So far I tried to keep most of the post pretty much centred along the superlearning axis of visualization-speedreading-knowledge. However occasionally I plan to look at things from wider perspectives. Today I want to express the way I feel about certain things in my life, or human life in general. People do have other very different perspective on life, yet I think this particular perspective will be useful.
For many years I had many jobs. One of the jobs I occasionally hold is “project manager”. One of the basic tools the project manager can use is called “critical path”, and refers to the set of activities that requires the most of management’s attention at every given moment. Failure to complete the activities on the critical path in time immediately affects the ability to complete the whole project in a proper and timely matter. When addressing more general issues, there is no one set of activities that result in ultimate success, however some resources feel in short demand. This resources share several properties, which I loosely call “critical dimension”.
For example, currently my critical dimension is time to do things. For the first time in my life I actually do not do enough time to do everything I want and get sufficient amount of recreational activity. I need to plan my time both at work and at home, I need to fight with my wife over sleep time and I am definitely lagging in the area of diet and physical activity. Reading ~150 articles per day is hard, and without my sulerlearner skills I would not be able to update myself in areas of my expertise. Spoiler: I do plan to take measures about my spare time soon. I would have done it earlier, but 3-5 missile attacks per day had negative effect on my functioning. Still, even with all the planned changes, I am not sure I will have enough time for annual vacation.
Currently I have positive financial balance. I could recently buy my wife a 300$ watch and 200$ earrings without giving it a second thought. I do have a huge debt, but at least I am slowly paying it off. A couple of years ago my financial situation was much worse. Failure of my main business activity left me emotionally depleted and financially ruined. I had all the time I needed, but I was in dire need of money. I was happy to take the first decent job offer I got, since it took me out of home and allowed to focus on technology rather than money. Superlearner skills allowed me to set my own salary in the next two jobs I took, and take a step away from the financial crisis.
Nowadays I know myself pretty well. I know what I can do and what I enjoy doing, I had enough experiences for several lifetimes, and I can make decisions pretty fast and give good explanations why I do what I do. Ten years ago the situation was quite different. I was hungry for strong experiences, I felt a bit lost and not sure what I want to do next. I scanned the web for solution to my predicament, until I found a simple recipe: network with smart people, take different jobs, open your own business. Very soon I was involved in cool activities on a highly experience-rich road. I was poised for success, but suffered a setback due to financial crisis of 2008.
When I was 25 years old I was hungry for knowledge. I think never before or after I was as hungry for knowledge as I was during my PhD years. I met Anna when I was 30 years old, and I could read much faster after she taught me the superlearniong skills. Before I had the skills, I remember spending most of my spare time reading. I read everything: science, technology, psychology, fiction, history… Reading was both my passion and my curse, since the books I read took a huge toll on my time and I did not have people to share them with. It took 5 or maybe 8 years of reading, until I found my basic curiosity satisfied and my basic knowledge wide enough to get from reading to living. By that time I had a PhD, a successful startup and a search for the perfect spouse behind me.
The superlearning skills allow me to deal with critical dimensions of time, money, experience and knowledge with some moderate success. Before I had to know “what” I had to know “how” and I doubt the superlearning would help me then. I see my kids learning how to walk and talk, how to make friends and share with them, how to build self-discipline and keep creative freedom. I doubt that the superlearning skills will help them until they are teenagers, but I do have a complementary set of skills that might help them. Some day I hope to understand and perfect these skills to the same level that I mastered the superlearning. I plan to share my initial insights well before…
Interesting insights; what I feel about the techs is somehow like Mathematics, they’re the mothers of the upcoming skills, & scienceS. This way having these skills works a lot like other forms of abundance, where the key similarity is that sense of Freedom that I Xperi encE. (B it freedom of Stress, Boring work, Boring people =D, …)
Cool