RoamingFrancis' Path to ERE

[RoamingFrancis]

Small update:

Things are going pretty well. At first I was planning to just watch all the videos in one go and then do the problems in one go afterwards. That got way too boring so I've started doing a more modular approach. I'm taking the unit test for each module, then looking at the data for where I did badly and doing practice problems and the Feynman technique.

This is a fun project for me. In school I was pretty talented when it came to foreign language, history, English, music, etc, but I thought I just didn't have a "math or science brain." I'm really starting to progress and understand statistics on an intuitive level now. It's good proof that I can learn anything with the right mindset.

When this project is over, I plan to either ask other professors if I can finish their courses at an accelerated rate or take a deep dive into bike repair or gardening/permaculture. As far as I can tell, those are the two DIY skills that would be most useful to me and help me along my path.

[RoamingFrancis]

Update:

It is getting nice out and I have been spending less time on my ultralearning project than I "should" because it's been more enjoyable to go on long walks and enjoy the weather. If I want to get this done on time I'll have to put more time into it. Hopefully we'll get some shitty weather the rest of the week

Also finally starting a garden! I'm still mostly in the "watch a bunch of YouTube videos" stage but I'm getting more and more excited about it.

[RoamingFrancis]

Update on the stats project:

I got overwhelmed and frustrated from trying to take on so much "sitting in my basement" type work at one time, and didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped. Part of it is that I don't have much of a private workspace and my routine's been all weird because of the coronavirus stuff.

C'est la vie.

[AxelHeyst]

I'm interested in what your actionable takeaways are from the ultralearning attempt. In other words, would you do an ultralearning project again? If so, how would you approach it differently? (Beyond just "workspace sucks + coronavirus-induced ADD")

[RoamingFrancis]

I would do an ultralearning project again.

I think the methods I was using for this particular project were fine (watch videos, do problems, use Feynman technique). I think one takeaway is to do projects out of pure interest in the future. Even though I think math can be interesting, I was doing it out of a "I want to get this class over with" perspective, not a "I want to immerse myself in the beauty of statistical analysis" perspective. I found myself procrastinating by looking up gardening videos and going outside to prepare some raised beds, so maybe a gardening ultralearning project because "fuck it why not" would have been a better use of my time.

I think the main reasons for the failure of this project are the crappy working conditions though. When I'm at school I'm a thousand times more focused, and during this coronavirus time period I've just had a lot of brain fog, waking up at noon, compulsively checking my phone, etc. I think if I could do the same project but have access to an empty classroom where I normally like to work, I'd be fine.

Thanks for probing me to analyze it a little further. Hopefully you find something in there of use to you as well.

[AxelHeyst]

I think the main reasons for the failure of this project are the crappy working conditions though.

That resonates strongly with me. I've struggled with working conditions a ton over the years, both when I was in an office and after going remote. It's a big learning curve to figure out what works and doesn't work for you - and then every time your environment changes, the learning curve starts all over again. It's taken me a lot of failed workplace conditions to figure out what works for me and what doesn't. Part of my struggle was just in admitting that workplace conditions play a role - I was masochistic/dumb enough to think I ought to be able to push through and crank in any environment.

[RoamingFrancis]

Yeah. At school I was starting to be really productive because I had figured out a couple of key classrooms that would be empty at certain times. I could put my stuff on the instructor's podium (no sitting!), then I would ritually play the Red Army Choir's Kalinka at the beginning of each study session and hyperfocus for hours at a time. But it took me a while to figure out that environment and build a focus ritual.

Now I'm starting over from scratch with the added challenges of noise and technology.

I don't regret the attempt and now I know more for next time. Scott Young is launching a Rapid Learner course, which looks interesting but I don't want to pay anybody any money right now.

As always, I look forward to hearing about your next steps. I really hope you find some more inner peace after quitting your job. Wherever you go, there you are, but control of your time gives you space to learn the emotional skills to dwell in the here and now in peace. You're a couple Wheatons ahead of me, so seeing how your thought processes change is helpful to me even though our life situations are different. I'm particularly interested in learning any financial strategies you learn to protect your savings from inflation, especially given our shared hesitance around investing.

Peace

[AxelHeyst]

I took his Rapid Learner course ~1 year ago. It was a quality course, worth the money to me, but between the book (which didn't exist when I took the course), his website, and newsletters, there isn't any information in the course that you can't find in the rest of his corpus. The nice thing about the course is that it's well organized and since you paid so much money, you're more likely to follow through. I think if you a) study his book and posts, b) construct a template ultralearning project methodology, and c) run through a few projects, updating your template each time as you learn, you'll in short order have captured 90+% of the value of his course. (And it sounds like you're already well on your way).

It just occurred to me that, maybe, the biggest source of value that Scott Young brings is to have broken the 3-min mile of self-learning projects. He proved that you could learn way faster than most people think they can, or more accurately he popularized the concept. Now, it's entered our minds as a realistic possibility to consider, whereas before I got in to his stuff it didn't occur to me to attempt to learn anything so fast. From that, it's just a matter of sorting out execution, retention techniques, how the brain absorbs and retains information, etc.

[ertyu]

Does ultralearning also work for physical skills i wonder. Maybe not something like lifting where your body's need for regeneration needs to be respected in designing your timeline, but something more like, idk. Yoga, or a particular style of dancing.

[RoamingFrancis]

I know Tim Ferriss found a way to do it with swimming. I don't see any particular reason why the process of learning physical skills would be much different from learning other things, but I don't know the neuroscience behind it.

https://tim.blog/2008/08/13/total-immer ... u-can-too/

In that case, I won't bother taking the course because I don't want to spend any money. And I agree with you on the "3 minute mile" front.

Side note in regards to getting crazy things done - has anyone here done Wim Hof's course on cold tolerance?

[RoamingFrancis]

Recentering and Restrategizing

Hello everyone, time for an update!

Good News

Because of my situation, I have spent literally 0 dollars since the beginning of this coronavirus thing. Yay for low expenses!

Bad News

I dropped a class because I'm less productive in the online courses. Additionally, all face-to-face classes have been canceled over the summer. I was planning on taking mainly lab classes, so I might not be taking any classes at all this summer, because if I'm not in the lab, what the hell is the point? So it looks like I'm going to have to come up with a new plan to aim myself towards ERE.

The only reason I'm able to keep my expenses so low right now is my living with my parents, who live a standard consumer lifestyle and just pay the bills for me. I'm a beginner in most DIY skills. I can cook a little, sew a little, fix my bike a little, and garden a little. But I'm not super competent in any of those. Spending more time learning these will be good to increase my self-sufficiency and decrease future expenses. I have some contacts in the local gardening circles, and am planning on using those resources to study gardening/permaculture more in depth. I also have an electronic copy of David Holmgren's new book Retrofitting Suburbia.

Summer Plans and Strategizing

The main question, then, is what to do with my summer. Taking classes is a maybe, depending on the situation. Luckily I have an academic counselor I like and trust, and I will be talking to them soon to get more details and hear their advice. Another option is working. Due to my anti-authoritarian attitudes and rebellious nature, I don't make a very good employee especially if I'm not learning new skills or have no intrinsic motivation. In the past I've only worked seasonal positions, or quit after about three months. Additionally, what with the crisis it's not clear if there will be many opportunities over the summer. I'd really like to find something where I could at least learn practical skills, but I'll have to wait and see what happens.

I'd like to take another look at investing, given my particular temperament. I actually don't like thinking about money. I find it quite boring and want to deal with it as little as possible so I can do other stuff that I do find interesting. The typical Vanguard index fund "invest and forget" approach appeals to me very much because of its simplicity, and I was planning on starting an account, but I kept putting it off because the thought of being economically invested in stuff like Exxon and Coca-Cola grossed me out. So I want to find something that's simple and socially/ecologically responsible. I know there are some local folks trying to start a painting co-op - maybe that's an opportunity. Any leads on this front would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone know any good resources on building up passive income streams? My best developed skills are foreign language capabilities, mainly German and Spanish. I was obsessed through middle school and high school.

Does anyone know how to get a vasectomy in the US at age 19? I am 100% sure I don't want kids, but from what I've heard it's really difficult to find a physician willing to do it on someone so young.

Patting Myself on the Back

I have done a very good job at building up social capital where I live, and have a large network of people I can talk to about finding jobs and stuff like that. Going forward, I want to build up this network even more. I'm a big fan of the Rob Greenfield "be poor but have lots of skills, friends and connections" approach to ERE. Good job, me!

Let me know if any of you have advice or ideas! Thanks for the help!

[AxelHeyst]

Right on with the social network! That's definitely something I struggle with.

Regarding the Big Snip, it's just a matter of finding the right doc, which can be harder depending on what area you're in. If you happen to be anywhere near New Mexico, I know a guy who might go that young. I'd also recommend calling around and saying "hey look, I've thought about this for X years and I want to do it even though I'm 19. Are you willing to work with me?" It ought to save you a few trips at least.

Not sure how to leverage foreign language skills in to passive income, but my brother in law does translation work. Mostly technical documents, for European companies who want stuff translated from [german/french/whatever] to English. Like you, English is his first language (I'm assuming that's true for you?) and he was just a language nerd growing up. It's all contract / gig kind of work, very flexible, completely work-from-home. Might be a way to make some coin over the summer without having to deal with a more traditional shtick.

[RoamingFrancis]

I'll call around and see if I can find anyone

English is my first language as well; I'm also just a language nerd. I'm sure once I have a better grasp of medical stuff I could translate medical documents. Hmmm...

[RoamingFrancis]

Haven't posted in a while, mostly because of coronavirus lethargy and a lack of anything changing. But now summer is starting, things are changing, and it's time to recenter and look at my life situation.

I sunk into a terrible pit of lethargy and depression when coronavirus first started, and dropped my anatomy class because I couldn't focus working from home. Now I've been working from my dad's abandoned office space, and have gotten more done in the past three days than in the past three weeks. I really need total isolation and the ability to block distractions in order to work well.

I have decided to take classes over the summer, but I have a dilemma: whether to take one or two A+P courses over the summer. If I take one, it'll be fairly easy, as I've seen most of the material before. The downside of this choice is that I'd probably have to wait until fall of 2021 to actually officially start my program. The other choice is to take A+P 1 and 2 during the summer. This means that I could officially start my program in the spring, but each 16-week course would be condensed into 5 weeks.

I'm leaning towards the latter option as I want to experiment more with ultralearning, but I'm a little unsure of the decision. Also, the office lease ends sometime over the summer so I'm not sure if I'll have access to a quiet workspace for the second half of summer. Luckily, I've established a good relationship with one of the school's academic counselors, so I'll be able to get advice from someone that knows me. (Yay social capital!)

Now some good news. I've been embedding myself more deeply in local permaculture circles and gardening with some of them more (with masks and social distancing of course) There is a really well organized group near me which is a treasure trove of resources. I'm really grateful to have found them and think they'll be really helpful in getting myself closer to ERE. I hope to unify this group with a migrant rights group I've worked with before.

I'll also pat myself on the back again for being good with social capital. Through people I know, I was able to find a potential summer job in healthcare and two people interested in doing Spanish lessons with me. I think this is one of my best resources as an extrovert, and plan to build a style of ERE that uses this resource heavily.

I've also started mending my own clothes. I'm pretty terrible, but having repaired a small hole gives me confidence. I'm also spending time learning Hindi and Arabic. I don't foresee any practical use for this, but it's fun.

That's about all my updates for now. I have to keep cranking on studying for finals - peace everyone!

[classical_Liberal]

@RF
A&P is such a fundamental building block of your nursing degree that mastery of the subject will make the rest of your educational process, much, much easier. I noticed this with my cohort of nursing students. Those that had trouble with the A&P mastery had to spend much more time figuring out pharmacology, nursing interventions, etc. Because they all flow from A&P, if you mastered it, you can make common sense of the other stuff based on mechanism of action, ect.

Anyway, all this means is that if you feel rushing through it will hurt your personal ability to truly understand the concepts, then I would avoid it. Just making the grade isn't good enough with A&P as you'll regret the lack of understanding later. However, if you can focus like a laser beam better in a rushed, singularly focused summer environment, then taking them both over the summer should be fine.

[RoamingFrancis]

@CL

Thanks for the advice. Usually laser-focus is good for me. Most of my school difficulties come from trouble managing which assignment from which class is due when. It's like the meta-schoolwork is more challenging than the schoolwork.

Hm. I'll have to reflect and make a decision. Sooner is probably better than later.

[AxelHeyst]

Most of my school difficulties come from trouble managing which assignment from which class is due when. It's like the meta-schoolwork is more challenging than the schoolwork.

Time and task management etc has been a sort of side hobby for me, and ad hoc training around that is something I rolled in to my job description for a few years. Happy to give advice/blather about it if you solicit it. (That said, my suggestions might be wholly inappropriate for certain personality types, so, ymmv)

[RoamingFrancis]

Go ahead, please blather

Usually I just keep a small notebook in which I jot down assignments. I've read (most of) Cal Newport's student productivity guide; I plan to reread it once the semester is over and see where I can improve.

On good days I find an empty classroom with a standing desk, blast Russian choir music, and can hyperfocus for a couple hours before needing a break. That seems to be dependent on that specific context, as I've had difficulty achieving that during coronavirus times. (I have found a decent workspace for the time being though.

So please, give any advice you think will be helpful.

Side notes:

This is a good time for me to think about prepping better for this winter. I rode my bike to and from school all winter. My bike could use a tune-up and I would really like some warmer/more comfortable winter clothes. I have a high school friend skilled in bike repair that'll be in town this summer, and now is the time when really high quality gloves and shit will be really cheap. I might make a thrift store visit.

I'm working on condensing all of my possessions to fit into my dresser. I'm pretty close to that now, but need to get rid of some old clothes and stuff. I want to have as little attaching me to my parents' house as possible. Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.

Planning on checking out some dumpster diving locations. This isn't a good long-term food source, as it depends on a waste stream that doesn't exist, but it'll be good to understand which places in my area throw out lots of food.

I've started mending my own clothes! I still suck a lot but I've successfully repaired some basic tears and feel proud of myself.

[RoamingFrancis]

Oh and my bike could use a new light too for safety reasons. Don't know where I'd source that cheaply. Maybe freecycle or ebay or something.

[RoamingFrancis]

I've decided to take both A+P classes online over the summer.

I also plan to radically reduce time spent on screens. In the month of June, I plan to get rid of my phone entirely. I will use my laptop for school, but restrict my use to only a few sites.

I think my best use of this forum is posting a thoughtful and detailed update every month or so, instead of unfocused commenting here and there.

I find a certain freedom in constraints. My only summer plans are studying and gardening. Simplicity is beautiful.