Deep versus Superficial

So far, I’ve basically told you to just do something. Do, and do, and do, and you will get a great understanding of any skill.

But is there really no way to speed that up? Is every action really equal?

No, I have found one easy way to see if something is worth doing. It’s connected to that idea of understanding or intuition, as opposed to just learning facts.

It’s all in the title.

Prefer deep learning (towards a generally applicable understanding) over superficial learning (of facts and theory with only limited uses)

Both are useful. They are both called “learning” and provide information. The point of this article is that deep learning should be your focus and your priority 90% of the time.

Example: learning new software

This is an issue with any digital creative field and often joked about. Every time you get stuck, you switch to a new program in the hope that it will magically fix your workflow. It’s like swapping an old, tiny guitar for an expensive one and hoping you suddenly know all the chords.

It doesn’t work that way. Yes, some software will help you more than others, better equipment will give some advantage. But it’s only a tiny advantage, and you can’t keep buying or switching forever.

When you do this, you spend all your time learning superficial things. Like,

• What each button does in the interface
• Where to look in the menus or preferences for a certain Photoshop effect
• Some odd quirks with the system you use
• Or ways in which this specific software likes to do things

Yes, you’ve learned a lot through using that software. But most of it is superficial and only applicable to that specific software.

If you were to switch, by preference or by external pressure, you’d lose 90% of your skill. You’d have to start over.

Instead, focus your learning on deep knowledge.

Don’t follow tutorials like “How to do X in software Y”. Don’t follow courses that spend time detailing everything in the interface, 99% of which you don’t need yet.

Do follow tutorials about general practices, which happen to be in some software. Do pick projects based on practicing general principles, something you could apply anywhere.

Deep knowledge is endlessly valuable. Superficial knowledge can stop being valuable any day.

The Cook vs The Chef

Let’s go back to that fantasy writer I mentioned earlier: Brandon Sanderson. The one that writes tons of books each year, only getting better.

He explained this difference as the cook versus the chef.

The cook knows how their kitchen is laid out. They know where tools. They know how to follow a recipe to create something in their kitchen.

The chef understands deeply how food and recipes work. They know when they can deviate from a recipe, or use a different tool and change the end product in a positive way. They don’t merely know facts or buttons to press, they have a deep understanding.

That’s superficial knowledge versus deep knowledge. I think it’s an easy and memorable way to understand it.

He continues by explaining why quantity and doing gets you to the deep knowledge. If you sit in class and listen to someone spewing writing advice, you’re a cook. You might work hard and remember all that advice, but you’ll struggle actually writing your own book and making it good. Instead, write ten books yourself, and you’ll understand deeply where that advices comes from. You can break the rules when that’s by far the best choice.

And as always, the chef can’t explain what they do. The knowledge is so deep, it can barely bubble to the surface :p

If you ask them why they threw certain ingredients together and it tastes delicious, they’ll shrug and say: “just felt like the right choice”

More examples for clarity

Deep knowledge often feels like “one step ahead” or “counter intuitive”. Superficial knowledge sounds very logical and “duh” on its own, but falls apart under any scrutiny.

Deep knowledge transfers between software, courses, projects, objectives. Superficial knowledge does not.

Deep knowledge is usually about relationships or connections. General principles to take into consideration at all times. Superficial knowledge can usually be framed as a specific “how to X?"-question.

As expected, deep knowledge comes from applying the principles in this guide. This article is more about awareness. Now you’re more aware if an action is leading to deep or superficial knowledge. If what you’re doing is generally beneficial or only about learning one specific thing in a specific circumstance. Once you notice it, switch to deeper learning.