The Source of Knowledge Framework: How to Make the Most of Your Learning Time #Issue 22

Happy New Year to all!

I hope you all have defined your New Year's resolutions.

Today, I want to share an interesting concept that occurred to me while listening to a podcast.

I can't even remember the exact topic now, but there was a question that struck me: "If I have an hour to spare on the topic of personal finance, should I spend that time listening to a podcast, reading a personal finance book, or watching business news?"

This got me thinking about the various sources of knowledge we have at our disposal when learning about a particular topic.

These sources could include

• reading books,

• listening to experts,

• watching interviews,

• reading reports,

• reading blogs and articles,

• following experts on social media,

• watching documentaries,

• attending workshops,

• and joining training programs, among others.

Then the question comes, how do we prioritize and divide our limited time among these various sources? To find an answer, I started observing successful people in various fields.

Let's take the example of Albert Einstein, a highly successful physicist.

According to a book I read by Walter Isaacson (which I highly recommend, or you can also watch the series based on the same book, "Genius: Albert Einstein" on Nat Geo), Einstein's primary source of knowledge was the world around him.

He got the idea that time is not absolute but relative by simply observing universal phenomena.

And when he was struggling to understand the concept of acceleration, he spent over four years solidifying his theory that acceleration and gravity are one and the same.

His primary source of knowledge was the universe itself.

But Einstein also relied on the research of others as a secondary source of knowledge.

He was constantly reading about research being done by others in his field.

Check out how Einstein discovered the truth about time.

Now let’s talk about the idea that helped him develop the New Theory of Gravity. i.e., the General Theory of Relativity.

So initially, he struggled with the concept of “acceleration”! And it took him more than four years to solidify this theory.

But eventually, he understood that acceleration and gravity are the same things.

Again, what was his source? Books? No!

As said earlier, he was learning directly from the universe.

Check out how he got to know about the concept of acceleration.

So if you try to study all the great people, you will realize their primary source of knowledge is always the fundamental source of where all knowledge exists.

Like, what is the source of knowledge of Warren Buffet?

It's the market! Everything that happens in the market, like microeconomic conditions and macroeconomic conditions. Unstructured expertise exists and is available for everyone, but only some can make sense of it.

And what is his second source of knowledge? Financial reports of the companies. That's it!

Check out Warren Buffett’s answer when asked, why he reads anual reports?.

And the story goes the same for any other great people there.

So based on this, I conclude that the highest source of knowledge is “Unstructured knowledge that exists in the universe and world around us.”

And someone who builds the muscles to understand such unstructured knowledge generally makes the highest impact on the world around them.

Based on this assumption, I have created a framework - Source Of Knowledge.

I have divided different sources based on how much knowledge you can get from those sources and what kind of impact that will have on the world.

The Source of Knowledge Framework

Before sharing the framework, I am sharing my two assumptions.

• The highest source of knowledge is “Unstructured Knowledge,” which exists worldwide, waiting for someone to find it out. :)

• “Skin in the game” decides how much importance you should give to the respective source.

So, below I have mentioned all the sources with the level of their importance, with level#0 being the highest.

I have defined three zones here,

1. Zone of Genius

2. Zone of Mediocrity

3. Zone of Ignorance

Zone of Genius > Zone of Mediocre > Zone of Ignorance

1️⃣ Zone of Genius - I have already covered this in earlier examples of Albert Einstein and Warren Buffet. 

This zone has the highest impact on whatever you try to achieve. 

So, if you spend most of your time trying to build muscle to understand or make sense of unstructured knowledge, you will eventually become a genius in that domain.

2️⃣Zone of Mediocre - If you spend your time on sources of this zone, then you don’t become a genius, but at least you don’t remain ignorant.

So mostly, you will make the right decisions or have a good grasp of the topic.

The above framework shows that the same sources are divided into two zones based on the idea of “ Skin in the Game.” [ This concept is taken from the famous book, Skin In the Game by Nassim Taleb; Highly Recommended ]

I will take an example of one basis on which you will understand what I am trying to say here.

Let’s take the example of “Book.”

Now, let’s assume someone is writing a book about “Top Industries to invest in the year 2023,” so currently, reading this book, you can possibly decide to invest in the industries given in the book.

Keep arguments and authority of the author on the topic aside, and ask simple questions.

Does he have skin in the game?

Has he invested money in the industries he proposes as good investment opportunities? Has he provided proof of that?

If yes, you can check his arguments and take his advice seriously.

As he is exposed to risk - if his advice goes wrong, he will also face the consequences of that.

Now think about the second scenario.

What if the person writing a book has not invested anything in the industries that he is advocating?

In such cases, put that book in the zone of ignorance!

You can use the same yardstick - to divide these sources into different zones.

Ask what the person is risking by writing this book, being on this podcast, writing a paper, tweeting, etc.

And if you know that if proved wrong, the person’s reputation, authority, money, if all these things are at stake, then you can consider that the person has skin in the game, and now you can at least listen/read to him.

3️⃣Zone of Ignorance: After reading “Zone of Mediocre,” you must have gotten an idea of what I am going to cover under the Zone of Ignorance.

I found that most people fall prey to these sources, and in the name of learning, they keep collecting garbage!

Here are some examples,

• Following some financial influencers that are not exposed to any risk if their advice goes wrong.

• Watching/listening/reading business takes of people who have yet to build any real business.

• Following social influencers who are merely creating content without having any authority on a particular subject

If you think that by reading books, listening to podcasts, or watching interviews, you will become knowledgeable; it will do more harm than good if your source is “Zone of Ignorance.”

How To Apply This Framework in Life?

Before applying this framework in life, know that you can create the same framework for all areas of life.

Here is how you can do it.

1. Identify the function - [ex - finance, science, marketing, business, etc.]

2. List down - all sources of knowledge.

3. Now - map all these sources against the 3 zones given in the framework.

Assuming you have understood this framework now, let’s learn about how to apply this in real-life professions.

One thing to understand here is that you should clearly know which areas/functions are crucial to you.

Let’s take an example of an Artist

• His livelihood depends on selling Art

• But he is also interested in philosophy, science, investment

I am suggesting that this Artist should aim for a “Zone of Genius” for Art.

And for other areas, like philosophy, and science, he can go with the “Zone of Mediocre” as these are functions he is pursuing just for his curiosity and not because he wants to earn something out of these areas.

And for investment - it’s up to him whether he wants this area to be in a “Zone of Genius” or “Zone of Mediocre”. It depends more on what he wants from this and his investment objective.

Keep in mind that I am not advocating that you should aim for a “Zone of Genius” in all areas in which you have an interest.

But only in the area on which your life depends heavily, for the rest of the areas you choose other zones.

I think that’s it for this time :)

Do you agree with my reasoning here?

Or do you need more convincing with this framework?

Do you have any suggestions to improve this framework?

In all the above cases, reply with feedback.