[9rx]

> I often find trying to learn things on my own I start from differential calculus in this example and try to work backwards.

Doesn't everyone who has learned how to learn? Learning is way more efficient when you already have forward context for why you are learning something. Nebulously studying addition and subtraction without being able to see that it leads to multiplication (to stay with your example) is an absolutely horrid situation to find yourself in.

In fact, I suspect that's exactly what the article is really trying to get at: Those who "learn backwards", which happens to be a trait commonly associated with self-teaching, outperform.