Critical Mass - A learning ideology

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:

1. Provide enough fuel to start and maintain a reaction to last millions of years, and,
2. 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.

Related articles

• Critical mass vs. momentous events
• The 100th Monkey Effect: A Critical Mass