As you get home with your new Ikea furniture and open it up you find no instructions. You open up a Lego set and there are no instructions. Your boss asks you to do a task you have never done before, and they don't know how to do it either. You have a dream to build the first space colony. Where do you start if no one else has done what you want to do? There are times in life that you come upon a situation where you know what you want done, but don't know how to get there. In some cases someone else has done it and you just want to replicate what they have done and improve upon it. In times like this, is where you get to use what I think probably is one of the best skills you can ever have, that is the ability to learn or knowing how to learn.
The world as a whole has not figured out everything, and many times we are the ones who get to figure it out. This can be as simple as a new recipe, or as complex as new technology. Whatever it is there was some learning along the way. Knowing how to figure things out is crucial to succeeding in life.
How to Learn
There are many different ways to learn, Hands on, Listening, Watching, Observing, and many more. Each method lends itself to different strengths and each are needed to achieve different outcomes. For example it is really hard to learn to dance by listening only; it is hard to learn how to drive a car by watching only. Knowing, or learning, which method works best for you in each scenario is key to learning how to learn.
One of the very first things you should do is know the loose idea of what it is you want to learn. Figure out the basics of that topic. I usually turn to Youtube, blogs, forms, articles to get a quick overview of the topic. As you look for information in various families of information you will start to see which websites you tend to visit that may have accurate helpful information. These sites will share terms and concepts with you as you research the topic that you will be able to look for more information on. The trick to the internet is to remember most people who post things are not experts on the topics they post about. For example I am not an educator, I have taught classes and help people figure things out, but that does not make me an expert on how to learn things. I only know, is how I have learned and how I have helped others learn, and that is what I am sharing, the successes of what I have learned in the process. With that in mind you are looking for information that is correct enough.
Correct Enough
Correct enough is an interesting concept. A lot of learning material are “correct,” but what does correct really mean. In the Bible it states, “In the mouth of two or three witness shall every word be established.” Or in scientific terms Peer reviewed. According to United States Geological Survey, “peer-review process subjects an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field (peers) and is considered necessary to ensure academic scientific quality.”
For self driven learning you should verify your facts from multiple sources. As you get more practice in self learning you will see trends in the topics you are looking at. But be aware it is common that someone references something which references another thing which turns out to be wrong. Do you best to get as close to the original source as you can but keep in mind someone else’s interpretation may be easier to understand. The key is to make sure it is correct. One of my favorite quotes from the internet, “you can trust everything on the internet” and that is attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was alive between 1809 and 1865, the internet didn’t really take off until over 100 years later.
Going back to correct enough. There are many topics that are complex enough where generalizations are made to make the topic simpler and are mostly true. For example, the cup of water sitting next to you is H2O. That is correct but the more detailed answer is that what you have is primarily water mixed with minerals and other elements to make drinking water. These elements offer a variety of benefits. But you do not have pure H2O in your cup.
Generalizations are good but can cause errors in learning or practice if you miss some of these finer details. Try to figure out how important these extra details are, they may be the difference between something working or not.
Good Resources for Learning
As I mentioned above, I usually start my search for knowledge using the internet. The internet isn't the only place you can find knowledge. You can take classes, read books, find a mentor, or just try figuring it out on your own. Classes don't have to be a formal college course that you commit to a four year program. You can take one off classes from some colleges, find other institutions that offer classes, or find an online course. These courses are usually well structured and laid out in such a way to encourage complete understanding on the topic presented. Keep in mind complete and all knowledge mean different things. Complete can mean full, but in reference to classes, it is complete for the scope of the topic covered, and detailed enough to the level of the class. If you are taking physics 101 you will learn the basics of physics and that will be a complete set of knowledge but you wont be covering the formulas of string theory because it is not needed for the level of understanding provided in the class. If you want to get to those higher knowledge tiers you will need to take more classes that have larger scopes of knowledge.
Books are a great resource I have found that if you want a very thorough view of a topic without having to go find all the information yourself. Books in the nonfiction variety generally are well constructed around a specific topic. I have read a number of finance books, a pile of self-help books, and a collection of various other topics. Books are condensed and refined education mediums that can go beyond the walls of most education institutions. I have found that if you want an understanding of a topic a book is a good place to go.
There are people in a large variety of areas that are willing to coach you one on one, sometimes for free, other times for a fee. Having someone who has experienced what you are trying to learn may save you from some pain and speed up your learning. You can find these people in a large variety of manners. Usually you can find them through some kind of association. This can be through an organization or from someone you know. These people can be a great resource to help you learn.
My personal favorite method is hands on. There is nothing quite like rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty and just trying something out. There are many projects where I thought I understood the theory on how something worked, but as soon as I tried doing it, I failed. Failure is not a bad thing, unless you let it be a bad thing. Failure means you know one way something doesn't work. Thomas Edison is quoted as stating he knows 1000 ways not to make a light bulb. Kevlar was a mistake that someone saw the value of and made it into something great. Let failure be a win. As you learn from the fails, that is the real beauty in doing hands on learning.
How do you learn?
Learning how you best learn is key. As you explore topics take note of how you best figured out a solution or comprehend various topics. For me I do a large amount of my learning by passively observing what others have to say and share. When I actively try to learn something, I know I need to at least try doing it for it to truly stick with me. The real key is exploring an idea until you are satisfied with what you have studied. Whether it is to solve a problem, for fun, or to share with others, Learning to Learn can give you the ability to transcend what others can provide you.
If you would like an example of the learning process, take a look our our member's only content, where we will explore the process of figuring out how to build a colony on the moon.
