2024-11-07

To avoid knowledge shields the US military, when it does accelerated training programs, avoids sequential curriculums and instead exposes soldiers to complex simulations and case studies that overwhelm them. The unpredictable, messy nature of the input makes it hard for the soldiers to form stable and coherent mental models, so they filter less input and develop a more well-calibrated ability to pattern match. Learning this way is frustrating, and you get none of that comforting feeling of progress that a curriculum provides—but it is faster, and it makes you more perceptive. The easiest way to do this is to jump in at the adult side of the pool and learn new skills by working on real-world projects.

  • Henrik Karlsson in Becoming Perceptive