
Some thoughts about learning - turt
https://revanthrameshkumar.github.io/gwurdblog/thoughts/about/learning/2018/12/21/first_post_thoughts_about_learning.html
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lordnacho
This is what I thought of formal education as well. Most of the topics are
interesting, but you have to learn how to pass an exam. In fact, several
exams, in too many subjects to appreciate at once.

The point of my engineering program seemed to be that you can apply the same
few math topics (vector calc, numerical methods, complex analysis, etc) to
just about anything: electricity, structures, fluid flow, and so on. There was
no real need to force people to do loads and loads of these courses. It's not
like you can build an actual bridge or digital radio after such a course, you
just have an appreciation for it.

But you have to study all the specific models in each course to get your
degree.

The same goes for essay subjects like Economics. There's a lot of interesting
stuff, but you need to read a mountain of books in a certain way that allows
you to write a 6-8 paragraph essay on exam day.

When I left uni, I spent my spare time learning finance. I did it at my own
pace. I read through Hull and Wilmott for technical stuff. But I also read a
fair few histories and biographies. All at a sensible pace, choosing myself
what I thought was important to understand.

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bluejellybean
I've found that I get the most enjoyment and success out of my learning when I
am stuck trying to solve some problem where I do not have the required domain
knowledge. By taking on a subject with a specific goal in mind, or even a
particular question that I want answers to, there is a concrete reason to
stick with the learning and dive deep into it. By taking this approach, it
turns the learning process into something that isn't a slog. Education becomes
a part of the realm of problem-solving that I find both fun and engaging. I've
also noticed that this approach generates more interesting questions related
to the subject that otherwise would not have a chance of being explored.

As an example, I've been wanting to learn about orbital mechanics because
satellites are pretty neat and I wanted to figure out the cost of positioning
them in space. I purchased a few textbooks on the subject but got stuck due to
some of my math knowledge not being strong enough. This lack of knowledge led
me down a path of learning linear algebra and having a ton of fun with it. It
has not been a painful process that many students associate with the subject
but instead a fascinating journey on how to think about spacial problems and
how to apply them to topics like satellite orbits.

As another example, I recently took a microbiology class as prerequisites for
a program I am applying to, and I wasn't looking forward to it as I heard from
others that it was a dull and challenging class. In an attempt to make the
course more engaging, I decided to go into it with the goal of answering some
harder topic. In my case, it was "How can I use the knowledge from this class
to produce better bacteria-killing drugs?". Although I didn't have any plans
to become a drug developer, this question gave me a frame of reference to the
rest of the topics in the class. I could formulate questions that led to a
much greater understanding of the subject matter and a better appreciation for
the material. It was interesting to talk to my classmates, many of them did
not enjoy the subject or felt it wasn't relevant to their future careers. For
many of them, it was just a slog and another hurdle to get over rather than an
interesting subject with some highly valuable concepts being presented.

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james_s_tayler
You know it's possible to learn subjects ~3x faster on your own than inside
University in my experience.

Tbh University has its merits in that it provides some structure to a topic
that you might not arrive at on you own, but it is the lowest common
denominator in terms of actually learning things and if you are good at
charting your own path to knowledge then it's much more rewarding and
enjoyable and you can do it quicker.

The challenge is it's quite tough to get the balance right in your own. It's
possible but it's not easy. You

