Langis
Critical Thinker
- Joined
- May 2, 2007
- Messages
- 253
Howdy, folks. I need some advice and guidance.
Since I was 13 years old, I've been skeptical of many of the things folks believe in without question, like gods and psychics and the like. I have enough common sense to know that the impossible simply isn't possible, and that's been enough to keep me level-headed for many years. However, despite my skeptical nature, I do not completely understand the notions of science enough to completely defend my stances.
Something I've always been, when it comes to school at least, is lazy. See, at work, at a job, I'm not lazy. I work hard and I work well, and I do so because I'm getting paid. School doesn't pay me, and back in college, even when I could get high marks I always sought to simply clear minimum passing grades. But before that, in high school, I cut classes and stopped learning for pretty much a year and a half of my life. Things I excelled at naturally (Math and English) weren't a problem, but others (Science and Social) were completely lost on me.
Fast forward a few years and I find myself in a career as a technical writer, a job I'm extremely happy with but not one that affords me some of the knowledge I failed to absorb as a boy. I've been seeking out books and other resources, such as Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard Feynman which I'm currently reading through, to teach myself about subjects I use as a basis for my skepticism but don't completely understand.
What I ask for is recommendations on what else I can read, watch, seek out, etc. that will assist me in this goal, with a sincere "please" and "thanks in advance" attached. The more I can learn about the sciences (not just physics, but biology and chemistry too), math (I was always good at it but my truancy in school kept my skills somewhere around the tenth grade level), or anything that will give me a clearer understanding of the universe, the better.
Since I was 13 years old, I've been skeptical of many of the things folks believe in without question, like gods and psychics and the like. I have enough common sense to know that the impossible simply isn't possible, and that's been enough to keep me level-headed for many years. However, despite my skeptical nature, I do not completely understand the notions of science enough to completely defend my stances.
Something I've always been, when it comes to school at least, is lazy. See, at work, at a job, I'm not lazy. I work hard and I work well, and I do so because I'm getting paid. School doesn't pay me, and back in college, even when I could get high marks I always sought to simply clear minimum passing grades. But before that, in high school, I cut classes and stopped learning for pretty much a year and a half of my life. Things I excelled at naturally (Math and English) weren't a problem, but others (Science and Social) were completely lost on me.
Fast forward a few years and I find myself in a career as a technical writer, a job I'm extremely happy with but not one that affords me some of the knowledge I failed to absorb as a boy. I've been seeking out books and other resources, such as Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard Feynman which I'm currently reading through, to teach myself about subjects I use as a basis for my skepticism but don't completely understand.
What I ask for is recommendations on what else I can read, watch, seek out, etc. that will assist me in this goal, with a sincere "please" and "thanks in advance" attached. The more I can learn about the sciences (not just physics, but biology and chemistry too), math (I was always good at it but my truancy in school kept my skills somewhere around the tenth grade level), or anything that will give me a clearer understanding of the universe, the better.
Last edited:
