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Reversing Knowledge Gains
In The Death of Expertise Tom Nichols talks about the scourge that is the internet. He cites many studies showing that if someone merely looks for a topic online and skims the headlines, they think they're an expert and they become unwilling to listen to anyone, and unwilling to dig deeper to properly vet their opinion1.
Now I wonder what Nichols would say in the face of AI being the de facto search for many. While some may use it to increase their knowledge on a topic, they're still essentially skimming a bunch of different texts aggregated into the AI return text and then calling it a knowledge gain.
Notes on notes or thinking?
I came across this post from 2022 where I wondered if I was better known for my notes on notes or for my thinking about topics outside of notes.
If I give my site analytics a vote, people come to me for notes on how to take notes. They rarely come to see my content for deeper thinking on other issues.
But remember obsession over tools is a fetish. People don't seem to want to engage with deeper ideas, they just want the terrible rewards for productivity.
Problems aren't actionable
If it's actionable, it's not a problem. Designing Your Life Pg 9
If whatever you're facing is merely something you've chosen to do nothing about yet, then it's not the problem. Your inaction is the problem.
Why aren't you taking action?
The Death of Expertise Pg 20 ↩
