Getting Simple

#22: Scott Young — Ultralearning, How to Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career

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Scott H. Young on quickly mastering hard skills, acquiring knowledge, and becoming good at things that seem impossible to you right now.


Scott H. Young is an author, entrepreneur, and ultralearner. After learning MIT's 4-year computer science curriculum in less than twelve months, Scott taught himself four new languages in a year. In his book Ultralearning, Scott shares the principles and methods that he and other ultralearners employ to quickly master new skills, acquire knowledge, and become good at things that seem impossible to you right now.

Connect with Scott on scotthyoung.com, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.


Favorite quotes
  • "All of us are learning. Otherwise, we would be rocks."
  • "Ultralearning is not just a philosophy of learning one thing [and getting better at it] but a constant process of taking on projects and learning new things."
  • "Most people don't do [what would probably work better for learning] because it's kind of scary or frustrating or a little uncomfortable at first."
  • "Learning is any change that happens in the brain that makes you do something better."
  • "There are mental and emotional obstacles that often prevent us from doing what [we] know would really make sense for learning better, because we're afraid or think it will be too frustrating or challenging."
  • "[Deliberate practice] is overriding the habits and patterns that you form."
  • "I'm always learning about learning."
  • "[The Feynman Technique] forces you to articulate what you understand and what you don't."
  • "Paper acts as an extension of your working memory. [Writing things down] is a kind of cognitive enhancement that allows you to think more intelligently about ideas."
  • "The ultralearning ethos: learning is intrinsically hard."

    • Episode links
    • Survivorship bias
    • Deliberate practice explained by James Clear
    • Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    • Stardew Valley by Eric Barone (game)
    • Skill polarization
    • Goals! An Interactive Guide by Scott Young
    • Fluent in Three Months by Benny Lewis
    • Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman (autobiography)
    • The Feynman Technique by Scott Young
    • Rubber Ducky technique
    • Top Performer by Cal Newport and Scott Young (course)
    • Don’t Break The Chain! (app)
    • LeechBlock (app)
    • Screen Time (app)
    • Text Expander (app)
    • Scott Young’s book club (podcast)
    • James Clear's blog
    • Study Hacks by Cal Newport
    • Marginal REVOLUTION by Tyler Cowen (blog)
    • Slate Star Codex by Scott Alexander (podcast)
    • Zen habits by Leo Babauta
    • Anki (space repetition system) (app)
    • Supermemo (app)
    • R (programming language)

      Books
      • Ultralearning by Scott Young
      • Deep Work by Cal Newport
      • Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
      • So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
      • The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber

        People mentioned
        • Darrin Rose
        • Leo Babauta
        • Benny Lewis
        • Roger Craig
        • David Autor
        • Anders Ericsson
        • Eric Barone
        • Lazlo Polgar
        • Susan Polgar
        • Sofia Polgar
        • Judit Polgar
        • Bobby Fischer
        • Richard Feynman
        • Cal Newport
        • James Clear
        • Ramit Sethi
        • Barbara Oakley
        • Tristan de Montebello
        • Tim Ferriss
        • Tyler Cowen
          Chapters
          • 00:28 · Scott Young
          • 04:31 · Career
          • 08:37 · Going full time
          • 11:05 · Monetizing
          • 12:52 · Writing the Ultralearning book
          • 15:09 · Guinea pigs
          • 18:21 · Pushing yourself
          • 26:12 · Flow vs. deliberate practice
          • 29:22 · Ultralearning principles
          • 35:34 · Self-directed and intense
          • 39:48 · Why does ultralearning matter?
          • 45:17 · Can anyone learn?
          • 49:28 · Your learning approach
          • 53:34 · Directness
          • 01:02:01 · The Feynman technique
          • 01:05:33 · Rubber ducking
          • 01:06:23 · The mindset of experimentation
          • 01:09:24 · Constraints
          • 01:12:23 · The Expert Interview Method
          • 01:14:56 · Masters and mentors
          • 01:19:06 · Role models
          • 01:20:37 · Cal Newport and James Clear
          • 01:22:38 · Daily routine
          • 01:23:16 · Is your life simple?
          • 01:23:49 · Complexities
          • 01:24:44 · Team
          • 01:26:18 · Habits
          • 01:27:45 · Meditation
          • 01:28:35 · Rituals
          • 01:29:44 · Commute
          • 01:29:54 · Working from home
          • 01:30:37 · Sports and hobbies
          • 01:31:24 · Work hours
          • 01:32:57 · Email
          • 01:33:51 · Distractions
          • 01:34:45 · Social media
          • 01:36:46 · A list of ideas
          • 01:37:45 · Curating your work
          • 01:39:39 · Disconnection
          • 01:40:58 · Boredom
          • 01:42:13 · Healthy tech
          • 01:43:28 · Digital clutter
          • 01:44:52 · Workflows
          • 01:45:36 · Away from screens
          • 01:46:17 · The story about who you are
          • 01:49:25 · Successful people
          • 01:50:28 · One sentence to the world
          • 01:50:46 · What would you tell your 20-year-old self?
          • 01:53:54 · Paranoid
          • 01:54:55 · Book (and other) recommendations
          • 01:55:53 · Spaced-repetition systems
          • 01:57:15 · Connect with Scott
          • 01:58:15 · What's next?
          • 01:59:53 · Slowing down
          • 02:01:04 · See you next time
          • 02:01:32 · Scott speaking Spanish

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            Show notes, transcripts, and past episodes at gettingsimple.com/podcast.

            Theme song Sleep by Steve Combs under CC BY 4.0.


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