FI Learning

For learning with practice. Posts are not private and could end up on Bing.

How I cook breakfast quickly.

  1. Wash my hands
  2. Take out the small and big frying pans.
  3. Put each in the stove.
  4. Turn on the stove
  5. Oil the small pan
  6. Get the tortillas from the fridge
  7. Put the tortillas on the big pan
  8. While they are heating, get a bowl
  9. Get 3 eggs
  10. Break the eggs into the bowl.
  11. Throw the eggshells to the disposer
  12. Empty the raw eggs into the small pan
  13. Get the beans from the fridge
  14. Get a spoon
  15. Get a bowl 
  16. Get a container cover
  17. Put some beans in the bowl
  18. Put the cover over the bowl
  19. Put the bowl in the microwave
  20. Set the microwave to 1 min
  21. Turn the eggs over
  22. Get a plate
  23. Get a table cloth
  24. Get a fork 
  25. Put the table cloth on the kitchen table
  26. Put the plate over it
  27. Put the fork next to it
  28. Turn off the small pan stove
  29. Get the pan and empty the egg over the plate
  30. Take the beans out of the microwave
  31. Turn off the big pan stove.
  32. Get the water pitcher
  33. Put the water pitcher under the fridge's water filter to fill it.
  34. While the pitcher fills, eat.
  35. Put the plate and fork on the sink
  36. Put away the table cloth
  37. Put the beans in the fridge
  38. Put the tortillas on the fridge
  39. Take the water pitcher and put it on the table
  40. Get a glass and put it next to the pitcher
Elliot, Fallible Ideas cool

Comments & Events

Elliot, Fallible Ideas
even things we find simple or easy often have a lot of steps if you write down tiny things.

philosophy projects have a lot of steps too.

why are most philosophy projects hard for most people? they involve lots of steps that you aren't already good at. and trying to learn all the steps at once is overwhelming.

if you didn't know how to do the steps in your breakfast already, figuring out all 40 at once would be a bad idea.

imagine someone didn't know how to use a bowl, use a sink to wash their hands, use a stove, etc. they'd need to start a lot smaller to learn that stuff instead of trying to cook a whole breakfast.
Farouk
"even things we find simple or easy often have a lot of steps if you write down tiny things." 
True, I did not expect that to take 40 steps.

As I use more and more metrics in my routine, I realize how much work I have to do to get it right. This has given me some perspective. If I can't even get showering or eating right, then I have to put as much effort and attention into mastering those before I try to do more complicated things. 
Anne B
Elliot wrote:
> why are most philosophy projects hard for most people? they involve lots of steps that you aren't already good at. and trying to learn all the steps at once is overwhelming.

It's also hard for me to even know what the steps are in learning philosophy.
Anne B
(Edit of my previous comment was right away, for formatting.)
Elliot, Fallible Ideas
knowing what the steps are is one aspect of already being good at them.

you know something about some steps. you can build on that. e.g. some steps involve reading. you can build on that, e.g. by looking into different types or styles of reading to solve particular problems. e.g. sometimes philosophy work requires more precise or literal reading than the regular way people read. "precisely read this paragraph" is a step you might find in a philosophy project.
Elliot, Fallible Ideas
Trying writing down one thing is a good start, but you should write steps for at least 20 more projects, with variety. Many should be under 10 steps, and they should be at a variety of levels of detail. You need to practice more like that if you want to improve much.