One of my large passions is learning new things. Whether that’s philosophy, physics, engineering, psychology or any other topic, I am extremely motivated by learning new things. It is, therefore, obvious to me to start the journey of learning with a bit of background knowledge about learning itself.

How to think about learning

Few people have influenced my thinking about learning as much as Tim Ferriss (reducing the process) and Charlie Munger (about the breadth of topics). When it comes to Munger, I always recommend his book, Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Among a lot of other gems, it includes the two speeches below.

  • Charlie Munger: Worldly wisdom and Practical Thoughts on Practical Thoughts. As described above, I’m a big fan of his (and Buffet’s) approach which is unique and has resulted in unprecedented returns for Berkshire Hathaway.
  • Josh Waitzkin: The Art of Learning. A fantastic book about a phenomenon. From chess prodigy to Tai Chi world champion.

How to learn (more effectively)

  • Learning Trees: 7 Steps to Structure and Accelerate Your Learning. This post describes my approach to learning. How I break down topics and accelerates the understanding.
  • Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Chef. The book outlines the four steps of deconstruction, Selection, Sequencing, and Stakes as a short-cut to improved learning. The actual cooking part used as an example and is optional (but I can highly recommend that too!)
  • Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren: How to Read a Book. A fantastic book about the four different levels of reading: Basic, inspectional, analytical, and synoptical. I don’t understand how this book isn’t more widely known!
  • 6 tips for Managing Your Personal Development. This is a post on ways to improve your personal development based on the most successful people I have met