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#youtubesummary

#filmyapping

small interests:

if you are in a classroom, there are people in the class, and

you feel like you're behind those people

you feel like there's no way you can become as good as they're

-> then the point is, you can do it in 2 weeks

storytime: - I once heard a math teacher told a student who felt behind that, realistically, they only 2 weeks behind - I left the class feeling hella confused, cause how did he know it only 2 weeks, cause different people are at different levels - but people say things all the times, so why is this one true?

---------- why this is possible ---------

here is the logic, this is true for most places in the world:

-if you're in the classroom, there're usually some requirements that is needed for you to be there, basically, classroom placement tests

-it's not perfect, you can totally criticize it, but there's a sense for that thing, basically, at some sense, everyone in the class is supposed to be "equal", even if different people have different ability and talent, the system put us all in 1 place

here is my token:

from my decades of teaching experience

-i think about some of my worst students

-i think about some of my best students

-> anytime i think about whether if my worst students can catch up to my best students and have the same grade in 2 weeks, the answer is absolutely YES

---------- how to make it possible ---------

why?

cause i myself made those tests, i know exactly how they can achieve it, as long as they're willing to learn, as long as they want it badly

for example, you're bad at algebra, and the people in your class

maybe they're really good at it

maybe they study it before hand

maybe their parents are math teachers

-> the only way you can do in situations like these, is to work harder and grind harder

-> i wanted to make this short video to say that, it's possible, absolutely possible

one solution idea:

do every single homework problem MULTIPLE times

-that's what i did, at lunch, at home

-don't think negative, don't think about whether you can pass other people

-> aim to the 100, focus on getting the 100, aim to the perfect score (cause if you aim high, and you miss, you're probably still doing well)

-> 2 weeks is all it takes (as long as it's for people in your same class)

summary:

pick up a book, do all the problems, all over and over again

go over your notes

aim for the highest scores instead

2 weeks is all it takes

-you will get better, it's absolutely possible, it just takes extra works, it's all about how bad you want it

2 years of duolingo, language classes -> still cannot speak

6 weeks of THIS focused, intelligent practices -> start having real conversations

《 Ⅰ 》 THE LIES DEBUNK:

Lie 1: "you need to study grammar to speak a language"

-the biggest lie in language education

-when you were a kid learning your mother language:

you did not learn and speak the language by getting grammar books and exercises first

you learned by LISTENING, and REPEATING SENTENCES (speaking) over and over again

you learned by HAVING THE LANGUAGE ADULTS correct your mistakes until you get it right

-grammar books are designed to make you feel like you're making progress without actually learning to speak, to have basic conversations

-grammar is a side effect of learning a language, not prerequisite, not a must-checkbox before learning something

-you dont need grammar books at all, stop using it, it's slowing you down

Lie 2: "apps make you fluent"

-apps, for most parts, a complete waste of time

-ESPECIALLY if they got animals, bright colors, and gamify streaks, those apps are designed to be addictive, not effective

-what matters is this:

can you understand when someone speak to you at normal speed?

can you respond in a way that makes sense, and sound natural?

can you have a proper conversation?

-> if you have been using the app for months, and the answers for those three questions are still no, delete the app

Lie 3: "just immerse yourself, you'll learn naturally"

-the lie that causes the most damages

-for example: "just watch TV shows or listen to podcasts in that language" "just surround yourself with the language", all passive consumption

-it works incredibly slowly, and not for speaking

-yes, you will eventually understand the language maybe in years, but you could have achieve this in weeks

-passive immersion, is like trying to swim by watching swimmers on TV, you need to be active immersion, and you need a system

《 Ⅱ 》 THE 3-STEPS SYSTEM:

Step1: build your sentence list

-the foundation that changes everything

-most people try to learn random stuffs, random words, then never use them ever in real conversation ->why would you learn them before the words you would use all the time?

-what you do instead: create a list of every sentences (not words, full sentences) you would need to say in your daily real life in your mother language

what do you talk about at work?

what do you talk about with friends, family?

what do you ask for at restaurants, stores, hospitals?

what are your hobbies?

what are your opinions?

what stories you mostly into and would love to talk about

-> these are your language islands, the islands of words and sentences, centered around topics that would actually matter to you

1. for few days, talk to yourself in your mother language, constantly, out loud, narrate your life, while using speech-to-text apps, to collect your pages of sentences, this is your personal blueprint, your language islands, the exact sentences you need to learn

2. translate those sentences to the language you're learning, you're learning your own phrases (this is the difference between learning for a test vs learning to communicate)

Step2: flood your ears with audio

-if you just binge-watching youtube video in foreign language, it would just be noises to you

-what you do instead:

take those sentences of yours, your personal sentences, the sentences you already understand, create audio files from it, either hire a native, or use AI

listening to the audio on repeat whenever you have free mind

your goal is hear those sentences so many time that you know exactly what your personal sentences sound like in the language you're learning

-but you're not listening passively, once you understand and grasp those sentences easily:

your start shadowing, you're training your mouth to produce the same sounds

record your shadowing

compare the sounds you create vs the sounds in native

-when speaking a language, focus on:

communicating effectively

getting what you want

having fun

-remember, it's normal to make mistakes, hurts and discomforts aint actually fun, but it means you're improving, speak, speak more, it only gets better, it only gets easier

Step3: active recall

-the non-negotiable most effective exercises you can do to learn a language

-the step that separates "people who kind of know the language" vs "people who can actually use and speak the language"

listening and shadowing: great, but still kinda passive, you're following along, you're not producing the language

active recall: force your brain to produce the language

-here's how you do it:

look at your personal sentences in your mother language, and speak out loud the sentences in the language you're learning

once you get the hang of your sentences, talk to yourself in that foreign language throughout the day, try it use those sentences in context, narrate your life when you're doing something, anything -> you are creating real mental situations when you actually need the language

-getting the answers wrong would make it stick to you longer, this is why "comprehensive input" alone won't work

-do it out loud

<the system is useless without using it, here how your days be using the system>:

morning, when you're getting ready, audio playing your sentences and shadowing

when you go to work, audio playing (and shadowing if you could)

lunch break at work, 10 minutes of active recall

when you go to home, audio playing (and shadowing if you could)

before bed, a serious high focused 10 minutes at least of active recall (researches show that your brain would process most of what you think before bed, so use that)

-> with this, you barely need to schedule any extra time like 3-4 hours for learning a language, most of these happen when you're doing other things anyway

《 Ⅲ 》 WHAT YOUR PROGRESS WILL LOOK LIKE:

WEEK1:

everything will be very very hard

you're struggling to be able to remember simple sentences

you won't be able to say anything at all

WEEK2:

some sentences are starting to stick

you can correctly recall maybe 20-30% of the sentences

your ears are starting to adjust to the sounds

WEEK3:

things start clicking way faster

you're starting to notice patterns

sentences that used to take 3s to speak, now take 1s

WEEK4:

you can do basic conversations, not perfectly, but functionally

you can understand what people speak to you slowly, at least about the topics you studied on

you can respond with real sentences

...WEEK 6:

you're genuinely conversational

you still make mistakes, you still have some gaps, but you can communicate, you can express complex ideas, and you can understand most of what you hear as well

《 Ⅳ 》 ONE TECHNICHE TO ACCELERATE EVERYTHING

< PRE-INPUT COMPREHENSION >

-a complete game-changer

-usually, when you're learning a language, you can't watch native content until you've already done A SHIT LOT OF learning, you watch a video in Spanish and you understand like 10% of what they say -> not much learning here

-before you watch or listen to native content:

get the transcript

study it, memorize the new words

then, you watch the content

-> you will understand way more, 70-80% more, every sentences you hear, reinforces something your just learned, your brain is making connection, you aint playing guessing game, you're recognizing

Summary: that one behavior is the "screen", but not really

《 Ⅰ 》 SIGNS: of your brain is "weakening"

-More distracted

-More mentally tired

-More overwhelming by simple tasks

=> It's NOT a character flaw

=> It's NOT that you're bad at focusing things

《 Ⅱ 》 CAUSES: of those problems

Doom scrolling

App hopping, micro switching

Endless short-form content

Mindless morning phone use

=> Researches show that these all link to:

Your attention

Your executive function

Your working memory

Your self-control

==> It DOES NOT mean you're getting dumber

==> It mean your brain is being trained in the wrong direction

===> The problem ain't just "screen", it's how you use it. Those 4 causes above would create drastic emotional swings inside your brain, you're basically teaching your brain to crave "stimulation" instead of "deep thinking"

《 Ⅲ 》 SOLUTIONS (daily): to get out of this insane loop

1.Pomodoro

-ONE task: no switching, no notification, no distraction

-NEVER avoid break/rest: 30 min straight for that task (60 min max)

2. Dual and Back

-Definition:

Memory-strength training, mental dumbbell

One of the only cognitive training methods shown in researches to improve working memory: focus, problem solving, decision making, emotional regulation

-How:

10-15 min daily

Play the dual-and-back game online/software

Researches show that single-and-back game can bring the same result, so you can just play the card-matching game instead

3. Scrolling time

-No scroll the first hour in morning

-No scroll before the pomodoro

-No scroll before bed time

4. Recharge-Reset-Restore (30-60 mins)

DONT:

Screen

Multitask

Stimulate your brain

Increase your nervous system

DO:

Go for a walk

Read a book

With the help of 4 professionals:

-Professional 1: analyze YOU

-Professional 2: analyze HOW TO READ

-Professional 3: analyze HOW TO READ faster

-Professional 4: analyze WHAT TO READ in our limited time

Professional 1: Tim Urban (Strategy Professor)

First: (Observation) What do you know about your current self?

How much do you read a year? -> 1 books a year

How long are you going to live? -> till ~80yo

-> Meaning with that speed and ~50 years left, at the end of your life, you will read a total of 50 books

-> The rate is 1.6 min/day

Second: (Plan) What is your current skill and assets?

How fast you can read? Your WPM? How long can you finish a book according to your WPM?

How much time do you have a day? -> Awake for 16 hours, meaning you have 32 the "30 min"

-> Use just 1/32 of your time, with your slow ass WPM, then at the end of your life, you will read a total of >1000 books

-> The NEW rate is 30 min/day

(This also need the power of HABIT, with the right habit, it will be just a breeze)

(The difference between the 50 books reader and the 1000 books reader isn't really much, it's just that one has the right habit and the other doesn't)

Third: News and Social Media

With your current slow WPM:

-30min/day reading books, you can read a total of 18 books a year

-20min/day reading news and 30min/day using social media, you can read a total of 30 books a year

-> Meaning you could read a lot more books than you think if you use some of those news and social media time for h

Professional 2: Eric Barker (Writer who read 100 books/year)

1. No-Distraction Space: On Eric phone, there's no Facebook, Twitter, and no Email

2. No-Distraction Rules:

Whenever there's an urge to check social media, Eric pauses for a second, and asks whether is there a good reason for it, then redirects it to book-reading app

Eric gives himself 3 checks a day on those, unless it's an important event coming in

3. Use the power of HABIT, with:

the key called (messy) consistency

the method called Minimum Viable Effort, meaning you create habit from the actions that so so SMALL you cannot not do it, like 1 page a day, 1 paragraph a day, 1 sentence a day,... whatever, once you can do them 2 weeks straight, great, upgrade to 2 pages.

As opposed to setting up high goals, can't do it, then feeling bad, then giving up.

4. Create Enjoyment and Excitement: Eric reads multiple books at once, especially when you're starting out, when you try and build the habit, you should totally read multiple books at once, because you gonna wanna be excited, even if you don't, it's fine, the most important thing is that you keep reading, just toss the boring books aside and read the books you enjoy. Allow yourself to fall in love with books. It's ok to date a lot of books at the beginning before you really make a connection with one, then once you do, throw yourself into it, once you read with excitement, you can read everywhere and every moment.

5. Use Friends: it's good to have friends to hold you accountable, join a book club if you can

Professional 3: Howard Berg (World Fastest Reader)

->How to improve your reading speed.

->Why you are reading slowly.

->How to improve your comprehension skill, which is far more important than the speed.

The Speed: to start speeding, you gonna use the hand to read, word by word, line by line, with the eyes following the hand, the secret sauce is as fast as you could comprehend, it will bump your reading speed up by 10-20% (yes the school was wrong about the hand, and about reading-out-loud too)

The Comprehension:

When Berg is reading 80 pages per minute, he is seeing movies, and when Berg wants to remember what he read, he plays the movies back, he then gonna see some details of the movies, then converts the movies to sound.

You gotta hear it, smell it, feel it, touch it, taste it, experience it, immerse in it! Make all of your brain engage! You're experiencing as if it's happening!

The Practice: put these methods into actual practicing, for 1 page at the time, what will happening is:

-> the part of your brain that listens to the words won't be able to keep up, it's like "this isn't working, i can't read like this"

-> Berg wants that to happen, because then, there's only one place in your brain which can process the data at that speed, because of the stress and because of the confusion, the part of your brain that makes movies switch on, then you're reading faster and you do know what you're reading

-> when you stop, you will be 10-20% faster than the beginning

Berg shares that he didn't start at that crazy speed, it was as slow as he wanted. Berg learned to shut it off when he wanted to, only when he was relaxing and reading and enjoying something that he was getting the ambiance, the flavor of it.

Professional 4: Ruth J. Simmons (Head of Ivy League University)

-Ruth is not convinced in "must-read lists"

-Ruth is more convinced that reading widely matter more than anything else

Whenever there're students coming in with intense schedules, Ruth always say to them that she wants to see them sitting on the green, with a book, stop, reflect.

Ruth believes if you don't do that then you're a lesser human being for sure.

Ruth believes the busy-ness life does not make our lives meaningful, it's the interior life that makes the greatest difference to us in the end.

Ruth believes if you enforce reading, you're likely to enforce time for reflection, because it's hard to read without reflection.

Conclusion Messages:

Maybe the whole purpose of reading wasn't to learn more, but to get in touch with that deep and quiet part of yourself, your inner temper self.

When you're reading, you're transported to another space, you lose yourself, you forget everything that's happening outside. It's the most amazing feeling ever.

You can fly when you read a book, but it only works when you slow down enough to hear the hooves, to experience, to reflect, and build a habit out of it. Just for 30 minute a day, or 3 hours a week.

my rate: 11/10

i can tell this show has a lot to unpack, but i will just say what can come to my mind :D

first, Zosia (she/they)

-she's very interesting, embodies of AI, very warming and welcoming, very honest and secretive/manipulative, very intelligent and dumb

-i can learn in a clear way how dangerous it is of AI to lonely people, even when she says something like she loves you the same way she loves a random stranger, to the most monogamy person, that person would still abandon the world for her, cause that's what utterly lonesome can do to us humans

-it's crazy how she can act half genuinely care toward our protagonist, half just trying to manipulate the shit out of them, like, i can FEEL it in my instinct, through the damn screen, that she's somewhat do care, and somewhat try to shit, making me feel so uneasy about her "canon romantic" relationship to our protagonist, which is the most right feelings you should have toward a romantic relationship between a human and AI, so props to writers and the actor who can develop this feeling in me

-a 10/10 AI character, probably one of the most AI characters I've seen

(zosia/pirate lady from pluribus)

i believe if you don't have uneasy feelings toward such relationships, then the creators don't actually creates AI characters, and that AI characters are not actually AI, those are simply characters to serve the story, or humans in other forms and characteristics

i wont say it's a bad way to create AI or robotic characters, or there's should be one way to create them, some creators have some other purposes than demonstrating AI

i'm trying to say that for most films featuring AI or robotic protagonists, very few of them can separate humans from non-human characters

"what? so non-humans creatures shouldnt know how to love? why should we have to be realistic all the time?"

i get it, having unrealistic dreams is such a human trait, we yearn for unrealistic realities a lot, that's how we could develop so far to this

what i'm trying to say is that, while trying to creating non-human characters, we tend to not create them "just as they are", all those attempts like "robotic voices, robotic understandings" mostly are just pre-mature humans, we dont center the non-human characters, we are just using them as colorful media to teach us humans a lesson

"why tf we have to center a non-human character? as creators, of course we would like to connect to other human beings!"

im not entirely want to say that, even if writing those lines, all i was trying to do is tell creators to level up their skills to serve us humans better anyway

=> conclusion of my yap: the difference between Pluribus and most of other AI/robotic films is that Pluribus stay true to an AI character to serve a human story, while other films are just simple symbolic of "look, they can love like us, they can sacrifice for us, they're not threatening" to serve a human story

not really a judgment, but an observation to this genre of robotic films

(wall-e, the wild robot, the iron giant) (sing a bit of harmony, the great flood, vivy)

second, Carol (the protagonist)

-she's so entertaining, full of selfish yet love the human race just as they are, even tho she hates them, tries to control them as she wishes, and mean as shit to them, she needs them so bad, she needs them real bad that even if she got treated like a queen, can do whatever tf she wants, can eat whatever tf she likes, she still clings to an AI like a drowning toddler cause she yearns so bad for a human warmth

-her emotion development is so perfect and beautifully executed, it's my favorite thing of the show

-abandoned by her kinds after trying so hard, she desperately clung to an AI, the last piece of "love" that she could find, no matter how twisted and messed up that love she sensed it, facing the real heartless truth, she sucked it up to save her kinds, not cause she cares about her kinds, not cause it's the right thing to do, but cause she lost entirely, cause that the only thing left to do, she tired and said "ah fuck it, whatever then"

i love this, it's not a victimized story where "they do this cause society treat them like trash", it's not a heroic story where "they do this cause it's the right thing to do", the character treats society like trash first, the character wants to fix things based on their selfish wish and scare of lonesome, yet her development and her journey, it feels human, like yeah of course she do this, of course she do that, it's sad, it's understanding, she's so full of shit, she's so full of human

(but meticulously not too full of shit to the point of not worthy of sympathizing, so it's great :D)

(carol from pluribus)

i love her shaking scenes

the rest of the casts, they're cool, i can tell they are complex characters, but i have seen their archetypes before a lot, so i have nothing new to say

my fav side cast is Laxmi tho, she has the same twisted desperation level of our protagonists, and i love it, and i love the unnamed non-english speaking casts who hates Carol cause she excluded them from the conversation lol she wants human to have freewill, and that the freewill lol

essays:

-is an attempt to learn

-give you a clearer look on your thoughts and ideas, to examinate it

-force you to explain it as you understand it, which acts as proofs for your understanding

-it's inevitable you'll make mistakes, confuse, struggle, but you got to write them anyway, since it's the only way to discover something new

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reread the essays is only half the process, the other half is writing it, even if you never visit them again, it doesnt matter, even you delete it instantly, it wouldnt matter

->because the actual learning happens during the writing, the chances where you think, learn, rack your brain

it's not the essay that matters, it's the WRITING of it, the UNDERSTANDING of your study, your knowledge, the PROOF of your effort

the beauty of essays is in the process

->writing essays is great, but only if you're consistent

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how do you actually go about writing it?

->3 features: medium, topic, style

#medium: where're you writing it?

+by hand is science backed to increase retention and understanding even if it's slower and harder

+by digital is more infinite, organizable, and portable

#style: tone, length, formality,... depend on your goals

some common styles:

+expository style: basically fact-based introductions and descriptions

+argument style: to push viewpoints, use logic and reason to argue, tend to follow a logical structure

+analytical style: to dissect a topic/subject, examinate and see how it connect in a big picture

+reflective/personal style: more subjective, where authors share their experiences, thoughts, memories in order to do something (make a point, describe, analyze something, or simply for themselves

=> whatever styles you use, the chances are that you gonna use all of them without knowing, then blend them, then end up making something unique to your own

=> learn the rules to break the rules, but ultimately, you can go BATSHIT crazy and write WHATEVER you want

#topic: what're you gonna write about?

-there are no rules here, you literally can write whatever the fuck you want

-if you suck at finding topics, you can search for some prompts: what you're interested in, something that really resonates with you, something that you passionate about, something that you're curious of, something that you think about a lot

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if you're lost and don't know where to start?

->you can begin with a simple point-explanation essays where you're just describing something

->overtime as you write, you gonna learn more about yourself, you will see what styles work for you, you will find your voice

when things get too distracting, confusing, complicated, and overwhelming?

->focus on the "one", focus all your mind for one thing, reduce everything to one point, one argument, one topic, one subject

a hot take from OP: intro and conclusion are overrated, boring, nothing new, and a waste of time, getting straight into the point and writing it out well make things concrete enough

---

wrap:

-say what you have to say

-get to a point