korrents

What Scott H. Young thinks about education

@scott-h-young · 22 positions · 2 changes of mind

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.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

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.

6 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Scott H. Young has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingYou cannot learn from work you did not do yourself.

    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

    Interesting

  3. Our reading · no longer heldStruggling with a hard problem before being shown the answer is not always the best way to learn; a hint or a worked example can beat floundering.

    Recalls holdingIf you had asked me this question in the lead up to my 2019 book, Ultralearning, I would have said no. I was a strong advocate for doing hard problem solving and the associated mental effort it requires as a way to learn difficult skills.

    SaidGetting help, whether it’s in the form of a worked example, a completion problem or just a hint to get you unstuck, can be faster for learning than floundering.

    ↗We Need Guidelines for Learning and AIscotthyoung.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting
  4. 8 weeks earlier

  5. Our readingGeneral problem-solving ability is neither learned nor taught; what transfers has to be taught explicitly rather than discovered through projects.

    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

    Interesting

  7. Our readingWhenever 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

    Interesting

  9. Our readingA better school looks more like the old-fashioned schoolhouse than like project work; the more school resembles free play, the worse it gets.

    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

    Interesting

  11. Our readingGamified learning is medicine wrapped in candy, and in practice children eat the candy and throw the medicine away.

    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

    Interesting