8 ms·

How to Be a Know-It-All

181 points by diodorus 9y ago

harigov 9y ago
I can't believe no one mentioned "Crash Course" channel on youtube. It follows a similar very short summary format (usually of 10 mins in video length) and it is very well made. I learned so much about history, geography, and science from that. It used to take up most of my evening TV time.
julienchastang 9y ago
Funny. I just started reading these Very Short Introductions in the last year. They are a bit like "Que sais-je ?" series in France. I really like these small books that are bit like extended wikipedia entries, though the copy editing could be a little better to catch typos and whatnot. My favorite so far, "Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction Book by David Catling". I am currently reading a VSI on the Silk Road. I have not been disappointed with any so far.
fataliss 9y ago
I already knew all that!
- agumonkey 9y ago
  This is not how you should do it.
- htn369 9y ago
  and I know you knew :P
Top19 9y ago
> “For the most part, the Very Short Introductions range from worth reading to wonderfully appealing.” Cannot recommend this series enough. If you want to know the best way to be a good citizen, to cut through the shroud of fake news, opinions, and context lacking information, this is it. Any time I hear a term I’ve never heard before on the news I go straight for these books. It started with “neoliberalism” a couple of years ago, and recently “hermeneutics”. Also, I began to wonder what does “Citizenship” actually mean? Not surprisingly these guys have a book on it.
- westoncb 9y ago
  Ack, what is "hermeneutics"!? I know it's a field of study and I get a little what it's about (though I'd need to see some more concrete examples to really get it I think)—but what baffles me is why people use 'hermeneutic' as an adjective when they could just say 'interpretation' or something simpler like that. Is there a legitimate reason to use that word? (aside from referring to the field of study.)
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - irrational 9y ago
    Doesn't it mean interpretation of religious texts? That is, someone can say hermeneutic and we know they are not just talking about interpretation, but interpretation of a specific genre of literature.
    - westoncb 9y ago
      That's historically true. But from the Wikipedia article, for instance: > Modern hermeneutics includes both verbal and non-verbal communication[6][7] as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and pre-understandings. Hermeneutics has been broadly applied in the humanities, especially in law, history and theology.
      - stan_rogers 9y ago
        For example, the hoax paper at the heart of the Sokal affair[0] was entitled Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
  - jbigelow76 9y ago
    It's probably a term favored by dilettantes, maybe VSI has that word covered too :)
  - 9y ago
SilasX 9y ago
Sorry if this is too snarky, but... Anyone get a kick out of The New Yorker telling you how to quickly get up to speed on a topic? Since they pretty much wrote the book (er, magazine) on how to take forever to get to the point? I mean, if I absolutely have to know the fashion sense and mannerisms of the key players in a field, I know to go to them first...
- kwoff 9y ago
  and The Atlantic, right? Usually insightful, though
- komali2 9y ago
  Ironically, I can't find a link to a master list of the stories they're talking about. EDIT: See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15444991 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15444991
laxatives 9y ago
On the flip side, this approach to learning means you know next to nothing beyond the dozen first bits of terminology or buzzwords for each new topic, much less the concepts. The moment you finally meet someone interested in discussing one of these things, its going to be immediately apparent the basis of your knowledge is a brief article/book or a weekend watching videos on youtube. Furthermore, these are all going to be little self-contained treatises without any prerequisites -- they are written for a general audience, so you are completely limited to, as the article describe it, the appearance of mastery to people who don't know better. What's worse is that you seriously have to question the qualifications of any single source claiming to be a valid resource for a wide range of topics. Even if the individual course is written/taught by an expert, they are paid or motivated by another entity with their own set of bureaucracy and expectations. What works for learning tennis isn't going to produce the same class format as what works for learning Film Scoring (I'm looking at you Masterclass, for producing that joke of a class). In my mind, the best approach to learning requires you to initially commit to either a top-down or bottom-up strategy. If you want to master the topic, you should go bottom-up; focus initially on theory and gradually more on practice/experience. If you want to ramp up as quickly as possible, go top-down and experience something for a more general audience to get a taste. If you like it, you can keep pursuing that route or commit towards a more bottom-up approach, which provides a higher ceiling albeit on a longer timeline. But don't go to a general resource like the one in the article, go directly to the expert's material, first-hand, for the raw, unadultered version.
- elyrly 9y ago
  "expert's material, first-hand, for the raw, unadultered version" - Too many people jump to conclusions without valid resources, consuming information "TLDR" is more present today than ever before.
  - laxatives 9y ago
    Yes, I agree. Everything is instant gratification. Certainly there are diminishing returns to wanting to mastering a particular subject completely and maybe it is better to be merely "good" at a number of things, but its not really meaningful if the barrier to a particular level of expertise is a couple hours of commitment.
rcdmd 9y ago
There's a touch of irony to this, but the best title list to the Very Short Introductions series is here-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions . The book titles are "$TITLE: A very short introduction"
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
What's the New Yorker paywall workaround?
- chrisabrams 9y ago
  Ask Mike pretty please and he might hook you up.
- _rpd 9y ago
  Click the 'web' link under the main link then clickthrough via google.
- gpmcadam 9y ago
  Install uBlock Origin
megamindbrian 9y ago
Just saying: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/10/09/0056245/microsoft-was-sick-ceo-satya-nadella-says-in-new-book https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/10/09/0056245/microsoft-w...
komali2 9y ago
Anybody have a recommendation to how to read from the "Very Short Introductions" series via an e-reader (kindle)? I'm searching San Francisco Public Library and Northern California Digital Library via the Libby app but can't find it in series format, and the wikipedia page [1] doesn't list titles but instead lists "topics," making it difficult to find, for example, the Very Short Introduction on the topic of "Classics" (the first?). I guess if I have to I will buy the ones I'm interested in on Amazon, but I prefer to check out books from a library rather than purchase them, because otherwise costs adds up fast! EDIT: Looks like here's a concise list, with some sort of purchasing option, but still not sure about e-format http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/VeryShortIntroductions/ http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/VeryShortIntrod... EDIT2: On oup.com, there is a tooltip for "ebook" that says "This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider." Looks like purchasing on Amazon is the only way. Shame as they clock in at 6-10 bucks a pop (12 if you don't have prime? not sure why it shows a crossed out 12$ for me), would add up very very quickly if you wanted to tackle a big chunk of the series. EDIT3: The box sets don't seem to be a deal on Amazon (if you already have prime? Still don't understand prime prices). They are 30.75USD for 5 books that are 6.15USD each. So, it appears to me that the best option to read these books on an e-reader is to purchase them individually on Amazon when you find ones you're interested in. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions)
Rzor 9y ago
The irony being that this piece about a series of basic books extends too much on trivia; seven paragraphs was enough.
twic 9y ago
If this is all a bit earnest, you may prefer the Bluffer's Guides: http://www.publishinghistory.com/the-bluffers-guides-wolfe.html http://www.publishinghistory.com/the-bluffers-guides-wolfe.h...
jknoepfler 9y ago
The hard-cover encyclopedia died before its time. This is an interesting innovation on the idea of a consumer encyclopedia, with longer entries and curated subjects.
martin1975 9y ago
crap.. I thought this would be about imbibing large amounts of alcohol. Then I figured it involves reading. Never mind.
bhaumik 9y ago
Diderot's Encyclopédie has been a beaitful binge read. See entry for 'Philosopher': https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.001 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;...
touisteur 9y ago
The book "The Know-it-all" by A.J. Jacobs was a great fun read a while back, on a similar topic. https://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/0743250621 https://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/07...

181 points by diodorus 9y ago

I can't believe no one mentioned "Crash Course" channel on youtube. It follows a similar very short summary format (usually of 10 mins in video length) and it is very well made. I learned so much about history, geography, and science from that. It used to take up most of my evening TV time.

julienchastang 9y ago

Funny. I just started reading these Very Short Introductions in the last year. They are a bit like "Que sais-je ?" series in France. I really like these small books that are bit like extended wikipedia entries, though the copy editing could be a little better to catch typos and whatnot. My favorite so far, "Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction Book by David Catling". I am currently reading a VSI on the Silk Road. I have not been disappointed with any so far.

fataliss 9y ago

I already knew all that!

agumonkey 9y ago
This is not how you should do it.
htn369 9y ago
and I know you knew :P

Top19 9y ago

> “For the most part, the Very Short Introductions range from worth reading to wonderfully appealing.” Cannot recommend this series enough. If you want to know the best way to be a good citizen, to cut through the shroud of fake news, opinions, and context lacking information, this is it. Any time I hear a term I’ve never heard before on the news I go straight for these books. It started with “neoliberalism” a couple of years ago, and recently “hermeneutics”. Also, I began to wonder what does “Citizenship” actually mean? Not surprisingly these guys have a book on it.

westoncb 9y ago
Ack, what is "hermeneutics"!? I know it's a field of study and I get a little what it's about (though I'd need to see some more concrete examples to really get it I think)—but what baffles me is why people use 'hermeneutic' as an adjective when they could just say 'interpretation' or something simpler like that. Is there a legitimate reason to use that word? (aside from referring to the field of study.)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- irrational 9y ago
  Doesn't it mean interpretation of religious texts? That is, someone can say hermeneutic and we know they are not just talking about interpretation, but interpretation of a specific genre of literature.
  - westoncb 9y ago
    That's historically true. But from the Wikipedia article, for instance: > Modern hermeneutics includes both verbal and non-verbal communication[6][7] as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and pre-understandings. Hermeneutics has been broadly applied in the humanities, especially in law, history and theology.
    - stan_rogers 9y ago
      For example, the hoax paper at the heart of the Sokal affair[0] was entitled Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
- jbigelow76 9y ago
  It's probably a term favored by dilettantes, maybe VSI has that word covered too :)
- 9y ago

SilasX 9y ago

Sorry if this is too snarky, but... Anyone get a kick out of The New Yorker telling you how to quickly get up to speed on a topic? Since they pretty much wrote the book (er, magazine) on how to take forever to get to the point? I mean, if I absolutely have to know the fashion sense and mannerisms of the key players in a field, I know to go to them first...

kwoff 9y ago
and The Atlantic, right? Usually insightful, though
komali2 9y ago
Ironically, I can't find a link to a master list of the stories they're talking about. EDIT: See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15444991 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15444991

laxatives 9y ago

On the flip side, this approach to learning means you know next to nothing beyond the dozen first bits of terminology or buzzwords for each new topic, much less the concepts. The moment you finally meet someone interested in discussing one of these things, its going to be immediately apparent the basis of your knowledge is a brief article/book or a weekend watching videos on youtube. Furthermore, these are all going to be little self-contained treatises without any prerequisites -- they are written for a general audience, so you are completely limited to, as the article describe it, the appearance of mastery to people who don't know better. What's worse is that you seriously have to question the qualifications of any single source claiming to be a valid resource for a wide range of topics. Even if the individual course is written/taught by an expert, they are paid or motivated by another entity with their own set of bureaucracy and expectations. What works for learning tennis isn't going to produce the same class format as what works for learning Film Scoring (I'm looking at you Masterclass, for producing that joke of a class). In my mind, the best approach to learning requires you to initially commit to either a top-down or bottom-up strategy. If you want to master the topic, you should go bottom-up; focus initially on theory and gradually more on practice/experience. If you want to ramp up as quickly as possible, go top-down and experience something for a more general audience to get a taste. If you like it, you can keep pursuing that route or commit towards a more bottom-up approach, which provides a higher ceiling albeit on a longer timeline. But don't go to a general resource like the one in the article, go directly to the expert's material, first-hand, for the raw, unadultered version.

elyrly 9y ago
"expert's material, first-hand, for the raw, unadultered version" - Too many people jump to conclusions without valid resources, consuming information "TLDR" is more present today than ever before.
- laxatives 9y ago
  Yes, I agree. Everything is instant gratification. Certainly there are diminishing returns to wanting to mastering a particular subject completely and maybe it is better to be merely "good" at a number of things, but its not really meaningful if the barrier to a particular level of expertise is a couple hours of commitment.

rcdmd 9y ago

There's a touch of irony to this, but the best title list to the Very Short Introductions series is here-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions . The book titles are "$TITLE: A very short introduction"

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago

What's the New Yorker paywall workaround?

chrisabrams 9y ago
Ask Mike pretty please and he might hook you up.
_rpd 9y ago
Click the 'web' link under the main link then clickthrough via google.
gpmcadam 9y ago
Install uBlock Origin

megamindbrian 9y ago

Just saying: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/10/09/0056245/microsoft-was-sick-ceo-satya-nadella-says-in-new-book https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/10/09/0056245/microsoft-w...

komali2 9y ago

Anybody have a recommendation to how to read from the "Very Short Introductions" series via an e-reader (kindle)? I'm searching San Francisco Public Library and Northern California Digital Library via the Libby app but can't find it in series format, and the wikipedia page [1] doesn't list titles but instead lists "topics," making it difficult to find, for example, the Very Short Introduction on the topic of "Classics" (the first?). I guess if I have to I will buy the ones I'm interested in on Amazon, but I prefer to check out books from a library rather than purchase them, because otherwise costs adds up fast! EDIT: Looks like here's a concise list, with some sort of purchasing option, but still not sure about e-format http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/VeryShortIntroductions/ http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/VeryShortIntrod... EDIT2: On oup.com, there is a tooltip for "ebook" that says "This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider." Looks like purchasing on Amazon is the only way. Shame as they clock in at 6-10 bucks a pop (12 if you don't have prime? not sure why it shows a crossed out 12$ for me), would add up very very quickly if you wanted to tackle a big chunk of the series. EDIT3: The box sets don't seem to be a deal on Amazon (if you already have prime? Still don't understand prime prices). They are 30.75USD for 5 books that are 6.15USD each. So, it appears to me that the best option to read these books on an e-reader is to purchase them individually on Amazon when you find ones you're interested in. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions)

Rzor 9y ago

The irony being that this piece about a series of basic books extends too much on trivia; seven paragraphs was enough.

twic 9y ago

If this is all a bit earnest, you may prefer the Bluffer's Guides: http://www.publishinghistory.com/the-bluffers-guides-wolfe.html http://www.publishinghistory.com/the-bluffers-guides-wolfe.h...

jknoepfler 9y ago

The hard-cover encyclopedia died before its time. This is an interesting innovation on the idea of a consumer encyclopedia, with longer entries and curated subjects.

martin1975 9y ago

crap.. I thought this would be about imbibing large amounts of alcohol. Then I figured it involves reading. Never mind.

bhaumik 9y ago

Diderot's Encyclopédie has been a beaitful binge read. See entry for 'Philosopher': https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.001 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;...

touisteur 9y ago

The book "The Know-it-all" by A.J. Jacobs was a great fun read a while back, on a similar topic. https://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/0743250621 https://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/07...