How a BRILLIANT professor tricked his students into learning anything

Well, that switched on earlier than I was expecting. Hello, my dears. There's a way of learning that for centuries has outperformed all others. Whether you want to write, draw, play the piano, master a sport, or just make a shepherd's pie, this method will help you transform from a novice to an expert. From Aristotle to Zadei Smith, great minds throughout history have used it to master their craft, and they still do. But it's also worked for someone like me more than once. Today, I'm going to show you what it is and how to use it and why it might change the way you learn forever. The first day of Jerry Olsman's photography class at the University of Florida was different. He stood at the front of the lecture hall and stared at the students. Silence filled the room and then he spoke. I want to split you into two groups. If you're on the left side of the room, you're in group A. Everyone else in group B. The students didn't know it at the time, but Jerry was performing a little experiment on them. And his results reveal a profound insight into how we learn, how creativity works, and how to harness it. When I was in my teens, I stumbled upon this way of learning completely by chance. And in the situations where I applied it, the results were exceptional. It took my math scores from D's to A's and my piano playing from novice to grade seven in about 18 months. But I never quite worked out how to apply it in other areas of learning, which was stupid really because the method is simple. Not easy, but simple. As you'll see when you discover what happened next with Jerry's students. Jerry told the class he was going to grade the two groups differently. Group A were the quantity group and was to be graded only on the amount of work they produced. If their submitted assignments contained a 100 photos, they get an A, 90, a B, 80, a C, and so on. Quality just didn't matter. Group B, however, had an entirely different task. They had to submit just one photo, but it had to be of the highest quality. The grade would be judged solely on the quality of the image. The closer to perfection, the higher the final grade. After the deadline, Jerry looked through the work and he noticed something. Something I'm guessing he suspected all along. I'm pretty sure that's why he devised the experiment in the first place. But there it was, impossible to miss. Group A, the quantity group, produced better photos. Their work scored higher on both measures, quantity and quality. Even though quality was not their goal, they beat the group that pursued it. Why did that happen? And what can we learn from Jerry's experiment? Well, at the time, group B were theorizing over what makes a good photo. Group A were taking photos. And because they knew they weren't going to be judged on the quality of their work, they were free to experiment with composition, with lighting, with subject, and all of the other skills that are needed to take good photos. Jerry Olsman did them a massive favor. And I have sympathy for group B because they were probably fearful of failure and gripped by the paralysis that that can create. I know what that's like. It's why I have so many books on learning. When I'm trying to learn something new, I I have a tendency to overressearch and overread, which just puts off getting started. So, what can you take away from this? If you want to become good at something, you have to practice it as much as possible. Spend more time practicing than reading about it. You need theoretical knowledge, but more time spent doing it will yield greater dividends much faster. If you want to write, write. Don't read about writing. And that applies to everything. But there is a caveat. In my teens, I unknowingly used this method twice, learning maths and music. It was unbelievably successful, but there was more to it than just repeatedly doing something. The first requirement was motivation. In both cases, I was highly motivated to learn. My maths teacher at school was an unpleasant man and would spend most of our lessons telling me how bad I was. I wanted to prove him wrong. That was my motivation. And my motivation for the piano was more positive. All the beautiful pieces of music that I wanted to play. That's the first requirement. The second, through good luck, I found two fantastic teachers. They gave me the feedback. I needed to improve. This lesson seems so obvious that it doesn't need to be said. Of course, doing something repeatedly with feedback will make us improve. It was obvious to Michelangelo who said, "If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all." But many people, me included, don't often take this approach. We fear we don't have the talent. We compare ourselves with other people. We fill ourselves with so much self-doubt that in the end we give up, convince ourselves we're not capable, and move on to something else. But what I'm saying in this video is trust in the process. It works. And in case you're wondering, the story about Jerry Olsman at the University of Florida is true. It was first shared, I think, in this book by David Bales and Ted Orland. Yes, it's another book on learning, although in the book they changed it, instead making it about pottery. Atomic Habits author James Clear contacted Bales and Orland to ask whether it was a real story and that's when they revealed it was actually about Osman. Although their book is about creating art, there's a lot of advice that's useful for learning any skill. And I like this one. Even talent is really distinguishable over the long run from perseverance and lots of hard work. Whatever you want to learn, start today. Use this process and see where you are one month, 3 months, 12 months from now. You will astound yourself. The science of learning has discovered the most effective learning techniques. They involve making your brain engage with the underlying concepts. And that's why I want to tell you about brilliant.org, the sponsor of this video. Brilliant helps you get smarter every day with thousands of interactive lessons in math, science, programming, data analysis, and AI. Would you like to become a better thinker? Well, with Brilliant, you can. Brilliant lessons require hands-on problem solving. You have to think your way to a solution using the concept and knowledge you gain from the lesson. Learning little and often is another very powerful evidence-b technique. Brilliant takes advantage of that too by encouraging you to build that habit. Brilliant helps you get smarter in minutes a day. 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To try Brilliant free, visit https://brilliant.org/PythonProgrammer/ You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. I love the story of University of Florida professor Jerry Uelsmann, for me it's a fantastic reminder to keep going when I feel like giving up. I have a Substack where I post (occasionally!) about insights and thoughts on learning. It's free http://gilesknowledge.substack.com/ Learn How to Learn - My new course on learning will teach you the most effective evidence based learning techniques and practices. Sign up here: https://courses.giles.how/offers/kUVqktk5 And if you'd like to support my on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gilesmcmullen English: Jerry Uelsmann was at Carnegie Hall , NY, in October 2015 to give a speech and accept a Lucie Award in Fine Arts Photography https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerry_Uelsmann_at_Lucie_Awards_2015.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International 📱 Social Media https://www.instagram.com/gilesmcmullen/ https://twitter.com/GilesMcMullen 👌 SUBSCRIBE to ME!👌 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68KSmHePPePCjW4v57VPQg?sub_confirmation=1