[problem] not having fun studying Atlas Shrugged (was: four "friends" meet in a cellar in the sky)

[Anne B]

On Sun, Mar 18, 2018 at 3:55 PM, Anne B <anne...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Mar 17, 2018 at 9:56 PM, Elliot Temple cu...@curi.us
> [fallible-ideas] <fallibl...@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>> do you think you learned a lot by writing this email?
>>
>> i thought there were lots of problems with your approach. if you didn't find it effective, then those two things together (my impression and yours) would be a really bad sign about it. but if you find it really effective, then maybe it's helping with some problems you have.
>
> I agree with the problems you found with my email.
>
> I didn't and don't think I learned much by posting it. I struggle when
> I try to write something about Atlas Shrugged. It's not fun for me.
>
> I don't know how to post about Atlas Shrugged in a way that helps me
> learn. I do know how to write more clearly and I will focus on doing
> so. But I'm not sure what *kind* of post to write about what I read.
> When I sit down to write a post I'm not sure what to say in it.
>
> For example, I've been trying to write a post or several posts about
> the section in Part One Chapter IV about the National Alliance of
> Railroads. I feel like I'd need years of economics study to understand
> just those few pages. When I start to write something I realize how
> little I know and then I get stuck. There doesn't seem to be anything
> interesting I can say. I could ask lots of questions but only the kind
> which would require someone putting in lots of time to answer them and
> that doesn't seem fair.
>
> Maybe I would make more progress in learning about Rand's ideas by
> reading a different book of hers. Maybe a non-fiction book would be
> easier for me to understand. It would be more direct than a novel.
>
> Maybe I should keep trying with Atlas Shrugged. I could write new
> posts covering the same section as I did in the original post in this
> thread, and see if I can do better.

Anyone have suggestions about the problem I'm having with Atlas Shrugged?

Maybe there's a different approach I could take to reading it that I
would enjoy more and learn more from? I would enjoy reading the book
straight through and not writing anything, but I wouldn't learn much
from doing that. I do enjoy writing FI posts when I have something to
say. Most of the time, I don't know what to say about Atlas Shrugged.

Maybe I should stop reading it and read some easier things first? What
books would be easier and still important?

I think I should read most of the books on Elliot's reading list
(http://fallibleideas.com/books) within a few years. If I go at my
current level of detail and current speed of learning, it would take
decades. Am I wrong that I should try to get through most of the list
within a few years?

[Elliot Temple]

you could say things like:

- what you think it’s saying, what Rand’s point is
- whether you agree and why
- whether you think it’s important or interesting and why
- how/why it’s relevant to you or not


Elliot Temple
www.fallibleideas.com

[Anne B]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 2:07 PM, Elliot Temple cu...@curi.us

I get stuck on the first thing here. I often don't understand what is
happening in the book and what the point is. Should I ask? Should I
make guesses? What I shouldn't do is pretend I know when I don't,
right?

[Elliot Temple]

do you think you’re missing some prerequisite skills or knowledge? if so, what?

do you understand some things?

> Should I ask? Should I make guesses?

sure, try that some.

> What I shouldn't do is pretend I know when I don’t, right?

right.

Elliot Temple
www.curi.us

[Anne B]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 2:51 PM, Elliot Temple cu...@curi.us

I don't know.

> do you understand some things?

Yes. For instance I think I understand that in the first few chapters
Rand is portraying a society that is falling apart. Is that correct? I
may not fully understand *how* it's falling apart though.

I often see that some part of the book is there in order to make a
point. I see the general area that the point is about. But I don't
understand the full content of the idea.

Overall I don't understand Rand's philosophy very well.

[Anne B]

This is the plan I've decided on for now. My goal is to learn from
Atlas Shrugged and not hate the process of doing so.

- I will continue reading the book. I will learn something by reading
it and discussing it. I can learn more in the future by reading it
again once I have a better understanding of Objectivism.

- I will try to learn at least a few things from each chapter before
reading the next one. I will not try to learn everything I possibly
can before reading the next chapter.

- I will write shorter, simpler posts about the book than I have done
in the past.

- I will not try to follow every question or thought I have about the
book to resolution.

- I will pay attention to how I feel when I think or write about this
book. I want to figure out specifically which things I am finding
unpleasant.

[Jordan Talcot]

are you enjoying reading Atlas Shrugged?

if you aren’t enjoying reading it, I don’t think you should do this
plan.

you are trying to learn how to actually understand and learn from a
book. it would be better to do this with a book you actually enjoy
reading.

Jordan

[Anne B]

On Sat, Mar 24, 2018 at 7:03 PM, 'Jordan Talcot'
jordan...@gmail.com [fallible-ideas]

Yes, I enjoy reading Atlas Shrugged.

[anonymous FI]

why? how do you know?

[Anne B]

On Sat, Mar 24, 2018 at 9:58 PM, 'anonymous FI'
anonymousfa...@gmail.com [fallible-ideas]

I do not know how to answer this question.

I think enjoyment is a feeling. I don't know how I know if I am
feeling a particular feeling. Is that what you're asking?

[Jordan Talcot]

some things to consider when trying to figure out whether or not you
enjoy something:

- do you have to remind yourself to do it?
- when you are going to do it, do you feel energized or tired?
- do you put it off? do you think of small things you need to do before
you start? (like, get a cup of tea, go to the bathroom, straighten the
pillows on your chair, etc)
- do you need particularly good conditions to do it? do you find other
things really distracting when you try to do it?
- do you find it engrossing enough that you stop noticing other things
(e.g. temperature, noises, your own hunger)
- do you wake up in the morning eager to get started on it? and then do
you start it right away, or do you do a bunch of other activities first
before you start it? (e.g., make bed, get dressed, brush teeth, make
coffee, eat breakfast…)
- do you have some trouble or self-resistance when *starting* the
activity, but feel good about yourself or virtuous after you have
started or finished?
- do you find it hard to start, but feel like you enjoy once you have
started?


Jordan

[anonymous FI]

On Mar 25, 2018, at 11:39 AM, Jordan Talcot <jordan...@gmail.com>
wrote:

by these criteria do you enjoy FI?

[Jordan Talcot]

On Mar 25, 2018, at 11:52 AM, anonymous FI

i am mixed about it.

sometimes i enjoy FI, and sometimes i don’t .

sometimes i wake up and start reading FI right away in bed on my phone.
and then i see something i want to reply to, so i get my laptop and
start writing.

other times, i will partly want to reply to an email, but partly not
want to. then i will take longer. i will hit reply and then stare at the
draft. then i will think of something else i need to do. e.g., check my
to do list, go get a drink, quickly read this other email in my inbox,
shower, get dressed, etc… and i will think “ok, i’ll just do that
first, and then i will write the email”

sometimes i recognize that i am just putting off writing the email. i
don’t *really* need to do the other thing right now. i could write the
email first and *then* do the other thing.

with this particular reply, i hit reply to make a draft, then just
stared at it for a few seconds. then immediately thought “oh, i should
go get another coffee”. which was actually kind of weird because
i’ve only been drinking one coffee each morning, not two. (btw, i
think i shouldn’t drink coffee in this way at all - i shouldn’t be
drinking coffee every single day like that.)

i didn’t go get the coffee. i decided to start writing instead. i
figured i would try to write a reply and see how it goes. then if it
felt too hard, i could re-evaluate. but i should at least *try* before i
give up or go do something else.

that is a problem i frequently have with emails. i look at something and
it seems like it *might* be hard, so i don’t even start. i just avoid
doing it at all.

i am trying not to do this. my current plan is to at least *try* to
write the email, then pay attention to how i feel. that will give me
more information about what parts i get stuck on.

there is a difference between this and how i was approaching it before.
before i would start the email with the goal of *finishing* the email.
so anything less than finished & sending an email felt like a failure.
and i felt pressured & stuck if i had trouble and didn’t know what to
write.

now my goal is to just pay attention and try to understand the issue
better. so if i get stuck & can’t write, that’s not a failure. i can
think about why i feel stuck, what i am having trouble with, what parts
feel hard, etc.

but sometimes i have to remind myself that that is what i am doing.
approaching emails in that way isn’t my habit yet. my first thought is
usually still that i am supposed to actually *write* the email. not that
i can try to write the email and pay attention to how i feel and where i
get stuck.

so when an email seems hard, my initial thought is that i want to avoid
writing it. but then i remind myself that i can approach it differently,
and then i don’t feel like avoiding it anymore.


Jordan

[Anne B]

On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 2:52 PM, 'anonymous FI'

I will answer this too.

>> - do you have to remind yourself to do it?

No.

>> - when you are going to do it, do you feel energized or tired?

Energized.

>> - do you put it off? do you think of small things you need to do
>> before you start? (like, get a cup of tea, go to the bathroom,
>> straighten the pillows on your chair, etc)

I don't put it off before I start. I often think of small things I
need to do when I run into trouble with reading, writing, or thinking,
which is frequently.

>> - do you need particularly good conditions to do it? do you find other
>> things really distracting when you try to do it?
>> - do you find it engrossing enough that you stop noticing other things
>> (e.g. temperature, noises, your own hunger)

If I know how to answer something I don't get distracted. If I don't
know how to answer it then I do get distracted.

>> - do you wake up in the morning eager to get started on it? and then
>> do you start it right away, or do you do a bunch of other activities
>> first before you start it? (e.g., make bed, get dressed, brush teeth,
>> make coffee, eat breakfast…)

I do a bunch of other things first. I have a morning routine and FI
isn't first in the routine.

>> - do you have some trouble or self-resistance when *starting* the
>> activity, but feel good about yourself or virtuous after you have
>> started or finished?

I don't feel virtuous for starting or finishing FI. I don't feel like
I'm doing a very good job of it. I never feel finished. Maybe I'd feel
virtuous if I thought I was doing it right.

>> - do you find it hard to start, but feel like you enjoy once you have
>> started?

I find it easy to start, but I often don't enjoy it when I'm in the
middle of it.

Overall, I am not enjoying FI.

[Elliot Temple]

i keep advising people to simplify their writing. write short sentences and paragraphs. write simpler sentences. use more periods and less other punctuation. make it more choppy. make it *super clear*.

Jordan, how/why did you start doing that? other people seem to ignore me.

can you write like that intuitively or does it take an active effort?

did you do it on purpose for a while, and then it became intuitive later?

i don’t think it’s very hard. i think people block themselves. i think they refuse to do it on purpose. i think they want to sound smart and fancy. i think they want to be nothing like a child.

> sometimes i recognize that i am just putting off writing the email. i don’t *really* need to do the other thing right now. i could write the email first and *then* do the other thing.

have you tried alternating emails and other stuff? write an email, do a different thing, write another email, do another different thing. you can do short emails and short chunks of other things and keep getting both done!

also if you have trouble with emails, it’s good to try lots of times, even if the attempts are only 2 minutes long and you stop after that if you’re stuck. you can try for 2 minutes and give up on emailing and do something else. but then you try again for 2 minutes after that, 5-10 minutes later. you could fail several times per hour. that’d be good. you won’t always fail. and if you do manage to fail 10 times in a row, you’d get good data. you’d have more chance to see patterns in how and why you fail at emailing.

some people try and fail for hours, or not at all. if it’s such a big deal, it’s hard to start. starting should be cheap. stopping should be cheap.

> with this particular reply, i hit reply to make a draft, then just stared at it for a few seconds. then immediately thought “oh, i should go get another coffee”. which was actually kind of weird because i’ve only been drinking one coffee each morning, not two. (btw, i think i shouldn’t drink coffee in this way at all - i shouldn’t be drinking coffee every single day like that.)
>
> i didn’t go get the coffee. i decided to start writing instead. i figured i would try to write a reply and see how it goes. then if it felt too hard, i could re-evaluate. but i should at least *try* before i give up or go do something else.
>
> that is a problem i frequently have with emails. i look at something and it seems like it *might* be hard, so i don’t even start. i just avoid doing it at all.

and once you start/try, it’s sometimes easy within 1 minute, right? not every time, but reasonably often. so if you just start/try a lot, lots of times it’ll work, and other times you could just stop after it doesn’t work for 2 minutes. and then you’ll write lots of emails and never spend an hour having a rough time (unless you really want to).

> i am trying not to do this. my current plan is to at least *try* to write the email, then pay attention to how i feel. that will give me more information about what parts i get stuck on.

yeah. you could write down things you find hard or get stuck on. keep a count of broad categories. like “got stuck on the subject line” or “felt bad” or “wanted to do a distraction like get coffee or wash dishes” or “didn’t know what to say”.

> there is a difference between this and how i was approaching it before. before i would start the email with the goal of *finishing* the email. so anything less than finished & sending an email felt like a failure. and i felt pressured & stuck if i had trouble and didn’t know what to write.

the goal with activities should be to *try* them. you get started and see how it goes. either it goes well or you run into a problem. if you run into a problem, you can try to solve it or learn more about it or whatever. (but don’t ignore the problem and keep going. note that judging the problem doesn’t really matter, and then continuing, wouldn’t be ignoring it. that would be making a judgement about how to deal with it. don’t just ignore it and hoping things turn out ok. make a judgement about what to do. the judgement can be fast.)

this stuff isn’t just for writing emails. it’s also how to read books or do any activity. any time i recommend stuff, it’s meant to be done this way: try it, get started, see how it goes. if it’s going great, cool, do more. if there’s a problem, ok, that’s a new situation to be dealt with. finding a problem is progress. if you try the thing i recommended and find a problem, that’s good, progress was made. you don’t have to do the whole thing all at once.

another good thing about how to approach activities is to view everything as *practice*. instead of writing emails, you’re *practicing* writing emails. (and in line with my ideas about powering up and only doing what’s easy, the basic goal is to keep practicing until your practice emails are good. instead of stopping practicing to try to accomplish some goal, just keep learning to the point your practice itself can cheaply and easily accomplish your goals.)

> now my goal is to just pay attention and try to understand the issue better. so if i get stuck & can’t write, that’s not a failure. i can think about why i feel stuck, what i am having trouble with, what parts feel hard, etc.
>
> but sometimes i have to remind myself that that is what i am doing. approaching emails in that way isn’t my habit yet. my first thought is usually still that i am supposed to actually *write* the email. not that i can try to write the email and pay attention to how i feel and where i get stuck.
>
> so when an email seems hard, my initial thought is that i want to avoid writing it. but then i remind myself that i can approach it differently, and then i don’t feel like avoiding it anymore.

in school, ppl don’t see getting things wrong on tests as *good* – as finding out what would be good things to learn more about.

instead it’s presented (by the teachers themselves) as *bad*, and then the class moves on to the next material after the test. (they *end* learning about a topic with a test, and don’t go back and help people with the things they got wrong on the test.)

Elliot Temple
www.fallibleideas.com

[anonymous FI]

The question has the form "Do you X, but Y?"

A "yes" answer requires that *both* X and Y be true.

You didn't reply about whether X is true for you. You didn't understand
this question well.

Have you considered looking at basic math and logic stuff? (Not
Peikoff's lectures.) Such things have been mentioned a lot, but you
(like others) haven't been doing it for some unstated reason.

I don't get why you think you should be reading a big, complex book when
you struggle with more basic stuff that is like the tools you need to
use to deal with more advanced stuff. (Please don't reply as if this is
a new idea that sounds nice, and evade that it's already been said a
dozen times recently. You and most people seem to be burying your heads
in the sand.)

[Anne B]

This plan is going the way I envisioned it going:

- I did not continue reading AS.

- My posts were shorter but not simpler.

- I did pay attention to how I felt when thinking or writing about AS.
I decided that those feelings are really about FI as a whole, not this
particular book. I'll address them separately, if/when I can write a
coherent post about it.

I think this book is too difficult for me. I will stop reading it for now.

I will think of a new plan. I will share it in a separate post.

[Jordan Talcot]

On Mar 25, 2018, at 12:35 PM, Elliot Temple <cu...@curi.us> wrote:

> On Mar 25, 2018, at 12:16 PM, Jordan Talcot <jordan...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Mar 25, 2018, at 11:52 AM, anonymous FI
>> <anonymousfa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Mar 25, 2018, at 11:39 AM, Jordan Talcot
>>> <jordan...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> sometimes i enjoy FI, and sometimes i don’t .
>>
>> sometimes i wake up and start reading FI right away in bed on my
>> phone. and then i see something i want to reply to, so i get my
>> laptop and start writing.
>>
>> other times, i will partly want to reply to an email, but partly not
>> want to. then i will take longer. i will hit reply and then stare at
>> the draft. then i will think of something else i need to do. e.g.,
>> check my to do list, go get a drink, quickly read this other email in
>> my inbox, shower, get dressed, etc… and i will think “ok, i’ll
>> just do that first, and then i will write the email”
>
> i keep advising people to simplify their writing. write short
> sentences and paragraphs. write simpler sentences. use more periods
> and less other punctuation. make it more choppy. make it *super
> clear*.
>
> Jordan, how/why did you start doing that? other people seem to ignore
> me.

i think i started by writing some anon posts in that style.

i wanted to talk about things that i was having trouble with. it helped
to write about it in a more childlike way. i wanted to clearly take the
role of a beginner.

when i started writing like that, i would have to edit more. i would
often separate things into different sentences or delete unnecessary
words. i would also change big words to smaller words.

> can you write like that intuitively or does it take an active effort?

it feels intuitive now. i still do some editing. but not very much. i
don’t edit most of my sentences.

> did you do it on purpose for a while, and then it became intuitive
> later?

yes. i edited a lot more at first.

i also already had some practice speaking simply. i used to use big
words and complicated sentence when i was speaking. but then i found out
that i sometimes intimidated people. or that they felt stupid when they
talked to me. that wasn’t my intention. so i put effort into
explaining things more simply. and also paying more attention to who my
audience is.

> i don’t think it’s very hard. i think people block themselves. i
> think they refuse to do it on purpose. i think they want to sound
> smart and fancy. i think they want to be nothing like a child.

yes, i agree. people don’t like short sentences. they think it sounds
like a children’s book. they want to be smart. they don’t want to be
like children.

if you use big words and complex sentence structures, then people
usually think you are smarter.

another issue is that writing simply and clearly makes your actual
*ideas* more clear. if your ideas are bad, that becomes more clear.
using big words and complex sentences can hide the actual meaning of
what you are saying.

that is actually a common trick people use to write essays in high
school and college. just use lots of big words and say the same thing
multiple times in different ways. if your language is fancy enough,
people won’t notice that’s what you did.

people lie to *themselves* about this too. when they write stuff with
big words and complicated sentences, *they* think it sounds smart. but
if they actually try to write their ideas in a clear, simple way, they
might notice that their ideas are dumb.

Jordan

[Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum]

On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 12:35:36PM -0700, Elliot Temple wrote:

> On Mar 25, 2018, at 12:16 PM, Jordan Talcot wrote:

>> sometimes i recognize that i am just putting off writing the email. i don’t *really* need to do the other thing right now. i could write the email first and *then* do the other thing.
>
> have you tried alternating emails and other stuff? write an email, do a different thing, write another email, do another different thing. you can do short emails and short chunks of other things and keep getting both done!

Makes sense. I shouldn't feel like I have to work on a single thing for a long time just because I started it. I will learn something even in a short time. I can't predict the growth of knowledge. What I learn will affect what I choose to do next.

> also if you have trouble with emails, it’s good to try lots of times, even if the attempts are only 2 minutes long and you stop after that if you’re stuck. you can try for 2 minutes and give up on emailing and do something else. but then you try again for 2 minutes after that, 5-10 minutes later. you could fail several times per hour. that’d be good. you won’t always fail. and if you do manage to fail 10 times in a row, you’d get good data. you’d have more chance to see patterns in how and why you fail at emailing.

Really interesting point here about how even many failures in a row would yield knowledge. No matter whether you succeed at the object level task or not, there's knowledge to be gained. I can't predict the growth of knowledge, so I shouldn't skip the trying part just because I think I know what the outcome will be.

> some people try and fail for hours, or not at all. if it’s such a big deal, it’s hard to start. starting should be cheap. stopping should be cheap.

Interesting point. Starting and stopping should be cheap. Easy. Lightweight. Like thinking of ideas. You're not committing to do something for a certain amount of time just because you start doing it.

>> with this particular reply, i hit reply to make a draft, then just stared at it for a few seconds. then immediately thought “oh, i should go get another coffee”. which was actually kind of weird because i’ve only been drinking one coffee each morning, not two. (btw, i think i shouldn’t drink coffee in this way at all - i shouldn’t be drinking coffee every single day like that.)
>>
>> i didn’t go get the coffee. i decided to start writing instead. i figured i would try to write a reply and see how it goes. then if it felt too hard, i could re-evaluate. but i should at least *try* before i give up or go do something else.
>>
>> that is a problem i frequently have with emails. i look at something and it seems like it *might* be hard, so i don’t even start. i just avoid doing it at all.
>
> and once you start/try, it’s sometimes easy within 1 minute, right?
>

> Yes.

>
> > not every time, but reasonably often. so if you just start/try a lot, lots of times it’ll work, and other times you could just stop after it doesn’t work for 2 minutes. and then you’ll write lots of emails and never spend an hour having a rough time (unless you really want to).

Yes. I can't predict the growth of knowledge. I should try the activity, see what happens, and if I run into a problem, acknowledge the problem, and try to solve it. Trying to solve it could involve switching to something else, finding a way to break it into pieces, finding an easier part of it to do at first, asking someone for help, or other things.

I was thinking that by starting an activity I was committing to finishing it or working on it for some amount of time, regardless of what I learned after starting it. No wonder I dread starting things.

> you could write down things you find hard or get stuck on. keep a count of broad categories. like “got stuck on the subject line” or “felt bad” or “wanted to do a distraction like get coffee or wash dishes” or “didn’t know what to say”.

Good point. I could guess some ideas about what I'm getting stuck on, and take notes. This is just general learning stuff, but applied in an area where I hadn't thought to apply it: to doing tasks that I avoid or get stuck on.

>> there is a difference between this and how i was approaching it before. before i would start the email with the goal of *finishing* the email. so anything less than finished & sending an email felt like a failure. and i felt pressured & stuck if i had trouble and didn’t know what to write.
>
> the goal with activities should be to *try* them. you get started and see how it goes. either it goes well or you run into a problem. if you run into a problem, you can try to solve it or learn more about it or whatever. (but don’t ignore the problem and keep going. note that judging the problem doesn’t really matter, and then continuing, wouldn’t be ignoring it. that would be making a judgement about how to deal with it. don’t just ignore it and hoping things turn out ok. make a judgement about what to do. the judgement can be fast.)
>
> this stuff isn’t just for writing emails. it’s also how to read books or do any activity. any time i recommend stuff, it’s meant to be done this way: try it, get started, see how it goes. if it’s going great, cool, do more. if there’s a problem, ok, that’s a new situation to be dealt with. finding a problem is progress. if you try the thing i recommended and find a problem, that’s good, progress was made. you don’t have to do the whole thing all at once.

This is recommending a piecemeal, incremental approach to doing things in general. It makes sense. Do a little bit, see how it goes, adjust. It's kind of like [Avoiding Coercion](http://fallibleideas.com/avoiding-coercion) but for activities, in the sense that you don't keep doing something that doesn't work when you're not making progress.

> another good thing about how to approach activities is to view everything as *practice*. instead of writing emails, you’re *practicing* writing emails. (and in line with my ideas about powering up and only doing what’s easy, the basic goal is to keep practicing until your practice emails are good. instead of stopping practicing to try to accomplish some goal, just keep learning to the point your practice itself can cheaply and easily accomplish your goals.)

Makes sense. Rather than viewing the task itself as the main benefit, I view my learning as the main benefit. Accomplishing the task itself is only a nice side effect. This "learning-first" approach requires me to choose tasks that I can work on with a manageable error rate.

This piecemeal approach would also work on items in my FI queue. I can just do a little bit on the first item in any of the queues and see how it goes.

[Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum]

On Wed, May 02, 2018 at 10:46:55AM -0700, Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 12:35:36PM -0700, Elliot Temple wrote:

>> another good thing about how to approach activities is to view everything as *practice*. instead of writing emails, you’re *practicing* writing emails. (and in line with my ideas about powering up and only doing what’s easy, the basic goal is to keep practicing until your practice emails are good. instead of stopping practicing to try to accomplish some goal, just keep learning to the point your practice itself can cheaply and easily accomplish your goals.)
>

> Rather than viewing the task itself as the main benefit, I view my learning as the main benefit. Accomplishing the task itself is only a nice side effect. This "learning-first" approach requires me to choose tasks that I can work on with a manageable error rate.

Suppose I focus on learning and let completing tasks be a side effect. Then I will power up more with each task. This approach doesn't drain my resources. On the contrary, it leaves me with more resources than I started with.