Brainrot, or endlessly consuming low quality content, isn't just limited to social media apps and fast news, it can also poison virtuous endeavours like learning.
I've been watching the videos of this guy lately (via RSS of course) and I like his takes on intentional, slow learning as it applies to software and programming in the AI era. And it got me thinking about my own learning journey and current learning methods as an auto-didact, and it dawned on me that I have wasted a lot of time.
I have a graveyard of tutorials and topics that I have attempted to complete. That pile of bones exists because I have ported over the same habits that come from the world of reels and dopamine hits to the world of self-improvement and learning. It's obviously an apples to oranges comparison in some sense - trying to learn new things is more virtuous than rotting in bed scrolling reels. But trying to apply yourself to learning as a human in the 21st century is fraught and has to approached with the intention of going slow to go fast.
For me, i've jumped from course to course like reels, and tried to speed run learning. While a lot of that knowledge has sunk in, I imagine a lot of it hasn't. Having 10 tabs open, switching between phone and computer, playing a game of chess between lessons - these are all things have characterised my "learning" sessions. Real learning has to be slow, intentional and deliberate.
Remove distractions, think deeply, focus for long periods of time about serious topics. That's the new MO.