There's a HUGE Distinction in Time Scales

If you haven’t looked up from your pocket-sized doom-scrolling machine in a hot minute, then you’ve probably forgotten this.

Access Isn’t Ownership

The internet. AI. The little foldable device in your pocket (or at least that’s the next iteration). These modern marvels hide the nature of mastery. As our innovations continue to erode the age-old truth about how we learn and grow: knowledge can be gained with ease, but skill is still gained through regular practice, focused effort, and discipline.

We have the entirety of human knowledge in our pockets wherever we go (as long as there’s a signal). It’s getting harder and harder to go off-grid as the world shrinks further and further. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt…

But that is the delusion we feed ourselves. Chances are that you’ve experienced it firsthand, though.

The Lecture and the Lesson

I remember a lecture I attended as an undergraduate in one of my engineering courses. The TA was covering the topic for a sick professor—just him and a presentation for the next 90 minutes.

It was torture for everyone.

Slide after slide, we were treated to the back of his head as he mumbled through them or clicked past the ones he couldn’t explain.

I swore never to be that kind of teacher to my students.

I share this little anecdote to highlight the point: accessibility does NOT equal expertise. Yes, you can ask anyone on the street for directions, but if they haven’t lived in town for long, they’re no more qualified to provide them than you are. These days, we ask our phones as just about every location accessible by a vehicle is theoretically within reach.

Reclaim the Slow Grind of Mastery

We still need professional-level crafts(wo)men, artists, entertainers, surgeons, martial artists, dancers, actors, etc.

There are no substitutes for the real world regardless of how pervasive the virtual one becomes. Even with AR (augmented reality) becoming feasible and more convenient, I’d rather go see a play, a performance, or a lecture series in person if given the option. We are social beings that need engagement and connection. That is never going away.

And that’s why we must choose to create, to learn, and to educate.

We are not in the Matrix where we can download skills into our bodies. Even if we could, our bodies wouldn’t magically be conditioned to pull them off. Yes, you would know EXACTLY how to do a split if it were “installed” via Neurolink, but try doing that with legs that never experienced this kind of stress.

With all this technology at our fingertips, the Dunning-Kruger Effect is now on steroids.

Don’t skip leg day.

P.S. What skill do you practice on a regular basis to keep it in your body?