Learn to Learn

How to become an expert at something:

Iteratively take on concrete projects and accomplish them in depth, learning “on demand” (i.e., don’t learn bottom-up breadth-wise).
Teach or summarize everything you learn in your own words.
Only compare yourself to your younger self, never to others.

We spend a lot of time learning—at least over 10 years from elementary school to university, our lives are bound to "learning."

However, as someone about to graduate from university, I recently realized what learning truly is and what it should look like.

In the past, I spent a lot of time solving math problems just for a grade, but I never truly experienced the joy of learning. Looking back now, I was immersed in a state of "pseudo-learning." Apart from the seemingly impressive grades, it left me with nothing, and I’ve almost forgotten that I was once considered a "top student."

Over the past year, intensive English reading has not only provided me with high-quality input but also allowed me to truly experience the joy of "learning by doing." It has even made me fall in love with English—a language I once strongly resisted.

In an era where learning resources are extremely accessible, "learning how to learn" is a skill we must continuously iterate throughout our lives. I’m fortunate to have figured out this topic during university—a seemingly simple yet challenging problem for most people.

Humans are naturally curious about new things. As we grow, we inevitably encounter the unknown, which requires us to spend a lot of time understanding (learning). Thus, learning is not only a lifelong task but also an innate advantage. However, with the widespread adoption of standardized scoring, people gradually lose the joy of learning for curiosity’s sake and associate low scores with a lack of intelligence. In reality, learning new things doesn’t require high intelligence. While being smart might accelerate understanding, not being "smart enough" doesn’t prevent someone from mastering what they love.

I’m increasingly realizing that "people might actually be taught to hate learning." At least, certain environments can indeed make people dislike learning. A person who hates learning and someone who hasn’t received higher education but still loves learning are fundamentally different. The key difference is that the former has lost the "curiosity to explore the world," while the latter can still progress through learning.

You might have experienced this: many of our parents, who seemingly haven’t had much exposure to higher education, have accumulated a craft or skill for survival. While this craft might be labor-intensive, the experience they’ve gained over the years is still valuable—arguably more so than a degree earned over four years of university without a love for learning.