Kevin Vogelsang

The internet has changed the world already.  However, there are plenty of new ways to better utilize this beautiful thing called the Web.

One area where the Web is still lacking is learning–specifically, what I’d call Knowledge Acquisition, when you really want to get a big chunk of deep knowledge on a topic.

If you’re new to a topic, and want to learn it at a deep level, where do you begin on the internet?  You’d likely go to Google and start poking around.  You’ll eventually stop in at the topic’s Wikipedia page.   Wikipedia will give you the basics and help you learn some of the terminology to better refine your search results.  You’ll then go back to Google and do some more searches.

In my experience, I get the following from this process: 1) SEO garbage 2) overviews that aren’t any better than the Wikipedia page 3) pages that are somewhat on the topic but are mainly just entertaining, and 4) I actually stumble across someone’s online presence that is a very good resource that I should spend some time with but I don’t know it.

Here’s a search on “Visual Design” that I think is representative.  On the 2nd page, you’ll find Edward Tufte’s web page.  Tufte is highly regarded when it comes to information presentation and design. If you took a glance at his web page, you certainly wouldn’t know it.  And I’d be surprised if you even took the time to look through his site.

1) The first problem with the internet and knowledge acquisition is that you have to make a serious investment in going through the material.  It’s not just a 400 word article we’re talking about here.  And do you want to commit to going through a substantial amount of material that could actually be junk?

2) Google is great at finding specific or popular pages.  But when it comes to deep learning, it seems to me Google isn’t very good by default.   Google’s ranking system is still largely based on links, and a site gets a large amount of links by having a lot of people link to it.  However, deeper knowledge is held within the small community surrounding the topic that may not come up very highly on Google, and either way, as an outsider you won’t be able to recognize this community even if they do. Figuring out who the community is surrounding that topic takes a long time.

I’ve found that the best way to learn about a topic is to go find someone you respect that is knowledgeable in the field.  Then, ask them to point you to materials and people to pay attention to.  You’ll then find your way through the community and figure out who the real thought leaders are.

This is far and away the best way to learn, but this process could be improved upon greatly.  It is also predicated upon having access to someone that is knowledgeable in the topic.  If you’re around a university, this may not be a problem.  If you’re in the middle of nowhere, it will take you a long time to find your way.

What do you think? Is doing knowledge acquisition on the internet difficult?

-Kevin
5.4.2010

Metrics are very important.  Without clear metrics, it’s difficult to assess where we’re at, how we’re doing, and how things are progressing.

Metrics change our behavior and decisions; “you manage what you measure, and you measure what you manage.”  Consequently, it’s important what metrics you choose to pay attention to. If you choose the wrong metrics, you won’t get the desired outcome.  Choose the wrong metrics to assess a prospective hire, and you’ll hire the wrong person.  Gauge an employees performance by the wrong metrics, and you’re optimizing for the wrong thing.

In my view, we often use the wrong metrics, so I like to think about new types of metrics and what outcomes they might lead to.  These metrics may be infeasible, but it’s an interesting thought experiment that could lead to something valuable.

Here’s one: Time To Expertise (TTE)

Imagine you’re interviewing someone.  You ask them, “what’s something you know nothing about?”  They answer.  You then say,”Go learn about this topic.  Come back when you’ve become an expert on it.”

You then have them record the hours they spent on the subject each day.

So what does such a metric tell you?  First, this information would tell you a lot about their learning and working habits.  It may also give you some indicator on how fast they learn.

But what I find more interesting is that it tells you how much they know what they don’t know. I think this is important to understand about someone. People that know what they don’t know, claim to know fewer things, but when they have something to say on a topic, you better listen up.

Having someone carry this out would probably be impractical, but even just seeing how they respond would provide valuable information. If it’s a relatively narrow topic, if they say, “okay, I’ll be back in 3 days.”  They probably have little understanding of the time it takes to gain deep knowledge on a topic, or don’t really know what deep, meaningful knowledge is.

If they’re clearly an intelligent person, and they say, “well, I’ll see you in a year,” it doesn’t mean they’re slow learners or aren’t very ambitious.  They just know there is a lot to know about something and don’t consider themselves an expert unless they really know something.  Understanding this disposition is important.

-Kevin
3.18.2010

In my last post, I mentioned how some of my current lines of thought had lead me to a whole new body of knowledge that I hadn’t previously known about (complexity and network science).

This lead me to another thought: Curiosity is a Funnel.

We start off intermittently thinking about things that interest us, or perhaps we spend a little extra energy on certain items we come across. This is the nature of Curiosity in it’s most nascent form: passive curiosity. This is the top of the Funnel.

And due to the enjoyment of a small expenditure on these objects of our Curiosity, we’ll soon begin to seek them out and ask others about them. Soon, we’ll know enough to know exactly where to find these objects of our Curiosity. This is the middle of the Funnel: active curiosity.

From here, moving further down the Funnel is a little different.  Now that we’re actively seeking out curious things, it’s highly like we’ll discover new items and concepts that are even more interesting to us.  This may lead us to new objects of our Curiosity, or it could further our understanding of the pre-existing object of Curiosity.  No matter which way you cut it, we’re taking in a slice of our reality.

Once we move beyond active curiosity, we soon start to devour the objects of our Curiosity.   Consequently, it ekes out our pores and becomes part of our breath and spine. It’s part of us.

This sounds so carnal because it is–once you find yourself in the jaws of Curiosity.

Lastly, once we reach the bottom of the Funnel, we dominate it.  We take control of the Object of our Curiosity and define it.  We become the Professors, Experts, and Geniuses of the Field.

But aren’t descriptors like “Professor” and “Genius” usually used to describe people that are really smart?  I’d say this is a fair association.

So what’s the connection between Intelligence and Curiosity?  Is there one?

One thing leads to another.

-Kevin
3.14.2010

If you’ve read this blog more than once, you’ve noticed that I’m interested in and think about many things.

Recently, my thoughts on the Digital Space and my writing on personas (which are memes) and community-driven movements has lead me to a whole new body of knowledge that is even more interesting: network and complexity science.

These areas are especially relevant to the world today.  To get a taste of the subject, check out the wikipedia page for Complex Adaptive Systems.

Writing these words makes me think about the nature of Curiosity: Curiosity is like a funnel.  Interesting things lead us to more interesting things.

I’ll finish that thought tomorrow.  Otherwise I will end up traversing way too many ideas.

-Kevin
3.12.2010

Image by CyboRoZ via Flickr

Imagine you’re stuck on an island.  Just you, a few others, and the wilderness of the island.

You’re primary source of food is fish. You catch the fish by sticking them with a sharpened stick.  It takes a long time to catch fish this way.  You miss a lot.  It’s tough to hit them hard enough.

You have a few minutes a day that don’t have to be focused on getting food and water.  During this time, you look for rocks that you could use to make a pointed tip.  Eventually, you achieve this.  You then are able to find the right plants to attach it to your “fishing spear.”  Catching fish is a little more efficient now.

You now have more time to experiment with the plant fibers you discovered in search for a way to create the fishing spear.  Eventually, you learn to make a net.  Catching fish can now be done by anyone.  You’re now able to pass the fishing task off to someone that is less capable.

You can now spend your time surveying the island.  You find rocks that can be made sharper.  You discover deer on the island.  You learn how to kill the deer.  You have a new source of food and materials.  You’re now able to make canoes, which are much faster than wooden rafts.  You can now travel faster and go farther.

~

This is an example of the compounding returns of knowledge.

We observe it now, more often than ever.  Technology is created that enables non-specialists to perform a needed task on a larger scale (like the fishing net in the example.)  Technology also allows us to discover new technology.  We see this in fabrication, software, and soon, in brain-scanning preparation.

We also have empirical proof that it exists.  Ray Kurzweil has collected some incredibly interesting data on the exponential acceleration of technology. (You can find videos of Ray talking about this phenomena on Ted Talks.)

However, we tend to forget this phenomenon on the level of the individual level.  When we learn and gain new skills, we gain resources.  And resources can lead to more resources.  People think about this more in terms of monetary investing.  But it’s true elsewhere.

So what does this mean for us?

If you spend a little more time working, and study just a little harder each day, you’ll find yourself much further along.

-Kevin
2.25.2010

Everyone should be an expert on something (anything!), and they should know more about that topic than anyone they know.

By investing even a little more energy into their area of expertise than the rest of us, they can build a lot of value.  Building expertise creates channels that allow knowledge and ideas to spread through our social networks. And the real source of knowledge on a topic is the community focused on that topic.

But there’s simpler, immediate benefits to you when you and others buy into this concept.

Think about it.  If everyone you knew had some level of expertise in something, you’d be much better off and have far greater resources (that’s why it’s called social capital.)  Need your car fixed?  You’d definitely know someone that can point you in the right direction.  Need help with your paper on The Civil War?  It be awesome to have a Civil War afficionado by your side.

There’s a few perplexing aspects of “expertise” however:

1) Most people aren’t aware that they have an area of expertise, which keeps them from making that expertise useful.

If they don’t know they possess any level of expertise, they won’t self-identify with it.  And if they don’t self-identify with it,  they won’t invest that little extra that makes their knowledge level really valuable and sustainable. Furthermore, they’ll be much less likely to chime in when people need to know about their topic of expertise…..

2) People don’t know what each other’s expertise is, until by happenstance, the subject comes up.  If you’re smart, when you have a problem that Google or Wikipedia can’t help you with, you’ll go to another smart person and say, “Hey, Mark, do you know anything about the Civil War?”.  And if you’re lucky, he’ll then respond, “No, but Rob Utz loves the Civil War and knows a lot about it.  Ask him.”  You’ll then go to this person, and they’ll either have the answer, know how to figure it out, or be excited enough that they’ll work with you on it to get it figured out.

Since people often aren’t completely conscious of what their expertise is, and we surely don’t know what their expertise is, we’re left with a bit of needless friction, a loss of potential so to speak.  You’re both missing out on knowledge.  So what can we do about this?

One thing is certain: people like to share what’s on their mind.  If you ever need to make conversation, ask them about what interests them or test the waters to try and  figure out what they like to think about.  There will be no shortage of things to talk about.

With this in mind, the answer is simple, although rarely carried out: figure out what the people around you know. Learn their story and figure out what their interests are.  Interest is the first phase of expertise, so someone’s interests are a good indicator of what their expertise is, or what it could someday be.  (This all goes back to why it’s important to find a passion–passion and expertise have a very close relationship.)

By doing this you gain an understanding of which friend to talk to when you have a problem some day, and your friend gets positive feedback for gaining knowledge in their area of interest (thus pushing them forward!).

But more than that,  you’ll also make more friends, and be much more interesting to talk to.  People will walk away from conversations with you thinking, “what an interesting and awesome person,” even though they probably did the majority of the talking.

-Kevin
1.20.2010

Learning changes us.  As we continue to learn, we begin thinking differently about things.  And as we become accustomed to possessing our specific set of knowledge and skills, we begin to forget what it was like to not have them; we simply can’t fathom that other people don’t know the same things as we do.

This phenomena,  The Curse of Knowledge, represents a powerful concept to understand.

The great thinkers either implicitly or explicitly understood this.  If you have great thoughts, you must share them with even greater clarity–you’re sharing them with people who know far less about them.  This is the only way great ideas can spread.

Kevin
10.26.2009