#003- How To Learn Anything

A 2-minute lifetime tip.

I discovered this method trying to understand the Bitcoin white-paper years ago. It’s the original thesis paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto on October 31, 2008 that set the basic structure of the Bitcoin network (I have added a screenshot of the white-paper for reference).

The first time I read it, I did not understand a thing. Everything went over my head. No idea what a peer-to-peer system is, no idea what blockchains are. I did not know a single thing, and even reading the original paper did not help. That’s when I decided to try something my childhood teachers had told me to do.

Slow reading. But I made some tweaks to make it more suitable for better comprehension.

• I read the first sentence, and if I found a word that I did not understand, I’d go on the internet and spend an hour understanding that particular word. Then I’d come back to the first sentence and start reading again. After a minute or so I’d find another word that I did not understand, I’d go on the Internet again and spend another hour trying to understand it. Then I’d go back to where I was and start reading again.

I did this until I was done with the entire paper. And then I read it again just to make sure I have everything in-place. It took me days to understand a paper but once I was done with it, I was done with it. I understood how each piece fit into the puzzle. I did not just know a concept, I understood it.

Does it mean that you can also learn how to fight through reading alone? NO. Of course not. And this isn’t the context I’m speaking in.

I have already explained to you, in my last post, how there’s a professional way of doing anything. THIS is the professional way of reading for comprehension.

You can add more layers to it for a much better comprehension like the Feynman technique where you write down stuff as if you’re teaching someone else.

You don't have to memorise and know every fact, you don't have to know where every particle moved. But if you understand the deep underlying theories behind everything, then you know, at a higher level, how everything works.

Sure, this is time-taking but what else, that is worthwhile, is not?

(If you have the means, please support my work here.)