Stupidity and Learning

I am currently learning how to program in Objective-C and Cocoa, and as any Mac developer would tell you, the best book to start with is Aaron Hillegass’s Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X.

The first chapter ends with some advice on learning that should be emblazoned at the beginning of all books and the entryway to every school,

When learning something new, many students will think, ‘Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid.’ Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.

According to a recent study by Professor Timothy Salthouse, our brain power begins to lessen at age 27, and our ability to remember starts dwindling at age 37. I just turned 27 this year, and I feel like I can learn new subjects quickly. So I must be to the right of the bell curve.

Regardless of where you fall on Professor Salthouse’s bell curve, learning new things can be just plain difficult.

I urge you to burn Mr. Hillegass’s advice into your memory—I find sticky notes to be helpful. Some things are hard to learn. You’re not stupid. If you get stuck, stop, break the problem down into simpler steps, and try again. Still too hard? Rinse and repeat. This is when patience really pays off.