Lately I’ve been tempted (again) to make a wonderful diagram about everything in the Beginner Boost. I used to have these amazing charts and diagrams that I made and printed at poster size on the walls. People responded to it. They love the chart-like nature of it. It’s like a flow chart to their learning. But I’m also reminded how much work it is to keep such a resource in sync with an outline of the content required.
By the way, this was the fundamental problem with UML that tanked it completely. Keeping the diagram of the data model in sync with the actual data model was nearly impossible and never consistently implemented. So people hate UML now. I was one of the ones who fully drank the Koolaide and now despise it.
It was my background in drafting that brought me to love UML and diagramming in general. Diagrams are things that you can pour over as you stand in front of them in poster form on the wall just contemplating all the possibilities. That’s why skills trees are so popular in gaming. People love to perceive the idea that they control their destiny.
This dilemma follows for everything else that qualifies as extra illustrations and fluff. Hell, even writing about it when you can just explain it quickly or demonstrate it is a pain in the ass. This is exactly why Socrates never wrote anything down. Direct communication is always best for that type of exchange. Reading is great for diving into the concepts, but after reading a few pages most people are so antsy to try something that it is best to put the book aside, write a little learning plan for that, and then explore and experiment with it (the RWX method).
One reason I believe this 2021 Boost has been so successful is because of how little preparation and stuff there is to keep synchronized. If I spent gobs of time preparing illustrations, or even rendering the content as a web page, I just wouldn’t do it and when I did it would be more rigid locking me into a curriculum cave that I’d be forced to stay in. The loose approach of the Boost (and SkilStak) method allow for maximum adaptation and learning, for me to fail along with everyone else, for us all to learn together as a community, to share the exploration, the most enjoyable part of learning. Having a bunch of extra stuff would make this impossible and kill that vibe. It is far more important to be consistent and consumable than to add illustrations and fluff. The feedback from the Boost has rather objectively demonstrated that this way just works. It’s really too bad more who would help others learn don’t take this approach. More people would learn and enjoy it.
Perhaps after one full Boost completes I could spend time on that. Perhaps not. Perhaps that is time better spend making more loosey-goosey content that will encourage people to participate instead of stand in front of it dreaming of the possibilities.