I will tell you how I would learn any skill quickly.
Alexandre Porto
3 min read
Knowing Progress
I don’t know if there is a single way to master any art fast, so I will instead tell you how I would go about learning any skill quickly.
First, I would need to have or create a reliable way of measuring success. If there isn’t a good measure of progress, then it’s hard to know how much progress you’ve made. If your performance is judged subjectively by other people, they can always think you’re doing better than you are.
I would need to have a way of measuring effort or difficulty. You can’t tell how much you’ve improved if you don’t know what your previous best was like.
I would also need to have a way of measuring my starting point accurately. If you don’t know how much you suck at something, then it’s hard to tell if you’ve improved.
Fourth, I would measure my progress accurately by comparing it to the method of measuring effort and difficulty. If you only know how much you suck at something now, but don’t have a way to compare it against your previous sucking-ness, then it’s hard to know if you’ve improved.
Finally, I would need to have a way of repeatedly measuring progress. This is essential because if you can only test yourself once every month or two, then it’s hard to tell how much progress you’re making.
The Tree of Learning
Think of a field of learning as a tree, with branches and sub-branches. Each branch is an arena of knowledge. Consider your skill to be at the topmost point.
Now, you must master all the layers of knowledge starting from the topmost point and moving downwards. Once you have mastered all these arenas of knowledge, it will become easy for you to master your skill.
Once you have mastered your field, the next step is to master a broader field that contains your first field. At this point, if you are able to incorporate all the principles of your previous fields into one big arena of knowledge, it will be easy for you to master any skill.
Help your mastering progress with the responsible use of psychedelics:
Making a system like this will help you master your skill quickly and in an efficient manner. You can use it to master any field, from programming to art.
Learning a new skill can be intimidating. This happens because of the expectation of discomfort that comes when one is conquering an area of knowledge.
To me, now, it comes intuitively. I believe that video games helped me because they offer an ever-changing dynamic that forced my young self to develop a type of flexibility of the soul.
As water changes it’s shape to fit any container, the spirit (mind+body) must change it’s shape to fit the challenge.
Growing up I developed flexibility of the soul that would benefit me by bending (not breaking) my understanding of the world accordingly to the scenario the video game (or real life) would offer me.
I believe that every art reveals the innermost secrets of all the other arts. This being so; if you master one art, you master all the others.
Three-step for mastery:
How To Master Anything
- Identify The Best Examples of the Craft You Wish to Master and Model Them in Great Detail.
For Example, if you wish to become a better cook, watch some of the greatest chefs on video to identify common patterns in their movements and behaviors; note how they build flavors with different ingredients; analyze their use of spices.
- Replicate Your Favorite Aspects of These Recipes Yourself, Until it Becomes Second Nature.
It’s important to practice consciously until you become unconsciously skilled in the craft you wish to master.
- Once You Have Achieved a High Level of Mastery in Your Own Craft, Go Find Other Masters Around The World And Learn From Them.
By interacting with other masters you will have someone to talk to about the more subtle aspects of the craft that are difficult to find documented in writing or even in video.
As it is with video games, first I need to put myself in the challenging level and die many times.
As soon as I get the right rhythm and get to the boss, I’ll gain the ability to reach the same point again effortlessly, because I did it once already.
After I master this boss I can advance to the next challenge.