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One of the most life-changing experiences I've ever had came when I decided to not limit myself from buying books/educational materials. See something on you wa

One of the most life-changing experiences I've ever had came when I decided to not limit myself from buying books/educational materials. See something on you want to learn, the book is $50 on Amazon? I gave myself permission to just buy it and not really feel bad about it. That can seem expensive - there were times when I would spend $200/month on books and $500 on everything else (food, rent, etc). In the short run it really hurt. In the long run, however, it made a huge difference. I estimate that my current salary is 3x what it would be had I not done that. I honestly believe I would have been pigeon-holed and trapped in a dead-end industry with little hope for a better future. Being willing to buy the best books certainly makes sense when you consider how much I was paying for a private college tuition. I ended up dropping out (long story), but if $50 was really going to help me learn enough to be a little more successful, it's totally worth it. Can you get all of the same information for free? Most likely; the problem is that you end up spending half of your time searching for it. I found that being unwilling to buy books was completely damning to my progress. (That being said, some of the best education I ever received were things I got for free online - Stanford's CS106A is where I finally started to "get" programming.) The point is, make sure that spending your own education is at the top of your priority list. That could mean any number of things. I don't want to justify someone going 300k into debt to get a worthless degree, but if there's something you're really passionate about don't let a few bucks hold you back.

fapjacks 11y ago
This is a good suggestion and also mirrors my own experience with buying books. Once I got myself past the sticker shock (why are all of the books about things I am interested in somehow expensive fucking textbooks?!), it really started giving me an incredibly high return on investment. That being said, I think it's criminally malicious to lock knowledge away behind a paywall. Free is a good start.
- nkassis 11y ago
  I can echo both of your experiences. I'm mostly self taught as a software engineer. I switch to mathematics as a major after my first year in Computer Science. I did take intro to programming classes and other computer science related math courses but never got pass that stuff. Without books I would have huge gaps in my knowledge. But I'm a technical book addict. I've often ended up in some trouble at the end of the month due to buying to many $50+ books. But my career depended on it. I like the fact that books give a good overview of subjects. Even if you don't remember the little details, at least knowing something exists helps when you look for a solution to a problem. That's the biggest drawback I see whit just trying to learn online from blogs and free books. But I will say there are a few really good book on that lists. Some that I've paid a lot to get.
- tomcam 11y ago
  I think it's criminally malicious to lock knowledge away behind a paywall. Free is a good start. Fapjacks, you sound very generous with the fruits of other people's labor. I assume you make your housing, transportation, computer hardware, clothing, and other possessions you earned freely available to others--please publish your address so we can take advantage of your largesse. Here in the States, many of the Framers agreed with you regarding intellectual property (I think Jefferson was one.) I am not that giving. The USA decided to balance the incentive to create against the public interest, so they decided to create a "paywall" in the form of patent and copyright protection (said protection having gone way, way overboard in the last 30 years, IMHO). I support this balance (and yes, I have given away much IP as well as charged for other IP I developed). I am perfectly willing to support those who work hard enough at something that they are willing to take a chance on the open market by charging for it. No one forces me to buy it, and like Austen Allred, I feel grateful for the opportunity.
  - fapjacks 11y ago
    Your point is totally invalidated by "ALL THE RESEARCH IS TAXPAYER FUNDED", including corporate R&D in the form of industry subsidies. If I'm paying for it, fuck your "IP".
tomcam 11y ago
Austin Allred, this tracks with my experience. I too earn a high integer multiple of what I would have made had I not taken my self-education seriously. My case may be different from others, because I am self taught at both business and programming. I have always treated professional literature as my "college education", except that unless most CS courses it has always applied directly to my own professional development. As well as what you said, I give myself permission to study only what's relevant. If I learn just one useful thing from a $50 book there's a very high chance it will pay for the book many, many times over. I do not torture myself by treating every book as if I have some kind of obligation to read it cover to cover.

fapjacks 11y ago

This is a good suggestion and also mirrors my own experience with buying books. Once I got myself past the sticker shock (why are all of the books about things I am interested in somehow expensive fucking textbooks?!), it really started giving me an incredibly high return on investment. That being said, I think it's criminally malicious to lock knowledge away behind a paywall. Free is a good start.

nkassis 11y ago
I can echo both of your experiences. I'm mostly self taught as a software engineer. I switch to mathematics as a major after my first year in Computer Science. I did take intro to programming classes and other computer science related math courses but never got pass that stuff. Without books I would have huge gaps in my knowledge. But I'm a technical book addict. I've often ended up in some trouble at the end of the month due to buying to many $50+ books. But my career depended on it. I like the fact that books give a good overview of subjects. Even if you don't remember the little details, at least knowing something exists helps when you look for a solution to a problem. That's the biggest drawback I see whit just trying to learn online from blogs and free books. But I will say there are a few really good book on that lists. Some that I've paid a lot to get.
tomcam 11y ago
I think it's criminally malicious to lock knowledge away behind a paywall. Free is a good start. Fapjacks, you sound very generous with the fruits of other people's labor. I assume you make your housing, transportation, computer hardware, clothing, and other possessions you earned freely available to others--please publish your address so we can take advantage of your largesse. Here in the States, many of the Framers agreed with you regarding intellectual property (I think Jefferson was one.) I am not that giving. The USA decided to balance the incentive to create against the public interest, so they decided to create a "paywall" in the form of patent and copyright protection (said protection having gone way, way overboard in the last 30 years, IMHO). I support this balance (and yes, I have given away much IP as well as charged for other IP I developed). I am perfectly willing to support those who work hard enough at something that they are willing to take a chance on the open market by charging for it. No one forces me to buy it, and like Austen Allred, I feel grateful for the opportunity.
- fapjacks 11y ago
  Your point is totally invalidated by "ALL THE RESEARCH IS TAXPAYER FUNDED", including corporate R&D in the form of industry subsidies. If I'm paying for it, fuck your "IP".

tomcam 11y ago

Austin Allred, this tracks with my experience. I too earn a high integer multiple of what I would have made had I not taken my self-education seriously. My case may be different from others, because I am self taught at both business and programming. I have always treated professional literature as my "college education", except that unless most CS courses it has always applied directly to my own professional development. As well as what you said, I give myself permission to study only what's relevant. If I learn just one useful thing from a $50 book there's a very high chance it will pay for the book many, many times over. I do not torture myself by treating every book as if I have some kind of obligation to read it cover to cover.