Learning Without Direction

     I've been reading and taking notes (trying to at least). I feel like my note-taking is probably sub-par and my reading comprehension feels shallow.

 I've finished Statistics You Can't Trust by Stephen K Campbell and the main concept I took away from it was there was some underhanded way statistics can be misrepresented to create an intended narrative. I'm unsure if I'll ever be able to recall the specifics in common ways stats are misrepresented. I hope I will otherwise I'll feel as though I read that whole book for nothing. I know you're supposed to take notes with the intention of going back to review them, but I kind of doubt I'll be able to recall what the original idea was for each item of my notes. Besides, I'm sure I missed a lot of information in the book that I though was probably extraneous. I really hope to develop a more heightened discernment when it comes to identifying critical information. It did make me a little bit curious about Statistics though so I guess that's of benefit should I decide to study the subject more.

    I also picked up an additional two books from my local library to replace the ones I've finished. One is on Calculus entitled Calculus the Easy Way by Douglas Downing and Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner.

    The Calculus one is throwing me for a loop. Not just because of the subject matter but because the way the information is presented is in the form of a narrative that I believe to be modeled after fantasy fiction. It has weirded me out, but I want to see how well I can parse, record, and analyze information from something in this format so I've decided to keep it. The biggest benefit to me is that this book has FREE practice problems with the answers in the back. It's made me excited to read it, because I can finally feel like I'm applying my learning. My biggest concern about me self-learning has been based around my potential inability to utilized any of the knowledge gained. I'm not certain on where the benefit is of knowledge for knowledge's sake. If any one would care to enlighten me on it, I beg you; please do so. I'm also already stuck on a problem in the book. I'm only in the second chapter!!! It fills me with a frustration that I specifically remember from School: frustration with my capability to understand or solve something. I hate that feeling, but I want to learn. Although it still makes me want to take a long walk off of a short pier.

    Out of curiosity I researched whether there anyone ever perceived any benefit out of being stuck or unable to do a math problem or proof. Apparently it prepares you for the actual professional experience of getting stuck on a math problem that no one knows how to do. It trains you to cope with hard problems with no apparent solutions and ways to look for creative solutions. A lot of people advise to actually stop working on a problem if you find yourself thinking in circles. They also advise to look for inspiration for a solution elsewhere. My biggest issue is that if I'm not able to do something I'm liable to become obsessed, then frustrated to no end, then repulsed by the problem. The phase of obsession often leads me to stay fixated on a problem long after it has stopped being beneficial to pay it attention. I spent what could have probably been an hour or two eyeing what is a supposedly simple proof. 

    Returning to the topic of the application of knowledge it led me to pick up the book Blogging for Dummies. Books like these are the one of the hardest for me to take notes on (besides history). My problem of being able to discern key concepts is turned up to one-hundred. Some of the stuff just seems silly or obvious to write down, but I could actually be over-looking advice or information that is actually very solid. I just really have trouble telling what I should write down. I'm only on the second chapter currently but it seems promising. I hope I can get something out of it. Even if it is just learning how to take good notes on books like this. I also hope to actually breath life into this blog. I'm not necessarily focused on the number of views as I am showing to myself that I'm actually making progress and growing with my decision to self-educate. I do know, however, that a huge cornerstone of learning is social. I actually believe books are a proxy to people when it comes to learning. I'm hoping to gain a few like minded individuals who inspire to self-educate or who have self-educated. I'm hoping to learn from them and for us to encourage and inspire each other as we grow as auto-didacts. 

I haven't been feeling very confident in my ability to learn lately, but I still want to try.