Preparing to attend a local Papers We Love meetup, I found myself working to make sense of the Raft consensus algorithm. A handy feature of this particular paper was the companion site of user study materials, including lecture videos and quizzes. As a bonus, an animated visualization of Raft was shared at the meetup, and can be found here.
While these supplementary materials were extremely helpful with surveying the main points of the paper, I found it sorely tempting to skim through the paper itself. In a way, all these study aids were ironically a potential distraction from the struggle of working through dense ideas. For instance, the idea of a “hacking” the learning process though audio and visual stimulation was seductive, but it was clear that the lecture recording could not have covered all details of the paper in just under an hour. While alternative media helped make the topic accessible, there was no substitute for diving into the paper itself.
These observations, coupled with the my information overload at the actual event, served as a reminder not to trick myself into thinking I understand more than I actually do. One thing that I need to ask myself more often: Is the sensation of forward progress real? Or do I really need to seek discomfort and engage in the deliberate practice needed for deep understanding?