If you want to learn, really learn something. Self educate, then teach it to someone else. You'll have to really educate yourself on the subject, but once you do.. Blog post, Twitter, Youtube, Linked-In, or whatever platform you want to use. You'll get corrections if you're wrong about something, and hopefully a load of questions that will make you dig further into the topic. The process of teaching it will reinforce it into your memory as you present it in the way you understand, and the feedback you get will also strengthen your understanding even further. You'll become much less likely to forget it over time.
But what if you're like me, and you don't have a social media presence or following to get any kind of feedback? Surely you have friends with similar interests, or know one of those people who likes soaking up knowledge like a sponge. You could use HN here to post something, or post to Reddit's "Today I Learned".
Inevitably, teaching something is the best way to learn more about that thing, and learning more about it is what will make it stick better.
Agreed 100% that teaching is the best form of solidifying learning (that is, second to consistent application of the knowledge), but there's something that's been troubling me lately: is it the act of teaching that works, or the witnessing of the teaching being learned?
In other words, if you are a "bad" teacher -- if your students do not understand, do not care, or do not otherwise learn from what you impart -- does the mere act of trying to pass on the information work for retaining/refining the information yourself? And if so, is a blog or forum post or drunken rant at a pub any different than a lecture?
I ask because I have found myself expounding on things in informal contexts and learning more about my own ideas as I go, with the supposed intention of telling and teaching others, but my feedback at times has been "dude you suck at explaining this". I do try to adjust according to feedback, but useful feedback is rare, especially when marred by the emotional reaction of "what do you mean I suck?? you sure you ain't just stupid??" etc.
Comments
Teach it.
I don't know why nobody else has suggested this.
If you want to learn, really learn something. Self educate, then teach it to someone else. You'll have to really educate yourself on the subject, but once you do.. Blog post, Twitter, Youtube, Linked-In, or whatever platform you want to use. You'll get corrections if you're wrong about something, and hopefully a load of questions that will make you dig further into the topic. The process of teaching it will reinforce it into your memory as you present it in the way you understand, and the feedback you get will also strengthen your understanding even further. You'll become much less likely to forget it over time.
But what if you're like me, and you don't have a social media presence or following to get any kind of feedback? Surely you have friends with similar interests, or know one of those people who likes soaking up knowledge like a sponge. You could use HN here to post something, or post to Reddit's "Today I Learned".
Inevitably, teaching something is the best way to learn more about that thing, and learning more about it is what will make it stick better.
Agreed 100% that teaching is the best form of solidifying learning (that is, second to consistent application of the knowledge), but there's something that's been troubling me lately: is it the act of teaching that works, or the witnessing of the teaching being learned?
In other words, if you are a "bad" teacher -- if your students do not understand, do not care, or do not otherwise learn from what you impart -- does the mere act of trying to pass on the information work for retaining/refining the information yourself? And if so, is a blog or forum post or drunken rant at a pub any different than a lecture?
I ask because I have found myself expounding on things in informal contexts and learning more about my own ideas as I go, with the supposed intention of telling and teaching others, but my feedback at times has been "dude you suck at explaining this". I do try to adjust according to feedback, but useful feedback is rare, especially when marred by the emotional reaction of "what do you mean I suck?? you sure you ain't just stupid??" etc.
I find it useful because there’s social pressure to present yourself as a knowledgeable person.
No one wants to fumble in public like an idiot and waste people’s time, so you prepare for the material as well as possible questions.