When starting one’s private intellectual journey the question often come up: what shall I study? Sometimes it isn’t even clear which subject area a person wants to pursue. Generalists like Your Humble Correspondent find this a persistent, nagging, and fiendishly … Continue reading
Category Archives: Psychology of Learning
The previous post on the unsuspected nature of genius needs a follow-up, and this is it. It is now clear that what we call “genius” is a function of hard, relentless work leavened with good instruction and mentoring. But the … Continue reading
I’ve heard several definitions of genius. The usual one concerns high IQs and the ability to multiply nine-digit numbers in your head, play piano concerti without practicing, speaking colloquial Fortran… that sort of thing. Another comes courtesy of a friend … Continue reading
If you are a guerrilla scholar, that means that you assume responsibility for what you learn and how you learn it. Most self-learners do this by just grabbing whatever they can find on a subject and consuming it, and there … Continue reading
Confession time: despite all my words of praise for art and artists and their supporters, it has literally been about a decade since I last set foot in an art gallery (at least that I can remember). But the Bay … Continue reading
I have alluded elsewhere to the fact that people learn differently, and that the wise guerrilla scholar will attempt to identify and leverage his or her own unique style of learning to the best advantage. If you’re interested in this … Continue reading
Every independent learner, hobbyist scholar, or amateur scientist eventually has to come to grips with something that our friends in the art community have known for a long time: by and large, nobody gives a damn about what you are … Continue reading
For anyone with an interest in learning, there is always the lurking question in the back of their mind: “Can I do this? Am I smart enough?†The traditional classroom, has a whole support structure to reinforce the idea that … Continue reading
One of the biggest problems with learning in the classroom is that the classroom exists as a place unto itself. Most of them are very generic. The best ones are furnished with audio and video gear, have comfortable desks and … Continue reading
Every once in awhile when you get a bunch of intellectual types “talking shop”, the subject turns to the matter of intellectual objectivity. The journalist and broadcast majors will go on and on about the problems of maintaining objectivity and … Continue reading