Learning From Literature

Ultralearning by Scott Young

Cover of Ultralearning by Scott Young

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott Young is a productivity book published in 2019.

To prove his theory that the standard learning method is ineffective, Scott Young completed a four-year MIT computer science degree in only one year using free online courses; he didn’t even attend MIT! Next, Young became conversationally fluent in four languages in 12 months. Finally, he taught himself to draw portraits in just 30 days.

Before and After Scott Young's Self-Portrait

Throughout these challenges and examining others who achieved equally impressive feats, Scott Young has perfected the most efficient learning system, what he calls “ultralearning.” Young’s nine techniques can be applied to anything you want to learn, no matter the difficulty!

Purchase the book by clicking this link!

Enjoy!

Table of Contents

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Overview of the 9 Principles of Ultralearning
  1. Metalearning: First Draw a Map
    1. Learn how to best learn the subject / skill
    2. Identify helpful resources and how to leverage past knowledge
  2. Focus: Sharpen Your Knife
    1. Make focused learning time a habit
    2. Minimize distractions
  3. Directness: Go Straight Ahead
    1. Practice the skill in its real context
    2. Don’t replace real-world applications with easier tasks
  4. Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point
    1. Isolate your weakest points
    2. Break down complex skills into small parts and practice them deliberately
  5. Retrieval: Test to Learn
    1. Actively recall information instead of passively reviewing it
    2. Use frequent self-testing
  6. Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches
    1. Accept feedback – even when tough
    2. Filter it wisely to improve yourself without damaging your motivation or ego
  7. Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket
    1. Understand why you forget and use strategies (like spaced repetition) to remember what matters long-term
  8. Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up
    1. Go beyond surface knowledge
    2. Play with ideas and explore concepts to develop real intuition
  9. Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone
    1. True mastery comes from exploring possibilities they haven’t yet imagined
METALEARNING

Learn how to learn before you begin. Metalearning helps you understand how knowledge is structured and how people typically acquire the skill, forming a map so you don’t get lost. 

  • Why?
    • If you know why you’re learning, you can focus only on what matters
  • What?
    • Concepts → ideas you need to understand flexibly
    • Facts → information to memorize (vocabulary)
    • Procedures → actions to practice (speaking)
  • How?
    • The resources, environment, and methods you’ll use
  • After finishing your brainstorm → highlight the concepts, facts, and procedures that’ll be most difficult
    • Find specific tools to overcome these bottlenecks
FOCUS

Deep learning requires strong focus. Three main challenges:

  • Starting
    • Procrastination often comes from craving distraction or avoiding discomfort.
    • Recognize when it happens and why.
  • Sustaining
    •  Distractions come from your environment, task, or mind
      Simplify each: clear your space, break down the task, calm your thoughts
  • Optimizing Quality
    • Match arousal to task type:
      • Complex tasks → quiet, low-stimulation environments
      • Simple tasks → more stimulation can help (background noise)
DIRECTNESS

Learn by doing the exact thing you want to master. Transferability is key — real-world use is the goal.

  • Formal education and self-study often detach learning from use
  • Direct practice may feel more intense but leads to faster results
  • Tactics:
    • Project-Based Learning (computer program)
    • Immersive Learning (language learning)
    • Artificial Environments (flight simulator)
    • Overkill Approach
      • Go into high-demand situations to get rapid feedback
DRILL

Target the bottleneck: isolate and improve the one skill holding you back. Break the activity into parts → refine the weakest → return to full practice to measure improvement.

  • Challenges
    • When & What to Drill → area that yields biggest gain for the least effort
    • Designing the Drill → break down the skill
    • Doing the Drill → focused, targeted repetition
  • Drill Types
    • Time Slicing → practice brief moments (layup lines)
    • Cognitive Components → non-time-based components (grammar)
    • Magnifying Glass → do the full skill but focus intensely on one piece (tennis serve)
    • Prerequisite Chaining → only review sub-skills what you mess up
RETRIEVAL

Strained recall is the most effective way to learn. Start testing before you feel ready — testing isn’t just for review, it’s how learning happens.

  • How to Know What to Retrieve:
    • Direct practice reveals what the skill demands
    • Align testing with your end goal
  • Tactics:
    • Flashcards → for facts, not concepts
    • Free Recall → write / say everything you remember
    • Question-Book Method → turn notes into questions to quiz later
    • Self-Generated Challenges → create problems to solve
    • Closed-Book Learning → only check once you’ve tried to recall
FEEDBACK

Feedback is often uncomfortable, but it’s essential for progress. The key is learning how to use it effectively — without letting ego interfere. Filter to focus on useful, actionable information.

  • Types
    • Outcome Feedback → how well overall but no specifics
    • Informational Feedback → what you were doing wrong but not how to fix it
    • Corrective Feedback → often only available through a mentor / coach
  • Tips
    • Ignore useless data
    • High-Intensity Rapid Feedback
    • The Difficulty Sweetspot → avoid situations that make you feel always good or always bad
RETENTION

Learning is useless if you forget it. Retention depends on how and when you review what you’ve learned. Understand why you forget to build a system that reinforces memory.

  • Why We Forget
    • Decay → fade over time
    • Interference → replaced with  new info
    • Forgotten Cues → can’t access without the right trigger
  • Tactics
    • Spacing → review material over increasing intervals
    • Proceduralization → turn info into habits or procedures
    • Overlearning → go beyond what’s needed
    • Mnemonics
INTUITION

Understanding at a deep level requires building strong mental models, not just surface knowledge. Mastery means seeing why things work, not just how.

Experts recognize patterns and structure (chess chunks), while beginners see isolated details. You develop intuition through deliberate effort and exposure to many examples.

  • Rules
    • Don’t Quit Early
    • Prove It → derive answers or rework problems to internalize ideas
    • Use Concrete Examples → anchor abstract principles
    • Teach Others
EXPERIMENTATION

Experimenting with different methods and resources helps you discover what works best for your learning. It’s good to use formal teaching when a beginner, but as your skill progresses, you need your own touch (like a tennis serve).

  • Types of Experimentation
    • Resources — how to learn
    • Technique — what to learn
    • Style — customize to suit you
  • Tactics
    • Copy Then Create → start by copying, then innovate
    • Compare Side-By-Side → test methods while changing one variable at a time
    • Introduce New Constraints → challenge yourself with unfamiliar aspects
    • Hybridize Skills → combine unrelated skills to discover advantages
    • Explore The Extremes → push the limits of a subset of skills to understand it deeply
Your Project
  • Motivation
    • Intrinsic Goals are empowering and enjoyable, whereas extrinsic motivations can lead to anxiety and pressure
    • Belief in Growth is essential—without it, motivation wanes
  • Post-Project Reflection → identify what went wrong, possible improvements, and application to future projects
  • Keep up with your skill!

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