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Tim Ferris Experiment

4 Post author: casebash 29 April 2015 02:27PM

So, I saw that the Tim Ferris Experiment was recently released. The concept of this show is that Tim spends 5 days trying to learn a new skill. I haven't seen any of the episodes (the iTunes link appears to be US only), but this seems to be exactly the kind of content that Less Wrong would be interested in.

A few questions:

1) Tim has already written about his accelerated learning techniques in the Four Hour Chef. Has anyone tried his techniques and were they effective for you?

2) Has anyone attempted accelerated learning based off another resource? How effective was it?

Comments (8)

Comment author: Lumifer 29 April 2015 05:53:44PM 19 points [-]

this seems to be exactly the kind of content that Less Wrong would be interested in.

It's a TV show. TV shows are heavily optimized for entertainment and shock value.

Tim Ferris is an interesting guy, but his most outstanding talent is for self-promotion.

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 03 May 2015 07:49:26PM 0 points [-]

I agree the being a TV show is evidence that this is more self-promotion and less fact. That's just because the prior probability is that way - content is selected for more by promotion than by quality.

But that doesn't exclude facts or otherwise useful or positive content. Thus I'd like to see a more qualified retort.

Comment author: ChristianKl 03 May 2015 09:32:17PM 0 points [-]

It being a TV show means that it's focused on stunts that look good on camera.

That's not the goal for most learning projects.

Comment author: [deleted] 29 April 2015 05:38:28PM *  4 points [-]

this seems to be exactly the kind of content that Less Wrong would be interested in.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/63w/the_fourhour_body_by_timothy_ferriss_any_lwers/

A previous post in regards to Tim Ferris.

I assumed it did not take off because people here are either lazy (the comments say the opposite), or it didn't work for them consistently enough or as promised, as some comments said.

Comment author: Vaniver 29 April 2015 07:09:53PM *  8 points [-]

I assumed it did not take off because people here are either lazy (the comments say the opposite), or it didn't work for them consistently enough or as promised, as some comments said.

I think Tim Ferris is a recurring background character; I mean, I've read all three of his four hour books, and his thoughts on various things have influenced mine, and I don't think I'm the only one. But I don't think anything that I heard of from only him was a life-changing thing that worked very well.

Comment author: TylerJay 29 April 2015 05:42:16PM 3 points [-]

...or Tim Feriss is seen as low status because he's not an academic (or for some other reason), so nobody tried. Could be a hidden alternative.

Comment author: Benito 30 April 2015 12:31:45PM 3 points [-]

Tim Feriss is seen as low status because he's not an academic (or for some other reason), so nobody tried.

That specific reason doesn't seem likely on this site.

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 29 April 2015 10:19:52PM *  0 points [-]

I see quite some overlap between Tim Ferris process and the methods described by Cal Newport e.g. in How to Be a High School Superstar:

Tim Ferris obviously spends lots of time on topics and projects he deeply immerses himself in. This looks like the result of Newports 'Law of Underscheduling' combined with the 'Law of Focus': Master one serious interest. And another one. And another one. Repeat as needed to get got at apparently anything due to the 'Law of Innovation': Pursue accomplishments that are hard to explain, not hard to do.