieve a
note or something there is a plugin in
obsidian where you can do mind PS so
it's like this kind of nonlinear note
taking I think that the question is do
you think there is like a connection
between like the physical way of not
taking being like better or being like
Superior in any way than having this
like Digital Way of nonlinear note
taking that's a good question and
something that I've experimented with a
lot and I've read the research on and
the in the research space there isn't a
definitive answer um if there is more of
a conclusion it does lean more towards
doing it physically yeah but the reason
that physical tends to be better is not
necessarily because there's anything
wrong with digital it's probably because
the tools that are designed are not
cognitively optimizing enough so there
are some advantages with being able to
do things
physically and and I you know like the
way that I do it is like essentially a
hybrid right you know using a a tablet
and so it's it's digital but it's
freehand and the reason that I still
despite having spent so many
hours trying a different like room or
obsidian or like you know Lucid chart or
many other different types of um
nonlinear kind of mapping softwares and
I get emails literally every day from
mindmapping software people that want to
sponsor me in a video and I say no to
all of them because of the fact that I
don't think there's actually a software
that really does this well at the moment
here are some of the advantages that you
get with freehand that you I just don't
see happening with the digital the first
thing with digital it's too easy to just
create relationships and just space and
just like put things down and the fact
that there's no
barrier means that the information is
prioritized and processed less and I
think this is the same thing as to why
we saw that research said that
handwritten notes are better than typed
notes because with typed notes what what
was found was that you tend to write
more when you're typing which means that
there's less processing going on and so
we know that longer word count is
associated with poor performance when it
comes to note taking and I think it's
same sort of thing is that yes you can
create a relationship yes you can tag
the information and yes technically it's
organized but it's organized in the
software doesn't mean that it's actually
organized in your brain because the
software do so much of the heavy lifting
for you so that's the first thing is
that it's just too easy and it doesn't
Force the prioritization the second
thing is that a big big part in fact
probably 80 to 90% of the learning
process when you're learning new
information is just hypothesizing
structures rewriting them and like
redoing it and trying to make that make
that fit yeah it's not as easy to do
that when you're committing it to a
software because often when you're
creating the note actually creates the
record of it and so it's hard to
actually then just delete it and when
you create it there's like a certain
minimum amount you have to invest to
creating that so it's harder to create
sort of the scratch Pad experience where
you're just like committing revising
dele leading moving uh and that sort of
thing the third thing is that there are
many more ways of representing
information uh freehand then there is
usually buy software and if it is
possible a software there's so many
clicks that it takes to be able to do
that so for example like if I wanted to
if I wanted to like make some notes that
we're saying like okay here's a line of
text here and then this sort of thing is
related to this one here okay I could
say I could then say that let's say that
there is another thing here and another
thing here and another thing here and
another thing here right so if this was
an app probably the only way that this
can be done is like this boom boom and
then maybe like boom boom boom okay
maybe maybe like this and then this is
how it would end up looking yeah but
this is completely different to for
example something like this right yeah
yeah yeah so like this is just a single
example and there's so many other
combinations that we can we can create
from this that
that if we just create it as a binary is
there a relationship or not or not then
it it's just everything just becomes a
line but when we think what is the
characteristic the quality the
importance the um the weight the the
spacing of that relationship in relation
to everything else then it opens up a
lot of other things um and then the
final benefit is that it's much easier
to do visual anchoring which is to
visually make a certain concept appear
more important and and have maybe
imagery involved in it to actually
create like a little memory Landmark
that our brain is going to find easier
to to hold on to so for example I could
have like a right so now that becomes a
visual you know landmark and if this was
I don't know what this concept is but if
it's related to some plant and Mountain
you know like that would be then yeah so
for me I think freehand is still the way
to go I don't I maybe one day software
will catch up to be able to do do this
we're actually thinking about creating a
software ourselves because um there's
lots of room for improvement um but at
the moment I don't think it does a good
job I think obsidian is a really good
app for second brain management yeah but
second brain management is is used as a
reference tool it's a reference software
it's not for primary
encoding and so it's a completely
different way but you could have
multiple you could have maps that are
stored within obsidian and then Maps
could be Rel ated to other Maps as a
conceptual Network that would work
fine but the primary encoding I don't
think I would I I personally would not
put it on obsidian and and I don't yeah
yeah no I have like before everything
doing or like taking seriously like
trying to learn as best as I can I I do
try to like I have been using this Oben
as a prar in coding but I don't think I
use it in a way that most people use it
because like uh after watching a lot of
videos a lot of your videos actually and
seeing the course I think that the best
way like simplify a ton of information
like the ton of research that is into
learning I think that you just need to
be try to maximize your cognitive
resources to it with a less amount of of
effort so that you can encode everything
properly that you don't need to revise
things more often and that you don't get
exhausted about doing the process people
think about doing mind maps on obsidian
think people think about putting their
mind maps on obsidian but you can also
think about putting obsidian in your map
so for example you can have like a node
coming out across here and you can just
literally say like hash like yeah you
know like whatever the tag is and then
all the detailed information like all
the code stimets that might be related
to that particular function that's
related there and so you've got this as
a reference and then you've got obsidian
just purely as a second brain yeah so if
we understand clearly what apps not just
obsidian but like apps like obsidian are
really useful for but then where its
limitations are then we can use it to
its full effect but it's just like any
tool really when you try to make it do
something that it's not the best for you
will suffer for it thank you so much for
your time and you have helpful thank you
for coming on and asking your questions
I hope hope that helped yeah a lot
actually I have learned a lot and I have
a lot to think about now
[Music]
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