I think you’ve completely missed the main use-case for learning from the best.
Example: Dick Fosbury, the high jumper who invented the “Fosbury Flop”. He perfected a new high-jump technique, and absolutely smashed a bunch of high-jump records. Naturally, the technique spread, and today it’s the standard.
If it’s 1969 and you want to learn to high jump, learning from Dick Fosbury is probably your best bet. Not because he’s a great teacher, not because he’s near your skill level, but because he knows things about high jump which nobody else knows (yet).
This generalizes. There is little-to-no reason to learn physics 101 or a generic exercise regimen or basic programming from the best in the world. When some knowledge or skill is already widely known, you should learn it from someone who can teach it well, ideally to you specifically. But the use-case for learning from the best is completely different: you study the best when there are no other options. You study the best when the best is doing something completely different, so they’re the only one to learn it from.
And bear in mind that the best in an area may be doing something different which isn’t very legible. They may have some unusual ways of doing things or thinking about things, which they won’t explicitly “teach” and which won’t have some useful name like “the Fosbury Flop”. But you may still be able to absorb those things by hanging around them, working with them, etc. For instance, back in college I spent a semester on a project with the strongest programmer in my class, and I picked up various small things which turned out to be really important (like “choose a good IDE”).
But the use-case for learning from the best is completely different: you study the best when there are no other options. You study the best when the best is doing something completely different, so they’re the only one to learn it from.
I feel like I do mention this when I say one ought to learn from similar people.
If you spent 10 years learning how to <sport> and you are nr 10 in <sport> and someone else is nr 1 in <sport>, the heuristic of learning from someone similar to you applies.
For instance, back in college I spent a semester on a project with the strongest programmer in my class, and I picked up various small things which turned out to be really important (like “choose a good IDE”).
What you are describing here though is simply a category error, “the best in class” is not “the best programmer”, there were probably hundreds of thousands better than him on all possible metrics.
So I’m not sure how it’s relevant.
It might pay to hang out with him, again, based on the similarity criteria I point out: He’s someone very much like you, that is somewhat better at the thing you want to learn (programming).
I think you’ve completely missed the main use-case for learning from the best.
Example: Dick Fosbury, the high jumper who invented the “Fosbury Flop”. He perfected a new high-jump technique, and absolutely smashed a bunch of high-jump records. Naturally, the technique spread, and today it’s the standard.
If it’s 1969 and you want to learn to high jump, learning from Dick Fosbury is probably your best bet. Not because he’s a great teacher, not because he’s near your skill level, but because he knows things about high jump which nobody else knows (yet).
This generalizes. There is little-to-no reason to learn physics 101 or a generic exercise regimen or basic programming from the best in the world. When some knowledge or skill is already widely known, you should learn it from someone who can teach it well, ideally to you specifically. But the use-case for learning from the best is completely different: you study the best when there are no other options. You study the best when the best is doing something completely different, so they’re the only one to learn it from.
And bear in mind that the best in an area may be doing something different which isn’t very legible. They may have some unusual ways of doing things or thinking about things, which they won’t explicitly “teach” and which won’t have some useful name like “the Fosbury Flop”. But you may still be able to absorb those things by hanging around them, working with them, etc. For instance, back in college I spent a semester on a project with the strongest programmer in my class, and I picked up various small things which turned out to be really important (like “choose a good IDE”).
I feel like I do mention this when I say one ought to learn from similar people.
If you spent 10 years learning how to <sport> and you are nr 10 in <sport> and someone else is nr 1 in <sport>, the heuristic of learning from someone similar to you applies.
What you are describing here though is simply a category error, “the best in class” is not “the best programmer”, there were probably hundreds of thousands better than him on all possible metrics.
So I’m not sure how it’s relevant.
It might pay to hang out with him, again, based on the similarity criteria I point out: He’s someone very much like you, that is somewhat better at the thing you want to learn (programming).