Ultralearning by Scott H. Young [Actionable Summary]

The Book In Three Or More Sentences:

Think that writing a best-seller or learning a new language is a monstrous task requiring months, even years to accomplish? Not if you have a playbook. The framework in this book will show you how to become a learning champion. Ultralearning by Scott H. Young will set you up on a path of self-actualization and mastery. The book offers a practical system that will show you how to master gigantic tasks in a short period of time.

The Core Idea:

Instead of spending weeks soaking up facts that will get you nowhere, Scott Young focuses on execution. He claims that everything can be learned in a shorter time frame than you think. Ultralearning is the manuscript that will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on tuition fees, and not only. The book explains how you can use technology to master hard skills in a fraction of the time mentioned by bureaucratic institutions.

5 Key Lessons from Ultralearning:

Lesson #1: We Falsely Think That Learning Things Should Happen Only in Schools

Instead of enrolling in college for four years and asking the bank to pay for the tuition, the author chose to do something else. He decided to accelerate the time needed to get an MIT degree by learning the material all by himself.

The result?

A degree, crowds cheering on Reddit, and people around the world offering jobs.

This is how the ultralearning journey began for the author. And it all started with the realization that you don’t necessarily have to enroll in college to learn something new. You can create your own learning schedule to master a particular topic.

Based on the stories in the book, it will not only take you less time but it will also cost you a fraction of what you’d otherwise have to pay if you enroll in college.

Sadly, this is not how we’re taught.

The general population is certain that you can’t understand anything, at least not proficient enough, if you don’t enroll in expensive colleges and listen to lectures for hours.

That’s not what the author thinks, though. According to him, everything can be learned, fast, if you’re willing to create your own learning schedule.

This is what he wrote after successfully completing his now-famous MIT Challenge: “For years, I had thought the only way to learn things deeply was to push through school. Finishing this project taught me not only that this assumption was false but that this alternate path could be more fun and exciting.”

Instead of collecting loans and spending half a decade in the classroom, in the book, Scott Young is suggesting to create your own schedule.

The world is changing and the institutions we previously used to master skills are becoming redundant. Nowadays, to stay competitive in the ever-changing world you need to realize these 3 things:

1. Our understanding of learning is flawed.
2. We should create our own learning schedule for the things we want to master.
3. Learning anything we want it’s a lot more fun when we focus on 2.

Technology has made learning easier than ever, yet tuition costs are exploding. A four-year degree used to be an assurance of a decent job. Now it is barely a foot in the door. The best careers demand sophisticated skills that you’re unlikely to stumble upon by chance.” Scott H. Young