Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
Undiscovered #037: Scientifically-Proven Study Techniques, The Qualities to Look for In a Partner, The Way Machines Work
#037: Scientifically-Proven Study Techniques, The Qualities to Look for In a Partner, The Way Machines WorkHi All! We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com. This week we will explore the best research-backed study techniques, how to get the most out of educational videos and online content, the qualities to look for in a partner, and more. Let's dive in: Research-backed Study TechniquesLast week, we came across an amazing mini-tweet thread from @dnbt777 that stated, 'you aren't dumb. you use bad techniques/algorithms for learning, working, etc. fix them to be smarter/more efficient'. The thread went into some of the quick ways Dan went into fixing these 'algorithms', and he expanded on the idea in an essay on his site. This week, we came across another piece of content that perfectly complements the methods Dan shared. Twitter user @Kpaxs outlines the 10 most effective learning techniques based on research study findings. Here is one of my favorites: Space out your studies, using shorter chunks distributed over days and weeks. Like the postmen in Baddeley's initial experiment, your progress may feel slow compared with the initial head-start offered by more intensive study. But by forcing yourself to recall the material after the delay between each session, you will strengthen the memory trace and long-term recall. The 10 bullets listed in the tweet are a summary from the book, The Intelligence Trap by David Robson. The book provides further research and anecdotes that help explain how we can become more intelligent and wise. How to Get the Most Out of 3Blue1BrownWe love educational videos, but our number one wish was that we were able to retain more of the information from them. @allgarbled had some great advice on how to improve this for 3Blue1Brown videos, but the principle can be applied to any type of educational content: 3blue1brown videos are a little bit edutainment-y, because you’re liable to watch it, be entertained by the pretty visuals, and then retain nothing. but you can solve that by going to chatgpt and saying “hey i just watched the 3blue1brown video on X, let’s talk about it” (it already knows most of them) you can ask for more details, ask for examples, ask for the little bits he skips over, ask for the edge cases, ask to see how the computations are done (and have it produce samples to run in code interprer!), have it produce nice diagrams for you, ask it to test you on the things that didn’t quite make sense for the stuff you think it’s important enough to remember you can make anki cards, etc etc How Many Lines of Code Does it Take to Train AI?Andrej Karpathy recently shared the 94 lines of code needed to train your own neural network. In his words, 'everything else is just efficiency'. This was a project called Micrograd that he also conveniently explains and shares on his YouTube channel and Github. My favorite quotes regarding Karpathy sharing this: Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit: When something so profoundly powerful is so simple you get a feeling that maybe it wasn't invented but instead discovered. Thomas Ahle, Head of Machine Learning at Normal Computing: Of all the algorithms you learn in CS, who would have thought Topological Sort would be the one to continuously spawn billion dollar companies? The Qualities to Look For in a Partner"There are three qualities to look for in a partner: intelligence, energy, and integrity. You need all three. You can't compromise on any of them. Integrity is something that takes a lot of time spent with someone to figure out." The above is one of our favorite quotes from Naval Ravikant, that we believe can be applied to both professional and romantic partners. The Way Things WorkRecently came across this interesting tweet:
The number one recommended book in the replies, with over 3.6k likes and 3.1k bookmarks on Twitter (an insane ratio), was The Way Things Work by David Macaulay. 'From Levers to Lasers, Windmills to Wi-Fi, a Visual Guide to the World of Machines' - this book has it all, and we will definitely be adding it to our cart. P.S We have an URGENT request to ask of you (especially if you are reading this from a Gmail account). Can you please respond to this email and bring it into your 'primary' inbox? You can say 'Hi!', tell us the last book you read recently, or what your favorite resource was from below. We appreciate any feedback you are able to provide here. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Feel free to reach out to us on Instagram and give us a follow there, tag your friends on our posts, and please forward this newsletter along to anyone else who would enjoy it. Disclaimer: Becket U is an Amazon Associate and purchases through Amazon links may earn a small affiliate commission, but the price is the same for you. We only recommend books we love and think you would love, too. Always wishing you the best, J.B. |
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Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
#080: Work Backwards from Outcome You Want, Art of Storytelling, Failure Modes Hi All! We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com. This week, we will take a look at the power of story and narrative in building businesses of the future, how to prevent common failure modes for projects you are taking on, a prompt for becoming a more ideal parent figure,...
#079: Greatest Artist Who Ever Lived, Make Your Website Beautiful, Life Lesson from Baseball Hi All! We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com. This week we will take a look at why Steve Jobs is the greatest artist who ever lived, the best tool for freewriting, a poignant life lesson from baseball, and more. Let's dive in: Greatest Artist Who Ever...
#078: Physics Behind Torpedo Bat, Three Stages of Talent Development, How to Spread an Idea Hi All! We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com. This week, we'll take a look at the physics behind the viral new bat design in Major League Baseball, Bloom's Three Stages of Talent Development, how to tell stories in sequences, and more. Let's dive in:...