This year was a good one for me. I was able to write two posts a week on a consistent basis. The length of each piece varied, but I showed up, week after week. For that, I’m happy.

I’m always on the lookout for what makes a great explanation tick. If I don’t know anything about a topic, what’s the best way for me to accelerate the process of learning? Conversely, what are the signs I should be watching for that indicate I won’t get anything out of the material?

Imagine you’re trying to learn quantum field theory, and you just got to a tricky part: deriving the LSZ reduction formula (don’t worry, you don’t have to know what this is!). The calculation and algebra are a little messy, particularly if you’re working with the fermionic case. When going through the derivation, it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees.

I never use my notes from class.