Written by a troll for humans to get better.
Every link below contains free information, no purchase neccessary. If you think it's not free, you didn't read all the way through.
The most common questions I field involve technical topics, typically involving programming. The number of people trying to leverage short videos and ChatGPT to build software without any foundational knowledge is stagering. Many of these people tend to have no foundational knowledge and are almost mentally adverse to even bothering to put in the effort to get good. To these people, all I can tell say is "skill issues" because they don't even bother putting in the effort to just learn the basics.
Many years ago I got some sage advice from a semi-famous rapper, "read a book". If you can't find the humor in the messaging, I think you might have missed the point and need another watch.
Some cliff notes about things one should know in general.
- Reading is a skill. Don't feel bad if you are a slow reader or have trouble reading. You will get better at it with time spent doing it.
- Shortcuts will only lead to foundational knowledge gaps. It doesn't matter if it's programming, math, art, cooking, or music. To put it in cooking terms, following a recipie doesn't teach you why you sautee, it just tells you that you need to.
- Someone that isn't comfortable with reading can not be an effective programmer. Programming literally involves the act of reading. Code is just a fancy word for "written computer words".
- There is literally 2000 years worth of written knowledge, most of which will likely never be turned into a video to be watched. That means the knowledge is only accessible to those that practice the skill.
- Use tools like videos and ChatGPT as supplements. They are great for reinforcing knowledge, but suffer from different pitfalls.
- Nobody started off as a good reader and anyone who tells you otherwise is mistaken about their own history. Language is learned, not inheret.
Perhaps try thinking like a computer scientist:
- Think Python - 2nd Edition - Has a downloadable PDF that explains programming.
- Think Python - 3rd Edition - Is fully consumable via browser.
- Think++
- Think Java
Nothing worth doing is really easy, but there is much joy to be had in the undertaking of things worth doing.