Roadmap is a lie

Today, when I was learning how to write a simple article time-estimate plugin in JS, I burned out. The reason was: I didn’t know how to learn a programming language.

Until I wrote this blog, I realized that I used to rely on just one or two learning methods: reading books + referencing roadmaps (I used to even pride myself on only reading books! What was I thinking?!). At the same time, I always firmly believed that for any piece of knowledge, there had to be a corresponding roadmap to reach it.

But I burned out.

When I think about it carefully: there is no such thing as a “roadmap.”

Let’s take learning Chinese as an example: outside of classroom learning, do we not learn Chinese? Watching comics, reading news, watching TV dramas, telling jokes with friends, acting in plays... there’s no so-called “path” here. My accumulation of Chinese knowledge feels more like planting seeds everywhere and letting them grow.

Now, let’s take the development of human science as another example:

Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered in 1928 that penicillin could kill bacteria.

Wilhelm Röntgen, in 1895, discovered a type of radiation capable of penetrating objects while studying cathode rays.

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, in 1964, accidentally discovered cosmic microwave background radiation while trying to eliminate noise from radio signals.

Damn, no wonder I couldn’t learn anything properly. It’s because of this.