I am curious by nature and I love learning about new things. If something really piques my interest, I enjoy going deep so that I can have an opinion on the subject.
Here is how I usually learn -
- I discover something new via something I heard (conversation, podcast), something I read (book, blog, article) or something I saw (podcast, video, documentary, movie).
- I search for books on the subject I should read and start there. I try to figure out the facts and the different approaches to make sense of the facts.
- I sometimes supplement by watching videos and listening to podcasts by the author(s).
- I try and tell my family and friends about this new topic and share what I am learning about it (very early in my life, my dad told me that the best way to know if you have understood something is to try to teach someone).
Only a handful of family and friends engage meaningfully enough to improve my understanding. I don’t blame them. Everyone is busy these days and I don’t think their areas of interest overlap with mine. The unintended consequence of sharing the things I am learning is that most my conversations do not end up in gossip or talking about the latest TV series or political scandal (not that I am above such discussions).
