I post my ignorant opinions somewhere. Thereβs always someone who will correct me with correct information.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
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I post my ignorant opinions somewhere. Thereβs always someone who will correct me with correct information.
Not always.
(see what I did there)
Ah yes, Moore's Law
Itβs Poeβs law
I think you mean Cole's Law
The life of the shitpoaster.
But for real comment section can be very useful to learn if you are willing to do it.
There is generally somebody who knows what they are talking about. Just got to figure out who.
Reddit had so much fluff and moderation as if they didn't want you to find good info.
Well you see Iβm a major GEN er alllllllllllll
But seriously Wikipedia, YouTube guides, enthusiast forums. Usually try to read from multiple sources
There used to be these buildings full of books that I could just borrow for free.
Love books and huge fan of libraries but how do you find the right book in the ocean of books?
"Don't you know the Dewey decimal system?"
Sorry, stupid reference. In seriousness though, type in a topic into your library's search and start browsing, check out a few that seem useful.
I'm an academic and I find my University's library useful for finding knowledge on a new topic. If an introductory textbook exists on the subject, can be a good starting point.
For Most hobbies though, youtube is a great resource. I've gotten into woodworking and fishing, and youtube is a superb resource for information.
Ask a librarian.
Instructions unclear, dick stuck in card catalog. Send help, preferably a hot librarian.
Franz is here to help you, little man. Bend over and breath deeply. It will all be over in fifteen to twenty minutes.
Ask the librarian nicely and they'll probably be able to point you in the right direction. Cataloguing information is kind of their thing, and helping people get access to that information is why many of them join the profession.
Just sit at the library for a while, sit near the shelf that has the topic you're interested in and grab a few books at a time and go through them to see if any seem like the right book
I was taught in school how to use the library catalog. It was considered essential, for success in life, at the time.
I actually do know how to use Dewey Decimal, if I haven't forgotten.
In these modern times, there's generally a PC near the information desk, with the browser home page set to a library catalog search tool, specific to that library.
And as someone else mentioned, we can ask the librarian for help, when we don't find what we need. I actually shortcut the process and ask for a quick lesson in how to use the search, if I'm feeling uncertain.
Don't watch or listen....READ!
Idk man. YouTube tutorials are pretty helpful. Especially when I was studying electricity. Those Indian dudes are geniuses
Why do we have teachers then? Listening and watching is absolutely a valid strategy of learning. You just need to make sure that the speakers are trustworthy on the subject.
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Watch and read as much youtube and article as possible, and try to join a discussion with open mind.
I'd caveat that with watch reliable well researched channels and not pop-sci or even god forbid pseudoscientific, or pseudo-intellectual channels that seem helpful but are actually BS wrapped in foil.
Any of the PBS science channels are typically good for science.
How money works, Wendover, are great for Economics stuff.
The engineering mindset, practical engineering are great for engineering related stuff.
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My flat earther forums have a stickied Q&A where you can find the real truth on any topic. Did you know that dolphins are aliens sent to spy on us?
No, that's mice.
Dolphins are native but capable of space travel as they are far more intelligent than us. It's an understandable mistake to make.
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Read. Write. Execute. RWX. I'm going to piss some people off. Here goes: you are wasting your time if you watch videos. At all. A video moves at the pace it plays. It is linear. You can't jump around easily. Reading? You can jump wherever you need immediately. You can have multiple sources at once. If you use a book, yes a physical book, you learn where things are and jump right to them. Read
Write down a paraphrased version of what you read. Do not copy. Include references so you can return to source if needed. Note taking is a skill. Your notes should be organized in a way you can skim what you wrote as easily as the sources themselves.
Execute. You don't learn anything unless you do it. I've had too many students who watch Khan Academy, and think they understand it when they haven't done it. They don't score well on exams. Not my fault. I told them they have to do it to understand it.
RWX. I await the flame war I just started with the video people.
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Wikipedia rabbit holes every time lol.
I am fascinated by medical stuff, especially conditions I have and similar conditions. Spent like 2 weeks reading about so many kinds of diseases.
The same way as topics in my field of expertise, of course.
YouTube.
Follow up question: how do you find actual good and trustable channels on a specific topic?
Not the other guy but I learn a lot of high quality information of YouTube. The golden rule for me is longer-form video is generally higher quality. People that know what they're talking about typically aren't going to explain complex things in 30 seconds, or at least not to the depth you should understand it.
Aside from that, I look for people with actual qualifications first. Example, I love psychology so I will look for psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and so on. I'll even listen to life coaches, but more selectively.
The lower on the "chain" they are, the more I will do "spot checks" on information and see if they know what they're talking about (ESPECIALLY if they're making big or new claims about something). For that I'll look into peer-reviewed studies and such for that.
Once you get a small knowledge base it's a little easier to continue. Talk something you have a clue about, and watch a video with that topic from another content creator.
Do all of this for a while and you'll find what you need to.
Youtube comments can be strangely helpful here, sometimes. If there's a lot of "akshually" comments on every video, it may be a sign the youtuber is full of it. Not always true, but anything helps. Can also look up the youtuber's credentials as well.
You know that channels can curate which comments they have visible on their videos? Mostly this is used to silence hateful comments, but it's just as easily abused to remove all differing points of view.
If all the comments agree, you're probably in a curated bubble.
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A review paper from a reputable journal. The Annual Reviews series was great for this. Some of the Nature journals also used to run mini-reviews associated with research papers in the issue.
For lesser known subjects, a literature review in a dissertation works. It at least gives you a list of papers to review.
Wikipedia and books, depending on the subject matter and my degree of interest. For example, I've been reading historical research books because I love history. If it was something about the moon, it'd be Wikipedia and good enough.
My first stop is always Wikipedia. The rest of the internet is a minefield.
I watch videos and read articles and use LLMs to give me the key points to grasp the basics. Then build upon that knowledge with more focused learning.
I do this plus follow competent people in those fields on Mastodon/reddit/etc for current news relevant to practitioners in the field
I skim the Wikipedia page on whatever topic is being discussed and pretend to be an expert.
Same way Iβd inform myself on topics that are my field of expertise: reading, talking to experts, doing my own experiments and exploration, writing about it
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Escalate. Start with early digestible low quality sources (AI chat bots, short YouTube videos, old Reddit threads, etc.) to build a general familiarity with the subject matter space.
Once you grasp the basic vocabulary and concepts, you know well enough what questions to ask to find more nuanced discussions and the right Wikipedia rabbit holes.
If you need more comprehensive understanding than that, use your newfound familiarity to start skimming primary sources.
Once you get more involved than deep dives into primary sources, you start blurring the lines of developing a new area of relative expertise.
That's what a forum is for.
Wikipedia>references>libgen
I read everything I can find about it, especially if its people arguing thoughtfully, or sharing their advice/experience, or if its about the history of the topic. I get kind of obsessive about researching things so I usually come at a topic from a lot of directions.
Wikipedia link hopping. Other sources may not be reliable at all.
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