He passed all of the final exams in MIT's 4-year computer science curriculum in 12 months... without attending any classes.
In 2014 he decided not to speak English for a year and, instead, managed to learn four other languages while traveling the world.
This past July, he spent 30 days perfecting his portrait-drawing abilities.
Scott Young refuses to stop learning. As a result, he is accomplishing many of the things most people only dream of doing. And he's doing so at an incredibly rapid pace.
If you need a bit of inspiration today, keep reading.
20 questions with Scott Young
1 - How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
Scott - I'm a writer and learning enthusiast.
2 - For those who aren't familiar with your blog, what is it all about?
Scott - I write about self-improvement broadly, but most people know me for my learning challenges, such as the MIT Challenge where I learned MIT's undergraduate computer science program over 12 months, or The Year Without English where a friend and I went to learn four languages in one year.
3 - I understand you started your blog at the age of 17. What motivated you to create the blog?
Scott - At the time I was getting really interested in self-improvement and wanted to create something to give back. The blog came out of that naturally, and when it started to get a bit popular I was hooked.
4 - What's been your biggest takeaway from your decade of blogging?
Scott - The importance of patience. That things have a natural timeframe to develop, and that sometimes it's a lot slower than you'd like.
5 - What tips would you give to others who are interested in starting their own blog?
Scott - Be patient. Write a lot. Be interesting: don't just write about things, try to live them in creative ways.
6 - What was the hardest part about your MIT Challenge in 2012? Would you ever do a similar future project to learn more in another field?
Scott - I think the challenge as a whole was actually a bit easier in most ways than people imagine. The hardest part was probably planning and lack of materials. Despite the abundance of courses online, it was quite a challenge to get something close to MIT's curriculum just using their open courseware. Yeah, if I had to say something, I'd say that intellectually the challenge was easier than most people imagine, but trying to meet the criteria of an MIT degree was a lot trickier than people imagine.
I'm sure I'll do more challenges like this in the future. Although maybe not in one year!
7 - Did you study any languages before you began your "Year Without English" challenge?
Scott - Yes, I learned French previously.
8 - What was the reaction of locals who you met while experiencing the "Year Without English?"
Scott - Locals were mostly positive. I think it's refreshing when you meet people and tell them that you're trying to learn their language with such commitment. We hardly ever got negative feedback. Of course, sometimes communication breaks down, but that's part of the fun too.
9 - Do you plan to learn more languages in the future?
Scott - I've started learning a little Macedonian, but I haven't gone through any intense immersion yet. Currently I'm more interested in taking my current languages to fluency.
10 - You often mention the importance of tight feedback loops. What do you mean by this, and why are they important?
Scott - Corrective feedback is such an essential part of learning. Not just at the conscious level where you figure out what your mistakes are and say to yourself, "Oh, I won't do that again," but also at a subconscious level. I feel like getting a lot of tight feedback will naturally guide you to become better at something in ways you can't even articulate.
11 - Three of your major projects took place in 2012, 2014 and 2016. What can we expect for 2018?
Scott - Haha well I have a couple projects on the horizon. Part of doing the portrait drawing challenge was to see if it would be possible to execute on a project in a month's time and have it still be interesting. The success of that means I'm more likely to do more of those projects in the future. I loved the MIT Challenge and Year Without English, but year-long projects require such a huge commitment, I wouldn't take one on again unless it was something really special.
12 - Who is your favorite author?
Scott - Too many: Steven Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Cal Newport, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Matt Ridley, Scott Aaronson, Michael Lewis and more I can't remember right now.
13 - It's clear that you're a big believer in the power of learning. Why is it that you're passionate about this subject?
Scott - I've always had a deep curiosity as to how the world works. For me it's almost a spiritual interest, if a secular person like myself can claim to have such interests. I feel like we're born into this world blind and ignorant, and it's through learning that we achieve mastery over our surroundings and understanding as to who we are and the world we live in. I think that passion drives me to learn a lot of new things, and I'm just grateful that I managed to find a job where I get to do that.
14 - Who inspires you?
Scott - I've always had a lot of inspirations that come in at various points in my life. When I started blogging, I really admired Steve Pavlina. As I've built a business, Ramit Sethi. When I was trying to learn languages, Benny Lewis. For writers, I'm inspired by Cal Newport and Scott Alexander. As I learn more about cognitive science I'm inspired by great thinkers like Terry Sejnowski and Daniel Dennett. But I've always felt like it's important to be your own person, to emulate and learn from models and mentors but ultimately find your own path in life, so I'm sure as I keep going I'll move to new people.
15 - Where is one place that you've not yet traveled, that is on the top of your list to visit?
Scott - That's too hard! I'm actually most eager to go back to China (albeit, to somewhere new). I didn't get enough when I was there the first time.
16 - What is the most difficult thing you've ever attempted to learn?
Scott - Probably 6.013 - Electromagnetics and Applications. I barely got through it in the MIT Challenge and it was without a doubt the hardest class I've ever learned. I think the math was straining my limits at the pace I was going at during the challenge.
17 - What's your greatest fear?
Scott - I definitely have perfectionistic tendencies, so I find that I'm more likely to worry about not doing something well enough, or making a mistake that will come back to bite me later.
18 - What's your favorite quote?
Scott - I don't have a favorite, but I do like this one in Spanish "Mas sabe el Diablo por viejo que por diablo." Or, "The Devil knows more because he is old, than because he is the Devil." Meaning time and patience are the keys to wisdom.
19 - You get to have dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?
Scott - Richard Feynman, Alan Turing and Robin Hanson.
20 - What is one thing very few people know about you?
Scott - Hmmm I don't know. I used to be a lifeguard, maybe that's pretty obscure?
A sincere thank-you to Scott Young for taking on my 20 questions.
As always, thanks to all of you for taking the time to read.
Who would you like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.
If you like what you read, be sure to follow my blog!
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