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I'd expand this a bit more. Firstly, I'd include non-scientific journals like business, politics, and humanities. Honestly, as a geek through and through, the b

I'd expand this a bit more. Firstly, I'd include non-scientific journals like business, politics, and humanities. Honestly, as a geek through and through, the best way to learn about the world is to figure out how other disciplines think. It gives you a whole new toolset and perspective. The other thing I'd do is actually dive into a subject deep enough as if I need to pass a test. I'm doing that with statistics now. It's going very slowly, but that's kinda the point of this whole exercise.

stcredzero 17y ago
Honestly, as a geek through and through, the best way to learn about the world is to figure out how other disciplines think. Failing to do this is what a lot of CS people do that really annoys physicists, chemists, and other scientists. (Especially when we post comments!) We think that we can instantly grok anything that has good documentation. But not everything is an API. Other fields are full of very smart people, and they had to devote years to fully understand. It's like people who learn your native language, but speak it with a heavy accent and clumsy use of idioms.
rstocker99 17y ago
The "how other disciplines think" as tools for your mental toolbox approach is articulated very well by Charlie Munger. It's fair to say that it's worked well for him. He's got a great talk on the topic which pg has posted (http://ycombinator.com/munger.html http://ycombinator.com/munger.html) he also sponsored Peter Bevelin to create a book called "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger" which is all about this (http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/seekingwisdom.html http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/seekingwisdom.html). Worth a read.
mnemonicsloth 17y ago
I'd include non-scientific journals like business, politics, and humanities I once wrote an essay for a Lit class that cited this paper: http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21651541M/Tybalt%27s-Spanish-fencing-in-%27Romeo-and-Juliet%27 http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21651541M/Tybalt%27s-Spanish-fenc.... It's all right there in the title: a 20-page argument that Tybalt, Romeo's dangerous antagonist, fences in a Spanish style.

stcredzero 17y ago

Honestly, as a geek through and through, the best way to learn about the world is to figure out how other disciplines think. Failing to do this is what a lot of CS people do that really annoys physicists, chemists, and other scientists. (Especially when we post comments!) We think that we can instantly grok anything that has good documentation. But not everything is an API. Other fields are full of very smart people, and they had to devote years to fully understand. It's like people who learn your native language, but speak it with a heavy accent and clumsy use of idioms.

rstocker99 17y ago

The "how other disciplines think" as tools for your mental toolbox approach is articulated very well by Charlie Munger. It's fair to say that it's worked well for him. He's got a great talk on the topic which pg has posted (http://ycombinator.com/munger.html http://ycombinator.com/munger.html) he also sponsored Peter Bevelin to create a book called "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger" which is all about this (http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/seekingwisdom.html http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/seekingwisdom.html). Worth a read.

mnemonicsloth 17y ago

I'd include non-scientific journals like business, politics, and humanities I once wrote an essay for a Lit class that cited this paper: http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21651541M/Tybalt%27s-Spanish-fencing-in-%27Romeo-and-Juliet%27 http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21651541M/Tybalt%27s-Spanish-fenc.... It's all right there in the title: a 20-page argument that Tybalt, Romeo's dangerous antagonist, fences in a Spanish style.