Skip to main content

From amateur learning 1

There is a big difference in learning something in an amateur way and learning it in a "professional" way. And by professional, I dont mean, learning it in a way so as to make money out of it. When I say professional, I mean, learning it from a coach than by learning it yourself. Or learning it the right way is perhaps a better way to put it.

We all learn to play badminton for instance. The way we play is an antithesis to way it is played in a "real" game. In the way we learn, the objective is to hit the shuttle at the player -so that the amateur game does not get spoilt by having to pick up the shuttle. Also remember, most of the time, the amateur game is played not on real courts, but just a few lines that define the boundaries. And really, we are playing, "goodminton" not badminton - where the objective is to keep the shuttle in play, not outwit your opponent. You play this way for a few years and then by chance hit the courts for a "real" game and then realize that the whole idea of the game is to outwit the opponent which in turns means that you hit "cross" or "away" from your opponent is standing. The objective is to outwit your opponent by tiring him and making him run cross court (which is the longest distance).

Take Scrabble for instance. Scrabble, when played in the amateur fashion is all about making long words and creating as many opportunities for each other to "join" words. Yes, you will try and block some of the scoring opportunities, but the thrill is about making long words. And yes, dont think of making 2 and 3 letter words - they are for sissies. And then you realize that "pro" Scrabble is exactly the other way round. You dont necessarily make long words - the idea is to use those 2-3 letter words and create a lot of "joining" opportunities with those small words and crowd your opponent out of the scoring tiles and use them yourself.

A lot of times, the transition from amateur to professional happens in ones own minds when you figure out that you can win by using these techniques. It is apparent, but not quite obvious at first sight.

Part of the answer is in the fact that when you play as an amateur, you play for fun. When you play as a pro, you play for fun too, but the fun is in winning through strategy. More on this!
Labels:

Comments

  1. KoushiksMarch 27, 2012 at 10:43 AM

    It depends on what is the purpose of learning , i may never want to learn scrabble if I have to use words like Yo and Xi...any day prefer the joy of a 7 letter 50 point bonus word (once got Rhythms and was gloating for ages) .... and the sheer elation of a well aimed smash on your opponent... am glad i did not learn these things 'professionally'

    ReplyDelete
  2. NeelearningMarch 28, 2012 at 7:07 AM

    And what are your thoughts on stuff that you did learn "professionally?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Be Civil. Make nice!

Popular posts from this blog

Zero to One

Zero to One by Peter Thiel is a nice read. (Yes - if I sit down to write a book review - the book has to be worth it - and usually good - so most of my book reviews are about good books.You can stop here if that's the information you seek.) Where this book scores is in contrarian thoughts and contrarian questions that make you think. It starts with a four big lessons learned from the 90s dot-com crash that is, Make incremental advances, Stay lean and flexible, Improve on the competition and Focus on product, not sales. Just as you warm up to it, he says, the opposite rules are more correct - which are: It is better to risk boldness than triviality. A bad plan is better than no plan. Competitive markets destroy profits. Sales matters just as much as products. And finally leaves with a simple definition of contrarianism - it is not to oppose the crowd (or follow a smaller or newer or older crowd) but to think for yourself. "All happy companies are different"...
Post a Comment
Read more

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Anti networking year

I dont usually go out of my way to network. But over the last few years, I ensured that I spend some time creating new connections. It is a small fragment of my time that goes into it, but what I realised was that some of those networking events were not really working out. I also took time to post about the things I do (mostly on Linkedin) and here (nobody reads this - this is more of a note to myself).  It seemed to be the same set of people saying the same set of things. So, this year I have decided to step back.  Unless it is a truly unique event, I wont be going to any event - and thats how the unconference happened.  Unless it is a really significant update, I wont be posting about it.  And spend time creating and doing the things I like to do. Perhaps read more. Or write more. It is April now and I have done well so far.  Managed to read a few books. Actively working on a few creations. And then some. Lets see.  So for all I know, I might write less ...
Post a Comment
Read more