Scott H. Young
Canadian writer on learning who taught himself MIT's computer-science curriculum in a year, then spent the following year travelling through Spain, Brazil, China and Korea trying not to speak English. Author of Ultralearning.
Scott H. Young did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
Filter All topics · Newest first
-
Their wordsBut having AI do your homework is self-defeating. You can’t learn without doing the work.
↗We Need Guidelines for Learning and AIscotthyoung.com 1st of 4 in this piece
-
Their wordsAsking an AI for help with the start of an essay, for instance, will invariably shape what direction you end up following, robbing you of the crucial experience of building your own judgement around a topic and selecting your own path to research and argue.
↗We Need Guidelines for Learning and AIscotthyoung.com 3rd of 4 in this piece
-
Their wordsAI has the potential to assist with both the first and last element of that loop. What it cannot replace is the middle step—doing the work for yourself.
↗We Need Guidelines for Learning and AIscotthyoung.com 4th of 4 in this piece
- 8 weeks earlier
-
Their wordsGeneral problem solving abilities are neither learned nor taught. While some problem-solving methods have broader applicability than others (such as the scientific process of hypothesis testing), students learn these methods better when they’re explicitly taught rather than simply giving students projects and hoping they’ll reinvent them on their own.
↗Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionize Schoolingscotthyoung.com 1st of 5 in this piece
-
Our reading
Whenever two teaching methods are rigorously compared, strong direct instruction plus practice wins.
Their wordsIn short, whenever we have high-quality evidence that rigorously compares two teaching methods, the research invariably favors strong, direct instruction plus practice
↗Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionize Schoolingscotthyoung.com 2nd of 5 in this piece
-
Their wordsTo the extent that school becomes more like free play, project-building or acting like a scientist, it will probably be worse.
↗Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionize Schoolingscotthyoung.com 3rd of 5 in this piece
-
Their wordsThe boring truth is that expertise in most subjects is largely a matter of having an enormous library of knowledge and skill.
↗Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionize Schoolingscotthyoung.com 4th of 5 in this piece
-
Their wordsGamified learning is a bit like wrapping medicine in candy. Yes, it may help some students swallow some instruction they otherwise find bitter, but in practice it’s easy to pull off the candy, consume it, and throw the medicine away.
↗Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionize Schoolingscotthyoung.com 5th of 5 in this piece
- 6 months earlier
-
Their wordsKnowledge is dead if it’s not in your head.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 1st of 6 in this piece
-
Their wordsVery often, learning skills that are automated in practice is a necessary stepping stone to cultivating uniquely human skills.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 2nd of 6 in this piece
-
mental modelsvibe codingAI and human skill
Their wordsThe answer, I believe, is not too different from before: if you want to learn to code, you need to start by creating programs by hand.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 3rd of 6 in this piece
-
AI and human skilllanguage learning
Their wordsSimilarly, AI translation will prevent you from learning to speak another language, AI summaries will block you from really understanding the arguments laid out in a book, and AI analyses of your personal problems will make it harder for you to think through solutions to your own problems.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 4th of 6 in this piece
-
Their wordsLearning requires an investment of effort, and AI will make us stupider if that effort is avoided.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 5th of 6 in this piece
-
Their wordsThus my personal prediction is that in domains that are already largely under the powers of modern AI, such as languages, programming or chess, we’re going to see a divergence in human abilities.
↗Will AI Make Us Stupid?scotthyoung.com 6th of 6 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
-
Our reading
In a world changing this fast it is better to have broad interests than to be an extreme specialist.
Their wordsIn an environment of change, it’s better to be the hardy dandelion rather than the hothouse orchid.
↗What's Still Worth Learning in a World With AI?scotthyoung.com
- 7 weeks earlier
-
Their wordsThe value of research is usually in telling you which of two plausible theories is true, or which advice from different, seemingly sensible approaches works best.
↗12 Things I Changed My Mind About After Researching for Foundationsscotthyoung.com 1st of 2 in this piece
-
Their wordsReading is attentional, not just informational.
↗12 Things I Changed My Mind About After Researching for Foundationsscotthyoung.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 years earlier
-
Their wordsFor starters, it’s abundantly clear that both practice and instruction are necessary for effective learning.
↗Do You Learn More by Struggling on Hard Problems?scotthyoung.com 1st of 2 in this piece
-
Their wordsPure discovery learning, where students are never shown instructions or examples, fails miserably.
↗Do You Learn More by Struggling on Hard Problems?scotthyoung.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 8 years earlier
-
Their wordsThe main takeaway I made from all of this was: Asian languages are hard, and attempting full-immersion without sufficient preparation is usually not going to work.
↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 1st of 4 in this piece
-
Their wordsThe no-English rule was largely what made the difference. Although there are many ways of learning a language, going for full immersion made it possible to learn what would have taken years in just a few months.
↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 3rd of 4 in this piece
-
Their wordsJust because we attempted to learn with intensity, doesn’t denigrate learning languages through slow, patient habit.
↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 4th of 4 in this piece