>Perhaps the real motivation to keep up with the material comes from actually enrolling the university?
For most people in most situations, the real motivation to keep up with the material comes from the wage premium one gets after getting the sheepskin. It is unsurprising you, a humble autodidact, are having a lot more trouble than an actual MIT student, because unlike an actual MIT student, you will not walk out of this course any closer to having an MIT degree.
>I guess I am used to deadline-oriented studying.
You can always reverse the curse, and promise to pay someone if you don't finish X material by Y date. You probably also want some kind of proof mechanism to show that you actually did it, like eg a graded test.
>Has anyone completed such type of lectures by themselves? How do you stay consistent and disciplined?
I've read through several textbooks cover to cover including problem sets since graduating. My motivation is mostly just burning curiosity. I can't stand the feeling of not only not knowing a thing, but knowing that I don't know it or feeling like I'm faking it every time I do act on what I know.
At first your comment rubbed me the wrong way, too cynical.
But it is completely true. No one would ‘learn’ the way college courses are structured. The only reason these courses get completed is the pace/cadence, GPA requirements to get jobs and the degree.
In the ‘real world’ you just learn enough to solve the problem in front of you and as you face more and more your knowledge tree expands.
No one in their right mind would go through a syllabus-like sequence - it is just boring, dull as hell.
>At first your comment rubbed me the wrong way, too cynical.
It's only cynical if you think making money is bad! I think it's terrific that your average B student and up is mature enough to reliably take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and work hard for several years without any immediate reward, in exchange for a pretty reliable pathway towards high paying specialized labor for the rest of their lives. It spits in the face of the narrative that young people are too stupid, or too naive or whatever to have agency in their own lives.
>The only reason these courses get completed is the pace/cadence, GPA requirements to get jobs and the degree.
I cite The Case Against Education, as usual. [1]
>In the ‘real world’ you just learn enough to solve the problem in front of you and as you face more and more your knowledge tree expands. No one in their right mind would go through a syllabus-like sequence - it is just boring, dull as hell.
I cite too John D. Cook's "Just-in-case versus just-in-time" blog post. [2] I don't work through actual syllabi, but I love working through textbooks from start to finish. But you are also correct that I am emphatically not in my right mind, and my career has suffered for it. ;)
For most people in most situations, the real motivation to keep up with the material comes from the wage premium one gets after getting the sheepskin. It is unsurprising you, a humble autodidact, are having a lot more trouble than an actual MIT student, because unlike an actual MIT student, you will not walk out of this course any closer to having an MIT degree.
>I guess I am used to deadline-oriented studying.
You can always reverse the curse, and promise to pay someone if you don't finish X material by Y date. You probably also want some kind of proof mechanism to show that you actually did it, like eg a graded test.
>Has anyone completed such type of lectures by themselves? How do you stay consistent and disciplined?
I've read through several textbooks cover to cover including problem sets since graduating. My motivation is mostly just burning curiosity. I can't stand the feeling of not only not knowing a thing, but knowing that I don't know it or feeling like I'm faking it every time I do act on what I know.