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OP here, the second of my general response, to these types of comments: > I just want to mention here that "swimming in ideas" does not equal understanding. >

OP here, the second of my general response, to these types of comments: > I just want to mention here that "swimming in ideas" does not equal understanding. > How do you know you are really moving anywhere but not standing? > OP wants to read "textbooks to learn basic concepts" and "swim in their ideas". That doesn't equal competence. > The reading/learning you are doing is entertainment. It's not that much better than watching TV - if anything it's worse because you can kid yourself into thinking you are doing work, or that it's important. > AKA procrastinating. To clarify, I completely understand these sentiments, and I am fully aware of the distinction between "understanding" vs simply "reading/learning", "swimming in ideas", etc. I was once a young naive soul celebrating how I was such an honorable keen "learner". But as I matured, I started to become aware that this habit of learning that I (and many others on the internet, including on HN) was so proud of, was (often) mere accumulation of knowledge, without synthesizing or juxtaposing anything together. We consumed "knowledge" like some baby food, instead of actually engaging actively and critically with the material, chewing through it, etc. Over the past several years, I've spent a very long time thinking through topics just like this, trying to dissect and discern basic concepts like "learning" vs "understanding", as well as a host of other fundamental topics that many people (including intellectuals) seem to misunderstand. The only reason I've been able to do this is because I've jumped from discipline to discipline, getting an overview of how they relate to one another, trying to piece together certain universals, or spotting points of disagreement between disciplines. Of course, I lack actual expertise in any of these topics, but I do understand the nature of complexity that underlies everything (I think my background in ecology and evolutionary biology has trained me well in this regard). All this was why I specifically used the phrase "swimming in ideas", because I know full well that I am not (currently) doing much to actually understand these concepts and topics. I also stated "moving from ignorance slowly towards understanding" because I am deliberately moving very slowly through topics knowing that my goal is to gradually understand them more, rather than to simply accumulate "knowledge". This isn't meant to be a hit-piece on people who simply love to learn for learning's sake. It's just my own philosophy and my path in trying to figure things out. Hope this clarifies things. :)

agentcoops 5y ago
I posted above before I'd read this -- I'd really stress again that, at least in the humanities, writing is the difference between mere 'accumulation of knowledge', which we all know will eventually be forgotten, and understanding. I would actually recommend Umberto Eco's book How to Write a Thesis as a great foundation for how to structure your cross-disciplinary studies and synthesize, again even if just for yourself. If you do start a blog, however 'cliched', you can also start to seek validation (or, even better, critical commentary!) from individuals in your fields of interest. It feels very 'old internet' and his particular objects of study may not be of interest to you, but http://www.autodidactproject.org/ http://www.autodidactproject.org/ is the very interesting record of one man's lifelong studies outside the academy, as well as reflection on that process. Best of luck! Certainly ignore those who say this is no different than watching TV if you feel a genuine 'conatus', i.e. striving and desire, for these pursuits.
- samh748 5y ago
  Thanks so much for your comments! Super helpful! One question: what sort of things do you think I could write as a novice in these fields?? I don't think I'm interested in writing study notes or summaries etc. I think I'm more inquiry-inclined, something more critical, more engaged.
  - agentcoops 5y ago
    Apologies, missed this response. Do you have an email address I can reach you at? It depends somewhat if you’re really interested in the “human” or “social” sciences, but I really do recommend that Eco How to Write a Thesis book regardless. It conveys the old secrets of how to enter humanistic scholarship — and was originally written to allow even working class Italians who might only have access to a library for an hour a week to do so.
    - samh748 5y ago
      Yeah I'm realizing that HN doesn't have a good way to check for replies. Makes it hard to have any discussion lasting more than a few days... I would really love to follow up on all the comments I'm getting and thank everyone etc. So much missed opportunity :( My email is my username, but replace h with huang, at gmail.com :) Yes I've been looking at Eco's Thesis book, looks very relevant!

agentcoops 5y ago

I posted above before I'd read this -- I'd really stress again that, at least in the humanities, writing is the difference between mere 'accumulation of knowledge', which we all know will eventually be forgotten, and understanding. I would actually recommend Umberto Eco's book How to Write a Thesis as a great foundation for how to structure your cross-disciplinary studies and synthesize, again even if just for yourself. If you do start a blog, however 'cliched', you can also start to seek validation (or, even better, critical commentary!) from individuals in your fields of interest. It feels very 'old internet' and his particular objects of study may not be of interest to you, but http://www.autodidactproject.org/ http://www.autodidactproject.org/ is the very interesting record of one man's lifelong studies outside the academy, as well as reflection on that process. Best of luck! Certainly ignore those who say this is no different than watching TV if you feel a genuine 'conatus', i.e. striving and desire, for these pursuits.

samh748 5y ago
Thanks so much for your comments! Super helpful! One question: what sort of things do you think I could write as a novice in these fields?? I don't think I'm interested in writing study notes or summaries etc. I think I'm more inquiry-inclined, something more critical, more engaged.
- agentcoops 5y ago
  Apologies, missed this response. Do you have an email address I can reach you at? It depends somewhat if you’re really interested in the “human” or “social” sciences, but I really do recommend that Eco How to Write a Thesis book regardless. It conveys the old secrets of how to enter humanistic scholarship — and was originally written to allow even working class Italians who might only have access to a library for an hour a week to do so.
  - samh748 5y ago
    Yeah I'm realizing that HN doesn't have a good way to check for replies. Makes it hard to have any discussion lasting more than a few days... I would really love to follow up on all the comments I'm getting and thank everyone etc. So much missed opportunity :( My email is my username, but replace h with huang, at gmail.com :) Yes I've been looking at Eco's Thesis book, looks very relevant!