Ok one thing I've had very little success with over the past few years has to be
Javascript. I assume the lack of
learning is common to most everything and not just Javascript but the thing I am talking about is the not being able to progress upto
critical mass.
What is critical mass?
Well I hypothesized that it is the accumulation of knowledge and practice which is mostly readily available for recall. Another way to describe it would be achieving a certain level of
core competency so as to be able to use it after a relatively prolonged period of disuse - the learned
bicycle riding skill, which is proposed to be a lifelong scenario if you will.
Critical mass is often attributed to nuclear reactions where an initial emission of one particle leads to triggering neighbor particles until a chain reaction occurs. Another analogy can be based on the Sun. It needs a certain amount of core material which would:
- Provide enough fuel to start and maintain a reaction to last millions of years, and,
- equally important, enough fuel so gravity can create the necessary pressure to start the reaction
Learning is similar. Enough of the basic repertoire of the subject, along with a substantive body of knowledge to combine those elements to create something new as well enough core material to hold and maintain the particular skill as a long lasting asset is all needed to not only start but to progress to higher levels.
Personal Observations
Now with XHTML and CSS, I was able to guide myself from scratch to being able to hand code semi solid pages. Even after a prolonged period away I've still retained enough to be able to muck about in some code here and there.
With the likes of
JAVA I had formal training, so I cannot profess to having learned it from scratch, even though I'm currently undergoing the process of relearning it after a long hiatus.
The issue is not one of just finding the suitable materials and approach to appropriate knowledge, but being able to progress to, and past, a certain threshold which will ensure that it will remain of a viable nature. In other words, something that is retained and later usable.
Now I decided that in order to best elucidate and illustrate 'critical mass' would be to slowly iterate it while traversing differing topics such as timetabling, to-do lists and through the progress of my various skill development endeavours. So more about this as time progresses.
