OP here. I think learning exists on a broad spectrum. On one end, you're just indulging curiosity ("I wonder how...?"). On the other, you're trying to build deep understanding and expertise.
I completely agree that for the latter goal, the approaches in the blog post are insufficient, even undesirable. And I do worry that the way I engage with content on the web is weakening my ability to go deep on a subject I'm interested in.
But I do think there is value in just being able to indulge curiosity quickly and consistently. Not only is it rewarding in its own right, but it also provides the spark that leads you to eventually go deeper.
Lately, I've found myself sitting at a laptop with friends, asking GPT a question, reading and discussing the response, and then coming up with and asking followup questions as a group. I don't think we would've done that in the past, because the interface of search engines and webpages and browser tabs were too unwieldy to engage with collectively. It just feels like a completely new way to learn things, and what's what I'm most excited about.
I completely agree that for the latter goal, the approaches in the blog post are insufficient, even undesirable. And I do worry that the way I engage with content on the web is weakening my ability to go deep on a subject I'm interested in.
But I do think there is value in just being able to indulge curiosity quickly and consistently. Not only is it rewarding in its own right, but it also provides the spark that leads you to eventually go deeper.
Lately, I've found myself sitting at a laptop with friends, asking GPT a question, reading and discussing the response, and then coming up with and asking followup questions as a group. I don't think we would've done that in the past, because the interface of search engines and webpages and browser tabs were too unwieldy to engage with collectively. It just feels like a completely new way to learn things, and what's what I'm most excited about.