Day #30 | Learn the basics first
There is a wrong belief that you can get far fast without basic understanding.
People like to think they are outliers while in reality there are not. This is not a movie, this is real life.
You can’t just pick something up and expect abnormal outcomes.
Are you telling me that somebody who just picked up a pen can immediately write a book?
Maybe.
But again, we are talking about the general population and not outliers.
So the general population are not geniuses, let’s be real. Else we would be living in a utopia.
Geniuses can pick up the ball and start scoring without learning the basics. (Or they naturally understand the basics). But the general population doesn’t.
What do they need to do then? Well, I think that they need to have a strong understanding and experience in the basics of their domain.
They need to understand how the game works, how the scoring works, how to move the body, and more basics.
In my field, software engineers should have an understanding that programming on the basic level is about zeros and ones. (Yes or no. Do this or that. Allocate here or there. Move or stay. etc.)
Without understanding the basic rules of the domain, you will be ending up as a copycat. Copycats are like the following:
‘Oh, person X just did this to achieve a similar goal, so I just do the same. ‘
The copycat never identified the reason why person X did something. Nor did the person grasp the solution which can all can be deconstructed if you have a solid basic understanding.
I’m sure in other domains there are basics that define the foundations of the domain knowledge.
Another example is math where it comes down to letters, numbers, and assignments. (x + y = z, you assign what x and y are and the values of them, which result in z.)
Nobody is going to learn calculus first without understanding arithmetic.
Nobody is going to learn a software framework without understanding code.
Nobody is going to write a book without understanding language.
Once you have a true understanding of the basics, your growth will be smoothened out no matter what you do.
Learning and practicing the basics take time and experience. I don’t even think I understand all the basics of software programming or writing for that matter.
But I’m trying either way cause I know I’m not an outlier or genius.
