Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Where do I start to learn Everything?

Good for you! You seem to be curious and eager to learn as much as you can. That’s a lifelong process and way of living. No one can know everything -- and there are some general domains you might begin with.
  1. History. History tends to repeat itself. If you read one or more history books a year (1421, or 1492 or Greeks or Romans or China or Jared Diamond’s books etc.) soon, you will have a good view of how most issues in human life have been wrestled with before and what the conclusions and consequences were/are. And understand, how history has shaped our present.
  2. Science. Maths, chemistry, physics (history of the universe, Hawking, Krauss, Scientific American, Discovery magazines) will all help you understand how we learn what we learn about the universe. I loved reading particle physics, cosmology (e.g. Pale Blue Dot) and where the world and universe came from.  Science has discovered all of that. 
  3. Economics. How does the world’s money flow and work? Find a couple of good books and read them to understand how people and countries manage their money. How do businesses work? Again, one or more books a year here and your insight will grow.
  4. Evolution. Anything on the origin of the universe and mankind. A Brief Moment in TimeA Universe from Nothing.   Sapiens is a good book (Harari).  I’ve summarized 20 pages of references in my book, A Song of Humanity: A Science-Based Alternative to the World’s Scriptures by Only One Man. Find me on the web (easy to do) to get the reference. A note about religious studies here. Reading the Bible, Koran, Bagavagita, Tao de Ching (all of which and more I have) will give you regional perspectives on the nature of things as humans understood 2,000 + years ago. I eventually much preferred to read the science we’ve uncovered in the last 150 years than those mountains of mythological rubbish. For summaries, though, see ASOH mentioned above. How to become your own person.
  5. Human Behavior. Psychology and Sociology. Why People Do What They Do (title of a good book), They F*%k You Up (good book from British psychologist about parental influence. Love Guilt and Reparation by Klein if you want something more dry. DRIVEN by Lawrence and Nohria about four basic human instincts and drives.
There are other areas (e.g. art, music, architecture, climate, oceans, etc.) that one should learn about in today’s world. If you get a handle on the five above, you’ll be way ahead of the “game.” Readers call my book, A Song of Humanity, a guide for living. It includes chapters on Gods, Conquerors, Air, Water, Self, Money, Relationships, Families and much more. You might start there and check out the 900+ footnotes and 20 pages of references for more books to pursue. The chapters end with questions, rather than dogmatic conclusions.

The attitude implied by this question is great. Lifelong learners will become much better contributors to society than those who simply recreate yesterday onto tomorrow.  

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