Learning Across Dimensions

Which learning dimension you are in right now?

Learning has multiple dimensions.

Let’s take an example of learning a new language:

• 1st Dimension (1D) is learning letters

• 2nd Dimension (2D) is when letters become words

• 3rd Dimension (3D) is when words become sentences

• 4th Dimension (4D) is when sentences have meaning and so on

Do you think a child can learn the meaning of sentences without understanding letters or words?

Let’s take another example of cooking:

• 1D is understanding different ingredients

• 2D is being able to follow a recipe and cook a dish

• 3D is being able to cook a recipe with minor modifications

• 4D is being able to create your own dish and so on

Do you think you could start cooking by creating your own dish first without understanding the different ingredients that are in it?

While self learning something, we often miss a couple of steps. We don’t know which learning dimension we in. In the process, we end up with:

• A feeling of imposter syndrome

• Quitting

• More time and effort

• Little progress

Structured learning helps in offsetting some of these. But does that mean all learning has to be structured?

Not exactly. But we do need to be aware of what learning dimension we are in at any given point.

So the next time you’re learning something on your own, here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

1. What is the 1st dimension?
   For whatever you’re learning try to find the alphabets first, the smallest unit that it is composed of

2. What does the path look like?
   Find the holy grail - Talk to an expert, read up on how experts gained mastery. As you reach different milestones, the path will get clearer - but it’s good to know what to expect

3. Where are you now?
   Ground yourself, figure out where you are right now. This will help you understand how far you still have to go

What do you think are the learning dimensions in what you are learning right now? Tell me, I’d love to hear from you!

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