#39 Knowledge transfer and time collapse

ByLukas
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Knowledge transfer always implies time collapse. Because learning an insight from someone else usually takes less long than figuring it out yourself.

Take books. The writer usually spent considerable time researching and distilling the topic and coming to good insights (time I might not be able to dedicate).

Thanks to that writer, I can now consume that knowledge in, say 6-12 hours of reading the book. A considerable time collapse…

But when does time collapse go to far?

Can I read a 1-page summary of that book and truly say I grasp the topic?

When your brain gets space to breathe, knowledge grows and nuance shows. It needs time and repeated exposure to absorb information, make connections, and discover new insights.

So a one-page summary isn’t necessarily too shallow… On the contrary: it collapses time so much that information becomes very dense.

What with the evolution towards short-form online content? The primary purpose of TikTok videos and Instagram reels might be to entertain, but the trend is clear and spills over into education, our attention span, and knowledge transfer: shorter, more shallow, yet more dense.

Too little time collapse and we can’t make progress.
Too much time collapse and knowledge collapses with it.

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    Performance gap: the frustrating gap between the way you know something should be done in an ideal world and the way you currently do it.

    I know I should write daily blog posts in advance so I have a buffer in case something comes up and I don’t get to write. Yet here I am, writing this daily insight hours before the publication date.

    I know what the perfect downward-facing dog pose in yoga looks like. Yet when I perform it myself, I am far off from that ideal pose.

    I know all the ingredients that make up a solid, convincing speech. Yet when I write one myself, I am only able to incorporate a few of those ingredients.

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    You don’t have to master this today.

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    #35 Why time speeds up and the world become blurry

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    The first hour after I was born, 60 minutes encapsulated my entire life outside the womb.

    An hour is an eternity.

    When I celebrated my first trip around the sun, one year encapsulated my entire life outside the womb.

    An hour is not that long anymore. But a year… that’s an eternity.

    When I’ll celebrate my 30th birthday next year, one year encapsulates about 1/30th of my experience in this body here on earth.

    A year is not that long anymore. But 30 years… that’s an eternity.

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    There’s an absolute, immutable version of time, and then there’s our felt interpretation, which speeds up with every passing moment because we compare it to all the “time we’ve lived so far”.

    Maybe that’s why the older we get, the more effort it takes to stay in the present moment?

    Because, unlike a newborn child, for whom, compared to its short lifespan, an hour is an eternity, and every second is an opportunity to discover, drink in the world, explore…

    We’ve lived so many hours, minutes, and seconds that we don’t care anymore.

    with every passing year
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    and at last
    i hear you again.

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    #226 Making all the selves get along

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    “Is this really important right now?” I ask myself, as another distraction passes through my head.

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    “No? Can you come back later then, at a more appropriate time? Thank you very much.”

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    “Is this really a life-threatening event?” I ask myself, as another anxiety-inducing thought intrudes my mind.

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    On with life he goes.

    If only it were that easy, my friend.

    The distracted, anxious, worried mind tends to fight back. I’m taking the liberty to assume you’ve also noticed that at some point in your life.

    Nevertheless, I believe we can, nay, we must fight back.

    Not that I’m advocating suppression.

    Excited, worried, sanguine, anxious, passionate, defeated: let them have their moment of attention – at the appropriate time.

    Maybe it’s all about the art of making all the selves get along?

    I imagine the old wise man, who has mastered that art.

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    Writing every day won’t always help you achieve your greatest desires.

    But it might help you lose them — when you realize that what you really wanted was not the outcome, but the feeling of consciously choosing who you want to be, and consciously acting in alignment with that choice.

    Once the desires have fallen away, all that remains is the fulfillment every day.

    You can relax now.

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