Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
For posterity, primarily. But also as an occasion to more crisply formalize things, and perhaps even pique the interest of the other inhabitants of this bitspace.

For over two years now I have been experimenting with autodidactic education, here conceived as an education in which the student determines their own practice and curriculum.

To define autodidactic as self-taught I think brings up semantic problems. I am not independently reproducing the sequences of discoveries over the course of science, but rather being taught about them by various digitally preserved expert personae. What makes this approach different from conventional education is not that one is teaching oneself, but that one is guiding oneself.

But only two weeks ago I began adhering to a more formal schedule, one designed to keep various topics active, in the manner of crop rotation, and to optimize around associations between topics.

One of the main beliefs driving this project is that, to the extent that knowledge is embodied in neuronal connections, better integration across such networks may result in a more robust and enduring body of knowledge. Part science and part gnosis, this premise, that one may willfully impact, to some extent, the interconnectedness and integration of neural networks and, by extension, extend the longevity of a body of knowledge that would otherwise be of too unwieldy a breadth to maintain.

And so the first biweekly schedule goes:

Mon 1 Economics / Finance / FinTech / Trade
MIT 15.S12 Blockchain and Money, Fall 2018
Tues 1 Statecraft / Law
Wed 1 World History / Geopolitics
The Early Middle Ages, 284--1000 (HIST 210) [Yale]
Thurs 1 Philosophy
Fri 1 Business / Marketing
Sat 1 Sociology
Introduction to Sociology [NYU]
Sun 1 Literature / Music


Mon 2 Calculus / Algebra / Maths
MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 2006
Tues 2 Physics
Wed 2 Chemistry
General Chemistry 1A. UC Irvine
Thurs 2 Biology / Medicine / Neuroscience
Fri 2 Psychology
Environmental Psychology [UC Irvine]
Developmental Psychology (PSYC 240) [Bilkent Üniversitesi]
Sat 2 Engineering
Engineering MAE 91. Intro to Thermodynamics. [UC Irvine]
Sun 2 Computer Science
CSCI 1730 Introduction to Computer Languages [Brown]

With each daily entry as following:


Monday, July 5, 2021: Economics / Finance / FinTech / Trade

[1:29:44] Mission Oriented Innovation | OECD OPSI Webinar | 28 June 2021 [OECD]
-Angela Hanson, OECD Observatory for Public Sector Innovation
-Benjamin Kumpf, OECD Development Cooperation Directorate
-Piret Tonurist, OECD Observatory for Public Sector Innovation
-Phillipe Larue, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation
-Chiara Bleckenwegner, OECD Observatory for Public Sector Innovation

Reflection: Sufficient comprehension overall; Insufficient comprehension of the OECD, its membership, its history, etc.; Panelists gave testimony to their experience trying to implement innovation and facilitate coordination across bureaucratic lines and silos, emphasizing the importance of understanding when and how these otherwise largely rigid structures can be transcended in the interest of expedited change.


[1:28:12] 2nd Lecture Introduction to Advanced Macroeconomic Analysis [Humboldt University of Berlin; Prof. Michael Burda] [second viewing of this lecture]

Reflection: Insufficient comprehension overall; Insufficient comprehension of the Solow Growth Model, and the various terms comprising it; Insufficient comprehension of log linearization, as well as various other techniques of calculus.


[1:13:48] MIT 15.S12 Blockchain and Money, Fall 2018, Lecture 23. Digital ID [Gary Gensler]

Reflection: Sufficient comprehension overall; Insufficient comprehension of the Social Security program in the United States, or how dependent our financial system is on it; Insufficient comprehension, still, of the various layers of the internet stack.

The working goal of reflections is to single out points of progress and points of uncertainty to make progress on. I wish to establish a more robust method for maximally deriving knowledge from each session and integrating this knowledge across topics.

For this first two-week cycle, I averaged right around 3 hours per day of didactic video material. My aim is to get to six hours, implementing a new two-topic triweekly schedule, with the primary topic receiving four hours of more or less undivided attention, and the secondary topic receiving two.

The goal here is to both expand the breadth of topics even further, and to spread out the focus on each topic from one day every two weeks to two days every three weeks:

Monday, July 19, 2021: Economics / Finance
Supplement: Maths
Tuesday, July 20, 2021: Statecraft / Law
Supplement: Sociology
Wednesday, July 21, 2021: Geopolitics
Supplement: World History
Thursday, July 22, 2021: Philosophy
Supplement: Religion / Metaphysics
Friday, July 23, 2021: Business / Marketing
Supplement: Psychology
Saturday, July 24, 2021: Sociology
Supplement: Biology
Sunday, July 25, 2021: Literature
Supplement: Music

Monday, July 26, 2021: Maths
Supplement: Architecture
Tuesday, July 27, 2021: Physics
Supplement: Neuroscience
Wednesday, July 28, 2021: Chemistry
Supplement: Medicine
Thursday, July 29, 2021: Biology
Supplement: Statistics
Friday, July 30, 2021: Psychology
Supplement: Business / Marketing
Saturday, July 31, 2021: Engineering
Supplement: Physics
Sunday, August 1, 2021: Computer Science
Supplement: Geopolitics

Monday, August 2, 2021: Religion / Metaphysics
Supplement: Philosophy
Tuesday, August 3, 2021: Neuroscience
Supplement: Computer Science
Wednesday, August 4, 2021: Statistics
Supplement: Economics / Finance
Thursday, August 5, 2021: World History
Supplement: Statecraft / Law
Friday, August 6, 2021: Medicine
Supplement: Chemistry
Saturday, August 7, 2021: Music
Supplement: Literature
Sunday, August 8, 2021: Architecture
Supplement: Engineering

In broadest terms, the goal is to systematically amass and integrate an incredible breadth of knowledge, to eventually be operationalized in the effort of optimizing the fabric of human existence.

The paradigm for this phase of education is itself dynamic, with each successive cycle liable to be restructured and iteratively optimized in a radically experimental fashion.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
As of now, my attention span is insufficient to meaningfully process 6 hours of didactic video material, but that is only a matter of exercise.

Moreover, an oscillating addiction to certain video games, in this case Fallout 76, while providing occasion for valuable decompression, comes at the expense of a more robust schedule. Fortunately my attempts at weaning off, by way of indulgence rather than resistance, have been proving successful at exhausting my interest in the game, and I sense this won't persist as a problem.

These efforts have been undertaken within a conceptual framework of an economy of fulfillment and desire. I know that if I did not have a PS4, my interests would more naturally gravitate to the didactic video material, out of necessity. Block off one fork in the irrigation channel, and the fluid shall take the other.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
However, the game has proven to be a useful outlet for discharging what degree of restlessness may have accrued while watching the lectures. A quick burst of the game, or some other such outlet, may in fact prove useful in the long run, in terms of finesse and preventing hyperextension of the attention span.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
If that is to be considered a viable option, I would be inclined to explore other games, perhaps ones designed to be therapeutic or intellectually stimulating, without coming at the cost of fun, here conceived as immediate fulfillment often without any considerable longevity, an affective equivalent of candy.
 

luka

Well-known member
I know that if I did not have a PS4, my interests would more naturally gravitate to the didactic video material, out of necessity. Block off one fork in the irrigation channel, and the fluid shall take the other.
might there not be more than two possible irrigation channels here?
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Certainly, I was just illustrating a point. In fact I would argue that a critical front of this project is the realization of new channels, ones better suited for the given ends.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
In this case, video games have a use, but perhaps better channels can be realized, ones that scratch the itch in a less addicting way.
 

luka

Well-known member
what are the best things youve learned about engineering and calculus so far?
 
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Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Around two weeks ago, in the apogee of my Fallout 76 playing, I could easily play ten hours in a day, and the same occurred with the previous three Fallout installations, all before fading into the margin.
 

sus

Moderator
I am also all about generalism, connecting the dots

True, high-level, cross-domain connections (e.g. between biology, sociology, and robotics) are pretty rare, even though they share tons of similar structural dynamics

I approve of this project
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
what are the best things youve learned about engineering and calculus so far?
Calculus is one I place greater emphasis on than most of the other topics, seeing as it underpins so much. Its been one of the most profound learning experiences I've had, and I'm still early on.

I can start to see calculus now, but I still have trouble doing it.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
what are the best things youve learned about engineering and calculus so far?
Re: engineering, I just started that thermodynamics course, which is just about how energy is distributed across systems, but beyond that I have little to say about it. I'm trying to bridge it with architecture, seeing as bridges here function as mutual reinforcements.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
what eveven is calculus?
Calculus, insofar as I can explain it, is about understanding and measuring continuous phenomena, such as rates of change, things you would plot as curves and would thus be difficult to understand according to more basic geometric means of measurement. (edit: i.e. straight lines, which would be easier to measure).

The two major categories are differential calculus, which is about finding the rate of change at a particular moment of a transformation, and integral calculus, which is about finding the sum of all moments of a transformation (or a part of a transformation, which I think is called a definite integral, whereas the sum of the whole transformation would be an indefinite, but perhaps I am missing something).

What I'm calling a transformation is usually referred to as a function, a term which I think works but isn't always that intuitive.
 

version

Well-known member
Matrix-gif.gif
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I am also all about generalism, connecting the dots

True, high-level, cross-domain connections (e.g. between biology, sociology, and robotics) are pretty rare, even though they share tons of similar structural dynamics

I approve of this project
Thanks, I think its an approach that, if adopted more often, can help connect us in ways that specialists may not detect.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I have a tough time getting the concepts of calculus, but when I get them, they tend to totalize and I see them everywhere.
 

luka

Well-known member
what youre engaged in is a hunt for metaphor and homology and isomorphism rather than an earnest attempt to master any of these particular disciplines. which is cool. but also maybe a waste of time.

The term "social stratum" is itself clearly a metaphor, involving the idea that, just as geological strata are layers of rocky materials stacked on top of each other, so classes and castes are layers some higher, some lower-of human materials. Is it possible to go beyond metaphor and show that the genesis of both geological and social strata involves the same engineering diagram? Geological strata are created by means of (at least) two distinct operations. When one looks closely at the layers of rock in an exposed mountainside, one is struck by the observation that each layer contains further layers, each composed of pebbles that are nearly homogeneous with respect to size, shape, and chemical composition.
 
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