I'm fascinated by the world and I want to learn as much about it as I can. Art, philosophy, politics, economics, social movements.. you name it.
However, I'm daunted by the sheer number of subjects to study, works to read, and authorial biases to consider. Specialization, not generalization, rules the day, and that's fine, but I want to learn about everything.
How does one do that?
I've had some ideas. I fantasize about launching ambitious reading projects, like methodically reading Bloom's canon or the St. John's syllabus, but I fear that I would never reach the end, which would be frustrating because I'm impatient to learn about the contemporary world. I also consider using Wikipedia to read summaries of major ideas, events, and movements, but even that project might become a frustrating mess without a good enough plan. Then there's the idea of creating my own syllabus of survey texts--an idea that I like--but I've struggled to identify the appropriate texts (although I did just read Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History which was pretty apt). None of these approaches seem quite right.
Maybe I should just spurn chronology and context and dive into interesting subjects with reckless abandon?
Anyway, I'm very curious if there are other people here that have tried or are trying to self-teach themselves about the world and the forces that shape it. What's worked for your? What hasn't? Do you have any general advice about this kind of life-long learning project, or specifically how to balance breadth and depth? Specific recommendations of readings lists, online courses, or individual texts or authors?
I welcome your insights!
start with the greeks, friend
>>7395098
I pretty much just dived into anything I could find. The real problem is deciding which subjects simply aren't worth studying.
And keep in mind you won't actually learn everything.
>>7395098
>Maybe I should just spurn chronology and context and dive into interesting subjects with reckless abandon?
that is the only way to do this and stay sane.
>What's worked for your?
i got a smart friend to tell me what context i need to understand stuff i wanted to study. i.e kant etc to understand hegel.
>Do you have any general advice about this kind of life-long learning project, or specifically how to balance breadth and depth?
breadth is worthless. focus on specific things you like, disconnected as they may be.
>Specific recommendations of readings lists, online courses, or individual texts or authors?
no
just start with the stuff you like and expand into every rabbit-hole you encounter, until you get lost in one
I recommend not trying to read stuff from different centuries and movements without order. Maybe it is okay for the XX or even the XIX century, but there is absolutely not point whatsoever in picking up a prior philosophy book, for instance, and try to understand it without knowing the context. My suggestion is to pick a century or movement, read everything you can about it, and then move on.
I can recommend Auerbach's Mimesis for a general understanding of the development of Western Literature through the ages. Then you can pick something more specific and read about it.
i thought your photo was ben carson
>>7395107
>start with the greeks
hey, I did, sort of. began that one /lit/ chart and read Hamilton's Mythology as well as Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. took me a long fucking time to read the textbook, which is why I find myself wondering if a should try a more accelerated approach (ie, Wikipedia, or something (I mean shit, Wikipedia has a "History of the World" page; maybe that's what I need))
>>7395115
>keep in mind you won't actually learn everything.
Definitely not. What I really actually want is to understand the basics of as many major themes as possible. Only THEN, when I have a decent framework, do I plan to delve more deeply into the subjects that most interest me. But I don't want to "go deep" before I've "gone broad," and I'd also like to do things somewhat chronologically. For example, I don't want to try to study the Cold War before I've studied Marxism. I don't want to try to read Hegel before I've read Kant. etc. etc.
>>7395123
>>7395124
Ok, I'm kind of heartened by your recommendations to just jump in. As much as the autist within me wants to work through some well-ordered syllabus, I'm too impatient. Plus, I've read historical tomes on random subjects and time periods before, and nothing bad happened (that I'm aware of).
>>7395173
Thanks, that's a good suggestion. Maybe I'll do "tha greeks" as my first such study (if that's not too broad), and then jump away to some other subject.
>Auerbach's Mimesis
I'll check it out
>>7395180
Like, the shadows on the rocks? Not quite seeing it.
first and final bump. I'm probably going to read one or two general world history surveys, then read Wikipedia's History of the World page, and then start picking specific time periods and movements to delve more deeply into. That's for history, at least.
>>7396461
lol, there a a great many others to read before kant and hegel.
As far as I am concerned, the definitively western intellectual tradition is epitomized by Aquinas.
I suggest reading the church fathers (Augustine, Origen, Ignatius of antioch) and the mystics (eckhart, john of the cross, teresa of avila) and the vatican II guys (De Lubac, hans urs von balthasar, karl rahner).
And then there's jacques maritain.
>Maybe I should just spurn chronology and context and dive into interesting subjects with reckless abandon?
Yes. If you are smart enough and have a shred of analytical capability the puzzle pieces will all come to fit together.
>>7396461
>i want to read everything in chronological order
See this would take several lifetimes. Don't be afraid of secondary literature.
I'd recommend this. Read just the bare minimum of the canon.
Homer, Bible, Shakespeare.
Plato, Aristotle, a book on modern logic.
When you are reading these, alternate with a book you want to read. No shame, just alternate from what will help and be hard to what seems easier and fun. Soon both should be fun, just different.
The list is also short and so you should be done quickly. After this wiki up topics and movements for what interests you. I would also recommend a book on grammar, on language in general, and being able to do and understand math up to calculus.
History, politics, social movements, the sciences, I dont know.
For mathematics it is fairly straightforward, and starting with logic here should show how you can deal with it.
For art, just keep a catalog of your favorite pieces. After a while, good search the artists, see what they were about and where they fit chronologically. Maybe wiki art history.
Just focus on having fun, and having fun with some good habits while getting rid of bad ones. Dont make it a big deal, just start. Dont plan too much.
Really, be sure to start. Get off 4chan and go read.
don't let your dreams be dreams, op. this is what the great philosopher, shia labeouf, said.
