---
aliases: ["The Art of Learning"]
Is A: Note
Author: "Josh Waitzkin"
Topics: ["[[topic-productivity-systems]]"]
URL: "https://example.com/art-of-learning"
---
# The Art of Learning
*Josh Waitzkin*

Waitzkin is one of the rare people who has achieved world-class mastery in two completely different fields -- chess (as a child prodigy and national champion) and martial arts (as a Push Hands world champion). This book is his attempt to articulate the meta-skill of learning itself: how to approach new domains, how to push through plateaus, and how to develop the kind of deep, intuitive understanding that separates true experts from competent practitioners. The result is the most practically useful book on learning I have encountered, far more actionable than the academic literature on deliberate practice.

Waitzkin's concept of "investment in loss" is particularly powerful. He argues that the willingness to lose, to fail, and to look foolish is the single biggest determinant of learning speed. Most people protect their ego by staying in their comfort zone, doing what they already know how to do. True learners deliberately seek out situations where they will struggle, because struggle is where learning happens. This applies directly to content creation: the newsletter editions where I try something new and fail are far more valuable for my development as a writer than the ones where I repeat a proven formula.

The book also introduces the idea of "making smaller circles" -- taking a complex skill and reducing it to its essential components, then practicing those components to an extraordinarily deep level before re-integrating them. This is the opposite of the superficial breadth that most people settle for. In chess, it means understanding a single endgame position so deeply that the principles generalize outward. In writing, it means mastering the craft of a single paragraph type (an argument, a narrative, an opening hook) before trying to orchestrate a full piece. Depth of understanding in fundamentals creates flexibility at higher levels of complexity.

## Key takeaways

- "Investment in loss" -- the willingness to fail and look foolish -- is the key accelerant of learning
- "Making smaller circles": reduce a skill to its fundamental components, master each one deeply, then re-integrate
- Plateaus are not signs of stagnation but natural phases where deep processing is happening beneath the surface
- The "soft zone" (working with distractions rather than against them) is more resilient than the "hard zone" (requiring perfect conditions)
- Stress and recovery cycles apply to cognitive learning just as they do to physical training -- rest is not optional
- Intuition is not mystical; it is the product of so much deliberate practice that pattern recognition becomes automatic
- The transition between disciplines (chess to martial arts) reveals transferable meta-skills that are more valuable than domain-specific knowledge

## How I apply this

- I practice "investment in loss" by deliberately experimenting with writing formats I am not good at. Long-form analysis, personal essays, data-driven pieces -- each requires different skills, and I allocate time to practice the ones where I am weakest, even though the results are initially worse than my standard format.
- I apply "making smaller circles" to my editing process. Rather than trying to improve "writing quality" in general, I focus on one specific element per month (opening hooks, transition sentences, paragraph rhythm) and practice it obsessively. This focused approach has improved my craft faster than trying to improve everything at once.
- The stress-recovery insight from Waitzkin (and from endurance sports generally) has convinced me that rest and recovery are not luxuries but essential parts of the creative process. My best ideas consistently come after rest periods, not during marathon work sessions.

## Related

- [[the-compound-effect-in-knowledge-work]]
- [[training-load-and-knowledge-work]]
- [[reading-more-by-reading-better]]
- [[cycling-teaches-patience]]
- [[note-deep-work]]
- [[note-grit]]
- [[note-range]]
- [[note-atomic-habits]]
- [[topic-productivity-systems]]
- [[topic-cycling-training]]
