Ask Lemmy

I pretty much always have one or more subjects I obsessively research in my spare time. Depending on the topic I read everything I can about it, especially the history and any major debates or disagreements, and potentially I try to do the thing when relevant. I might have a goal beyond just understanding but most of the time I am chasing my curiosity and pulling threads because I find it interesting.

Currently it's downloading videos from youtube (plant physiology lectures from Cornell and theCrux biochem/microbiology), heading over to a cafe and sitting down to watch the videos while taking notes and drawing things out.

I picked what I want to learn because afaict there is a relatively small group of enzymes that all humanity relies on for sustenance, and I want to try to stick those in a machine so we don't have to use ~80% of all land on the planet to overproduce food and not feed everyone. Could also have the effect of vastly reducing peoples reliance on governments and companies for their survival.

After downloading the videos using the firefox extension; Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express, I transfer those videos onto my phone and then I apply sunscreen to my face and arms (sometimes legs if it's really hot out). Then I go to my favourite cafe so as not to waste the sunscreen (the sunscreen is important).

Motivation for me comes from the knowledge that what I'm working towards could change the world if it's successful, hopefully for the better but how can anyone really tell. *And also not wasting sunscreen.

All different ways.

I recently wanted to learn beading so I got a friend to teach me and found a free project through a local community center. Then I bought supplies to keep going using free instructions I found online.

When I learned foraging I was working in the woods, so I bought some books on native plants to identify things throughout the day, or bring back plants and mushrooms to identify later. I slowly learned about all the local things I could forage.

To learn how to kayak I bought a kayak and got in.

A goal is good. Start working toward it, learn what you need as you need it.

Try writing the topics down, then sorting them into a tier list of what you'd moat like to learn if you had to choose. Take the few things at the top, and try to set aside regular scheduled time each day/week to focus on them.

Once you have topics, do some searches for 'how to learn x', etc. Sort through the slop, you should find some people eager to share how they learned it.

Also, ask around on Lemmy for individual topics.

Depending on the topic/sort of topic, find a textbook. Those are exactly an attempt to layout a learning plan. You don't have to read it cover to cover or do every exercise, but follow how they've organized material. Same kind of thing, you can search and find course syllabi that college profs have put online for free, or MOOC stuff like MIT OCW.

I dip my toes into a subject, an overview on wiki or a well made youtube essay as a primer. I try not to get too deep into a topic before I know if I really want to get into it. So the primer on the topic sometimes satisfies my curiosity enough and other times it just whets my appetite for more.