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In this chapter, the author discusses the importance of feedback in the learning process. The author begins by sharing the story of comedian Chris Rock, who regularly performs at small comedy clubs to test out new material and receive feedback in order to improve his jokes. The author explains that feedback is a key principle of ultralearning, as it provides immediate information on one’s performance and helps to accelerate learning.

The author highlights the research on deliberate practice, which shows that immediate feedback is crucial for reaching expert levels of performance. However, the author notes that not all feedback is effective. In fact, a meta-analysis revealed that feedback can actually have a negative impact in certain cases. The type of feedback matters, and feedback aimed at a person’s ego, such as praise or criticism of one’s character, is usually detrimental to learning. Useful feedback provides information on what is being done wrong and how to fix it.

The author shares two interesting points about this research. First, feedback needs to be processed correctly in order to be beneficial. Ultralearners need to be selective about the feedback they act upon and not let every piece of feedback influence their learning process. Second, feedback-seeking efforts are often underused because feedback can be uncomfortable. Many people avoid seeking feedback due to the fear of criticism. However, ultralearners recognize the importance of feedback and willingly seek it out, even if it means facing discomfort.

The author then discusses different types of feedback: outcome feedback, informational feedback, and corrective feedback. Outcome feedback provides a general assessment of performance but does not offer specific information on what can be improved. Informational feedback tells you what you are doing wrong but does not provide guidance on how to fix it. Corrective feedback is the most valuable as it not only shows what is being done wrong but also provides guidance on how to improve.

The author provides tactics for obtaining better feedback. These tactics include reducing noise in the feedback by focusing on the useful information and filtering out the irrelevant aspects, hitting the difficulty sweet spot to avoid constantly feeling successful or unsuccessful, using metafeedback to evaluate the overall success of the learning strategy, and seeking high-intensity, rapid feedback to accelerate the learning process.

The author concludes by emphasizing that receiving feedback is not always easy and can be stressful. However, ultralearners embrace feedback and use it to drive their learning forward. The next principle of ultralearning, retention, will be discussed in the next chapter.

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