wiki/notebook/2021-05-05-19-43-14.org
Gabriel Arazas a5b3c7a8a1 Update various notes on things
Still cannot make up a good note-taking habit especially that I archive
more than taking notes. Though, this same cannot be said for my course
notes so that's a plus.
2022-05-22 22:47:20 +08:00

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Look for live sessions as another form of examples

There is something powerful in seeing others doing the task as you are now seeing the process in action. A possible reason is our human tendency to follow by example. This is why apprenticeships are a popular form of this as you can gain an upclose look of how an experienced person does things.

Watching live sessions in any form can be a good way to learn and gain perspectives as you're viewing the raw footage of the task from its conception to its completion. This is why seeing live sessions such as live studying, live coding, and speedpainting sessions are compelling to watch.

Some plausible real-life examples…

  • In Programming, you may have discovered alternative ways to debug or introduce you to new tools that is very relevant to you.
  • In Illustration, you may see new approaches from drawing anatomies or quickly bootstrap a scenario.
  • In roam:Speedrunning, you can see optimal routes and tricks that you may not know compared to your runs.

Even pre-rendered forms of live sessions such as documentaries, pre-recorded competition matches, behind-the-scenes footage, and commentaries are great to look for albeit incomplete. It still gives you an idea of the process behind the topic.

This approach, as much as it is nice for gaining new perspectives, is not without its problems:

  • You cannot easily see nuances with their approaches if it has subtleties. This could may or may not affect their effectiveness.
  • Seeing someone does something requires some prerequisite understanding of their domain. It isn't exactly Skill-building without prerequisites.
  • There is always a possibility of not taking away anything other than watching a person do something. This could be due to different factors: e.g., you may have missed the subtle tendencies, you didn't have any idea at all what it is about (though, it can be nice sometimes; see Involuntary attention switch is good for preventing tunnel vision), you are already familiar with their domains. As finicky this approach can be, this issue along with the previously mentioned ones can really just discourage into making you think you've just wasted time.

This approach will also be filled with questions as you pick up nuances and curiosities. Therefore, this approach is nice along with Communicate with others to learn.

At the very least, looking for others' approaches can always show you cool new stuff. But how about looking at live sessions of yourself? (See Live sessions of yourself doing things as an example.)