andrethompson-atlow Goto Github PK

Welcome to my Github Profile!

My name is Andre Thompson and i'm a Fullstack Software Engineer. I have passion for meditation, computer science, language, math and engineering. The philosophical systems I connect with most are stoicism, skeptical empiricism and optimistic nihilism. I strive to learn new things every day and challenge myself to do something new as often as possible.

• 🌱 I'm currently learning spanish, vim and refreshing my pre-calculus/calculus skills.

• ⚡ My favorite quote: "It's... Internet withdrawal... A really bad case... I haven't logged on in days...!" - Atsuro Kihara

• 😄 Pronouns: He/Him

• ⚡ Fun fact: If you want to learn something deeply & efficiently, try to utilize the following techniques:

  1. Form to Leave Form.

     - Practice a technique or concept until it's ingrained in your sub-conscious and can be performed without thinking. You can now simplify the concept/technique into one single concept instead of a series of steps/collection of ideas. This concept/technique is now a single building block in the overall structure that you will create. Note: I do mean practice, not study. You may need to study before practicing as well, but nothing can be truly learned in a vacuum.
  2. Pareto Principle.

     - Statistically speaking all input/output systems that stem from natural processes are likely to have imbalances. These imbalances take the form of certain inputs affecting a greater range of outputs than others. Identify these inputs that garner the most outputs and analyze them. If a certain input brings the most negative outputs, avoid it. If it brings the most positive outputs, prioritize it. If something has little affect overall, ignore it.
  3. Deliberate Practice.

     - Don't just play the same song over and over again, don't use the same chess openings every time and don't keep studying the same words in your target language endlessly. It's easy to confuse practice for deliberate practice, thinking that any time dedicated to improvement is equally valuable, but it's simply not true. You need to chunk your work into sub tasks/concepts and learn them in order.
  4. Feedback Loop.

     - Don't just do something over and over until you finally get it right, because you're actually internalizing *bad habits* if you do. You need some kind of feedback loop, some way to know if what you did was right/wrong and why. You then need to correct your behavior based on that feedback.
  5. Bring it all together.

     - Break the task/concept/skill into smaller chunks, analyze which chunks provide the greatest rewards and which ones are less useful. Prioritize going through them in order of greatest value --> least value. Eventually you may not even need to do the lower value tasks conciously and may well just pick them up naturally. Use a feedback loop to master a chunk in order to apply Form to Leave Form. Every practice session should be deliberate and follow this plan. You can still practice in a more casual/fun way, but don't count it towards your practice-- it's recreation.