DELIBERATE PRACTICE > LEARNING

This whole 5-blog series is about developing a hacking mind. The first step however and the final one are the same : Choice. If you don't choose to develop a hacking mind, there's no use. Pretty obvious. Kyo Stark writes:

Learning outside school is necessarily driven by an internal engine. … Independent learners stick with the reading, thinking, making, and experimenting by which they learn because they do it for love, to scratch an itch, to satisfy curiosity, following the compass of passion and wonder about the world

Pigliucci in the last blog reminded us of the importance of deliberate practice. Endure, i.e. creating a habit, is the final step of the process. Sustaining the process itself (coming up with new habits) is a life choice that needs to be sustained. It's equivalent to continuous education.

TEACHING > LEARNING

Investigative journalist Quinn Norton writes, subscribing to Mangan’s prescription for learning by teaching:

I ended up teaching [my] knowledge to others at the school. That’s one of my most effective ways to learn, by teaching; you just have to stay a week ahead of your students. … Everything I learned, I immediately turned around and taught to others.

In the same way, a TEDx organiser also used the gift of ignorance to proactively drive her knowledge forward:

When I wanted to learn something new as a professional writer, I’d pitch a story on it. I was interested in neurology, and I figured, why don’t I start interviewing neurologists? The great thing about being a journalist is that you can pick up the phone and talk to anybody. It was just like what I found out about learning from experts on mailing lists. People like to talk about what they know.

I think that's the reason why I do TEDx talks and write blogs . I try t teach so I can learn better.

APPRENTICESHIP > LEARNING

The last piece of the sustainability puzzle is mentorship. And in many ways, it relates to proximal development. Robert Greene explains how to become the perfect apprentice:

Children are generally free of these handicaps. They are dependent upon adults for their survival and naturally feel inferior. This sense of inferiority gives them a hunger to learn. Through learning, they can bridge the gap and not feel so helpless. Their minds are completely open; they pay greater attention. This is why children can learn so quickly and so deeply. Unlike other animals, we humans retain what is known as neoteny—mental and physical traits of immaturity—well into our adult years. We have the remarkable capability of returning to a childlike spirit, especially in moments in which we must learn something. Well into our fifties and beyond, we can return to that sense of wonder and curiosity, reviving our youth and apprenticeships.

Choose it, teach it and let yourself be guided. From there, hack on forever more :)