by James Wallace Harris, 8/17/26
I read a couple dozen great nonfiction books each year. While I’m reading those books, I feel like I’m learning a tremendous amount of new information. But just a few days after I finish each one, all that information slips away. That pisses me off.
Yesterday, I watched a video, “The Math Secret Top Students Never Share – Learn So Fast It Feels Illegal.” It explained why I don’t retain information. Basically, if you don’t apply what you study, it disappears. The video is about studying math, but I realize it applies to everything.
I enjoy learning, but I’m not very big on doing. For example, I’m studying J. D. Salinger at the moment. I’m reading biographies, watching documentaries, and reading his fiction. Eventually, I’ll summarize everything in a blog. But that’s not applying the information. Unless I were an English professor submitting articles to academic journals, I don’t have any reason to apply that information.
I’m also studying the programming language Python so I can create animations that will illustrate Euclid’s Elements. However, I’m putting so little time into learning Python that I’m not getting the kind of practice that will help me remember it.
I feel I’ve accomplished a fair amount by installing Python, Visual Studio Code, Homebrew, UV, and Manim, and getting them working together in a virtual environment that doesn’t conflict with my Mac’s version of Python. I can even get Gemini AI to write programs that produce Manim animations.
However, I didn’t write the code; Gemini did. I’d like to know how to do it myself, so I started working my way through Python Crash Course, 3rd edition, by Eric Matthes. I’ll also need to learn Manim.
Here’s where the video about the secrets of studying Math comes in. Reading the books and documentation won’t cut it. I need to spend months practicing what I learn to get up to speed before I can even begin programming my own animations.
At 74, I only have so much physical and intellectual energy to expend each day. To learn enough Python to use the Manim library could take months. I would probably have to jettison all my other interests.
And that points to a failing personality trait that I’ve dealt with my whole life. I can never fully commit to anything and stick with it. I have too many interests I chase after.
I can study the common way people study math in that video, but not the way smart students study. That’s how I got through school and college. I studied enough to pass tests. I never pursued the kind of regular practice that video promotes. I was able to be a programmer at work because I did it all day long. But I’ve never been able to pick a hobby that I’ll work at all day long.
I’m at a crossroads. At 74, I need to decide if I’m capable of changing. Or just accept that I’m a bookworm and not a student. I hate to give up, but there’s a certain reality to aging.
It’s easy to read books and watch TV. I can do that all day long. I’m well trained for it. I’ve put in my 10,000 hours.
However, I can imagine being on my deathbed and regretting that I didn’t stick with any of the hobbies I fantasize about pursuing.
If I worked hard, spending four hours a day studying Python and Manim, I’d get my 10,000 hours in about 6.8 years. But here’s where my Hamlet complex cuts in. Is Python/Manim the single project I want to pursue over all my other interests?
Some of you might say I’d have plenty of time to pursue other interests if I apply myself to my main interest for four hours a day. But working at anything for four hours would drain me. I’m not even sure I could apply myself for four hours. I think there’s a reason why most old people aren’t that productive.
But there’s something else to consider. I’ve already put in my ten thousand hours writing blogs. I could work harder at that. I could specialize in analyzing short stories, something I’ve been doing for a while now. I could practice to get much better at that. Or even writing short stories.
Maybe Python and Manim are the diversion?
But after watching that video, I realize I need to work on applying myself to something, rather than just being an information consumer.
JWH
Auxiliary Memory 