How to Know?

There are multiple ways to “know” about something you like or enjoy doing - join a class, enroll in a course, surf the web, talk to peers, get a mentor, and so on.

Getting to know about something is not a problem. In this internet age of abundance of information sometimes in the form of misinformation, disinformation, and more is not an issue. That was a problem of the past.

Digesting what you know and using it to make the right decisions is what helps in situations.

When you are in a client meeting, knowing all the relevant details of the problem at hand helps in quicker resolution, while at others with the potential permutations and combinations arriving at the right solution can be tricky leading to analysis paralysis.

Trusting your instincts to make a judgment is what matters then.

Learn to leverage what information is worth keeping and which ones you need to let go of.

Another interesting concept in the Computer Science and Engineering world is Garbage in Garbage out (GIGO) - It is a terminology in which for any system, the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input.

The system in this context is your brain ingesting information as input and it then determines the quality of the results you produce as output.

Knowing is important, but what is worth knowing? and what can be discarded is equally important to understand the scale of how the universe operates.

In an ideal situation, one should know it all either by doing or observing. But only a few can firstly know it all and then also live with what they know.

Many abuse what they know over others for their benefit while some are burdened by what they know, only the greats can live with it in peace.

Thus Knowledge is Power.

Knowing often ties back to the information stored in one’s head. Your brain has a way of archiving information that is always available upon request and pops up once you travel the narrow path of information and can backtrack and recollect the moment.

Reading the same self-help book in high school and as an adult in your 30s will provide you with different and often deeper insights as you can connect the dots better from actually doing something similar or by just observation.

Do

Learning by doing has been the gateway to figuring things out. Getting things done is necessary but not in all contexts. In work, you will have to get things done, and your finesse in getting things done helps you succeed in the career jungle.

The experience of going through a 0 -1 journey helps break a lot of assumptions and puts you in touch with ground reality. As you make mistakes you realize the impact of a misstep helping you avoid it in the future.

With the power of doing you come across experiences that are unique to you and someone observing them from the outside can only get to a few layers.

An accurate depiction still might not be possible all the time as there are too many variables at play for better or for worse when you are doing something for the first time. A good coach might teach you the right way and get you to pursue swimming while the same good coach on a bad day can make to hate and leave the sport entirely.

Doing things and doing them right has a lot of factors at play.

Predicting how a startup might perform from the outside can be judged basis of the external factors available that one can control, but the real magic only happens on the inside where micro decisions define whether a startup will be able to raise for the next round or not.

Similarly watching a YouTube video about Antarctica doesn’t mean an expedition you’ve carried out yourself. Sure, the video prepares you to set foot in Antarctica, but it is the experience of doing all the work to get to Antarctica and finally being there that will give you satisfaction and true understanding.

Unless your only goal is to consume and be at peace with just the mere visuals of the location and ingest the experience as one of your own which is fair.

But whatever it is, Just Do It.

Observe

Even though learning by doing is the talk of the town, sometimes you can learn in greater depth about something just by observation and sheer curiosity.

Observation truly is a superpower once you learn to tame it. With observation, you are attached and detached at the same time while also having the ability to process at great depth and come out with conclusions that can be true through the sheer capacity of your instincts.

Observing sometimes also fools you by giving you a sense of fulfillment of actually doing while having done nothing.

By observing all you are doing is trying to be part of someone else’s doing and calling it your own.

This can go both ways, you’re inspired by what you’ve seen with others and trying to recreate it for yourself. Thus turning your observation into reality by doing the work.

We all observe, reflect, and interpret in our heads. As we age and learn to understand people, their behavior, and how they work and function the patterns of society also become clearer and the dots connect as to how people grow and behave the way they do.