Book

Ultralearning

Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career

Scott Young

HarperBusiness, 2019

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“Ultralearner” Scott Young practices what he preaches. He learned four languages in 12 months, learned the content of an MIT degree in a year and learned to draw competent portraits in a month. He shares insights from his experiences and those of other people who learned new, complex skills and entirely new disciplines, often quickly, by using nine principles of efficient, self-directed learning. Young’s techniques offer an alternative, practical approach to learning. Some of his methods are well-known, but his overall strategy will speak to students, anyone ambitious and anyone trying a career change.

Summary

Use the intense process of ultralearning to learn new skills and knowledge quickly.

The vast array of information online today, including courses and degrees from the world’s most prestigious universities, makes a new form of rapid, self-directed learning – “ultralearning” – possible and practical.

Whether for career progression or job security, today’s fast-changing, increasingly stratified workforce demands that you acquire the skills to do high-paying work or risk being relegated to low-paying, insecure jobs. But, learning new skills in the traditional way – classes and degree programs – takes time and money. Instead, consider online ultralearning.

Ultralearning techniques work whether you have natural talent and innate high intelligence or you struggled through school and dislike learning, and regardless of whether you can learn full time or spare only a few hours weekly.

Despite the similarities among ultralearners, this method doesn’t follow a formula or a standard list of best practices...

About the Author

Ultralearner Scott Young learned the content of an MIT degree in 12 months and learned four languages in a year by using ultralearning techniques and principles.

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R. T. 4 years ago

I genuinely enjoyed this abstract. It’s a really nice summary of a learning strategy that people could adopt in a fast-paced world that requires constant effort to remain relevant.

And it successfully poses the question: do you really need to go back to school - often at a huge cost - to get validation that you "know" something? When 9 times out of 10 it's almost as easy to learn it yourself online by "growth hacking" it (at a fraction of the cost).

What I didn't know, was that you don't need to be Einstein to make it work; apparently just about anyone can do this as long as you focus and use deliberate study methods.