Chapter Content
Okay, so, Chapter 23, right? It's all about "Learning in Public." It's kind of a cool concept, actually.
So, the chapter starts by talking about Galileo. Yeah, Galileo, the astronomer. Back then, he, like, discovered something about Saturn's rings, but instead of just, you know, blurting it out, he sent out this anagram to his colleagues. It was this weird way of saying, "Hey, I found something cool," but without giving away the details, just in case someone else, like Kepler, his rival, figured it out first. He wanted to, like, "patent" his discovery, you know?
Then, the chapter jumps forward in time, like, centuries ahead, to this mathematician named Tim Gowers. This guy, he's a big deal, a Fields Medal winner and everything, but he was stuck on a problem. But instead of just, you know, banging his head against the wall alone, he decided to do something totally different. He, like, opened up his blog and invited everyone to help him solve it in the comments. It was called the Polymath Project.
And get this, in just a little over a month, twenty-seven mathematicians submitted, like, eight hundred comments! And they not only solved the original problem, but they solved an even *harder* one too. He was like, "This has been one of the most exciting six weeks of my mathematical life!" So, yeah, it really worked.
The whole point is, Gowers and others are part of this whole open science thing, where they don't hide their work until it's perfect. They, like, share the messy process, the mistakes, everything. It's all about learning in public, which, you know, allows everyone to build on each other's ideas faster.
And it's not just for mathematicians or scientists, either. You can be the scientist of your own life, you know? Share your experiments and your journey, and it fuels your growth.
There's this guy KP, Karthik Puvvada, and he moved from India to the US. He was, like, building his life here, and he knew he needed to show his work to get through the immigration stuff. So, he just started sharing everything he learned online. Like, when he learned how to build an audience on Twitter, he made a guide. AI tools? He made a list of his favorites. Cold emailing? He shared his best template. He said, "I was learning so much, I wanted to make sure anyone who would come after would have it easier than me." He also said he thought teaching something helps you get better at it.
He even started interviewing successful founders every week, like Alexis Ohanian from Reddit, you know? And he shared what he learned. Apparently, most experts are willing to share their knowledge if you're genuinely curious and ask interesting questions. And the crazy thing is, now he's got his green card and his own startup. He's built this amazing network of people who trust him and are willing to help.
Then, the chapter talks about how the open startup movement started. People were just, like, sharing screenshots of their metrics and writing blog posts about their entrepreneurial journeys. And the author of this chapter was inspired by that and decided to learn in public too, sharing their progress with Ness Labs.
Okay, so, it's like, in ancient Greece, learning in public was normal. You went to the agora, the public square, and people shared their wisdom and debated ideas. You could propose a philosophical theory and get feedback, even if it meant being publicly shamed if your logic was bad. But today, there's no, like, universal public arena. So, you have to figure out how much to share, where to share it, and with whom.
And that's where a personal experiment in public comes in. It's a way to, like, practice learning in public. So, the author brings up this meditation pact they made, and how it finally worked when they did it publicly. They created an online document, shared it with friends, and wrote notes after each session. It was a "vow of radical transparency."
And the feedback they got was super helpful. Like, one person said fifteen minutes was too long for a beginner, and another suggested starting with breathing exercises. Someone else told them to write down distracting business ideas.
So, they tweaked their approach based on the feedback, and, you know, eventually, they started looking forward to meditation. It became a habit.
So, if you want to try learning in public, the chapter lays out three things. Three things, now get this. These are the Public Pillars — a public pledge, a public platform, and public practice. Okay?
First, make a pledge. Tell people what you're doing. It makes you more accountable. Just write a text or a tweet and hit send. But, like, actually follow through, because just announcing it can make you *less* likely to do it.
Second, choose a platform. Pick something that aligns with your project and is easy to use. Don't spread yourself too thin. And someone named Danny Miranda used Twitter to document his podcasting process. He got tons of support.
Third, practice and iterate. Start small to build confidence. Like an artist posting sketches before sharing more complex art. Biochemists sharing papers, then diet tips, then expanding... You just gotta start and share notes and evolve over time.
It all boils down to radical transparency. There's this person, Eaoifa Forward, who started making her own kombucha and asked everyone for feedback. Learning in public is messy, but it's iterative.
Another example is Steph Smith, a podcast host, who shares all sorts of stuff on her website, like how many days she's exercised, the books she's reading, her side projects, even the revenue they're generating. It's about sharing the highs and the lows, even when you fail. And people connect with that vulnerability.
So, share your real work in real time. Open your notebook, show the crossed-out ideas, share even the lessons from failures. Become comfortable saying, "I don't know," and asking for help. You'll strengthen your thinking by exposing your ideas to diverse perspectives.
Remember to welcome new inputs instead of just promoting your own point of view. By working together, progress compounds.
Pieter Levels, the Nomad List creator, started with a simple spreadsheet and crowdsourced data from Twitter. And the response was amazing. He built a platform and asked users for monetization ideas. Now it brings in a huge amount of revenue. He did it by listening to user feedback and being completely open.
And listen to this. Sharing your work, sharing to create new opportunity, it can give you early feedback, it can increase your creativity, clarify your thinking, build your network, and help you learn faster.
The chapter then tackles the fears that people have about learning in public.
The first fear: "I don't know enough." The chapter emphasizes that you don't need to be an expert. Expertise is, like, a mirage. Danielle Simpson was teaching English online and asked her husband to build a tool to automate feedback. They turned it into a company. So, share what you know, even if you're just a little ahead of someone else.
Second fear: "People might judge me." Fear of public speaking, anxiety, that's all real, right? Psychologists call it the fear of negative evaluation. But a small personal experiment is a safe place to start. By showing up consistently, the discomfort will subside. The chapter references a study that helped public speaking using training, short talks without any preparation.
The author shares their own fear of recording videos. So, they made a pact to film themselves every day for ten days. And it worked. The fear will never be gone, but it becomes manageable.
Third fear: "It might be a distraction." Will sharing your work detract from your actual productivity? Focus on learning in public is inherently embedded into the experiment. Kristyn Sommer, a psychologist who shares her work on social media, says it's not a distraction because she integrates it with her work. And that it might improve in the academic world, since her works are displayed publicly. Find opportunities to document and share that align with work you'd be doing anyway.
Fourth fear: "It might negatively impact my professional reputation." How do you navigate the line between your curiosity and your reputation? Tracy Kim Townsend, an orthopedic surgeon interested in psychedelics, was terrified of what her colleagues would think. Eventually, she left her field and opened her own practice. Practice authenticity with boundaries. Start by sharing with a trusted group of people.
Fifth fear: "I might become too focused on external validation." Will you become too focused on public validation over personal values? Stay focused on your internal metrics of success. Limit time spent monitoring public feedback, or restrict who can comment on your posts. Not everyone's opinion is worth hearing.
So, yeah, in the end, the chapter says that there will be a day when the risk of *not* sharing will feel worse than the risk of sharing. There is no need to maintain a facade of expertise. Don't hide your uncertainty. Flex your curiosity. Start small and grow at your own pace.
And, if you need courage, someone once said that in a hundred years, we'll all be dead anyway. So, quit worrying and get out there. That's what learning in public is all about, right?