/sci/ - Science & Math » Thread #10910595

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Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 15:18:30 2019 No.10910595 View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>10910611 >>10910647 >>10910675 >>10911148 >>10912409 >>10912433 >>10912549

If I were to spend my life studying science (biology, chemistry, physics, etc) with the goal of becoming a polymath which subject should I attain proficiency in first? Physics?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 15:29:49 No.10910611 Report

Quoted By: >>10910647 >>10910678 >>10912433

>>10910595
Start with pure math and bio. I think it's good to start with very general almost art-like concepts in scope. Then work down to specifics of chemistry and physics. Bio will definitely contextualize the concepts you will see in the chemistry and physics. In some sense engineering will do that as well, but it's not as hard as bio.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 15:47:34 No.10910647 Report

Quoted By: >>10910673 >>10910678

>>10910595
You don't want to start with physics. Like this anon said:>>10910611 pure math is what to start out with, though I wouldn't recommend biology. Chemistry and biochemistry are both very useful, then work your way up to biology. Study physics/engineering later, as their both more advanced and less intuitive, for me anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:08:00 No.10910673 Report

Quoted By: >>10910688 >>10913521

>>10910647
This, and get the fuck out of 4chan and other time-wasters. People spend their entire lives individually studying a single subject and barely contribute to it. If you want to become a polymath, you should be trying to have a Leibniz-style schedule. Punch yourself in the face if you disobey. Attend competitions and surround yourself with like-minded people (in real life). Consider reading up on analytical philosophy on the side in order to help develop more abstract thinking and broaden your perspective. Sleep on the floor and have a clean diet with loads of coffee/tea and (optional) tobacco.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:08:14 No.10910675 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910595
A little bit of everything. Part of the learning process is taking breaks, for weeks or even months. While you're on each break, you should be focusing on a contrasting field of study.
So focus on psychology for a month, then focus on math, then learn something more active and physical like shopworking (actually being able to build prototypes is not something you should neglect) before returning to psychology.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:10:58 No.10910678 Report

Quoted By: >>10911104

>>10910611
>>10910647
Interesting that you both say pure math. I'm a university graduate but I'm not mathematically literate at all so hopefully I can find a course that will prepare me for university level. Combining this with biology sounds appealing as my verbal ability is quite good and I understand biology is rather language oriented.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:13:55 No.10910684 Report

Quoted By: >>10910689

>Why yes, I am a polymath in Mathematics, Economics, Political Science, Law, Philosophy, and Physics. How could you tell?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:18:58 No.10910688 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910673
Yeah, I have a degree in analytic philosophy which is what has led me to empiricism.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 16:19:09 No.10910689 Report

Quoted By: >>10911413

>>10910684
So... A good statesman + physicist and philosopher?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 19:39:46 No.10911104 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910678
You'll fall into the biology trap. "verbal only" biology is brainlet tier, you have to come at it from a quantitative perspective, otherwise you're just memorizing semi-useless concepts, that's why chemistry/biochemistry should be learned first. If you want to flex your verbal abilities, take up a literary art.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 19:55:15 No.10911148 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910595
Physics. Math and physics.
Math is a universal foundation all those sciences. Physics will let you see why the fuck those two particles go in such a way (shh lowest energy principle), which extends to all, believe me when you get to selectiveness you will be better off with physics than without.
For biology no shit you better have some knowledge of economy - all the organs and hormones are responses just like on free market.

However beware becoming a polymath is fun but you will never attain anything of note. That's the truth. Maybe economics with quantum physics for information dispersal is a field that has something to say for polymaths. Imagine having an idea in 2013 that was made into a pro paper in 2018 that is same as your thesis that you can't finish to this day.

TL;DR In sequence : Math then physics, chemistry, biology. Don't get your hopes up.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 21:26:44 No.10911413 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910689
The last guy who was like that was Leibniz.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2019 23:56:27 No.10911832 Report

Quoted By:

Biology is applied chemistry and chemistry is applied physics and physics is applied math. So learn math then apply it repeatedly.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 04:49:14 No.10912409 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910595
Engineering because it will teach you to not give a fuck whether a problem can be solved in closed form, and just solve it anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 05:08:53 No.10912433 Report

Quoted By:

>>10910595
>>10910611
Yes this Anon is right. Didn't Plato or Galileo say once that if they had to do it all again they would start with the mathematics? I can't remember either way pure math is pretty fucking fantastic and it's more mysterious and intriguing then other fields that I've dipped into. It is my opinion though. The best example I can give is when I first heard of QM I had a sense of profoundness. Then I learned some abstract algebra and when you try to digest that subject and really think about what it's telling you and the possibilities it provides it makes QM look like a kids drawing to the imagination. That's only the start of the preface of the journey.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 06:38:50 No.10912549 Report

Quoted By: >>10913671 >>10914411

>>10910595
>which subject should I attain proficiency in first?
Linguistics, unironically. We encode all our information in language, so a study of language is the first prerequisite for the serious study of anything else. After that, you should study:
>Logic
>Mathematics
>Physics
>Chemistry
>Computer Science
>Biology
In that order.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 17:12:35 No.10913521 Report

Quoted By: >>10913936

>>10910673
Please elaborate. Where can I read up on Leibniz's schedule and habits?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 18:14:14 No.10913671 Report

Quoted By: >>10913936

>>10912549
I disagree, Linguistics is important and interesting but mathematics transcends language. Animals can do some basic arithmetic and can distinguish patterns which would fall under logic and math. However I think Linguistics would fit in the second or third place along with physics.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 19:54:51 No.10913936 Report

Quoted By:

>>10913521
Just look at his wikipedia. He spent an autistic amount of time reading through the books in his dad’s library on a plethora subjects.
>>10913671
This

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Aug 2019 23:53:09 No.10914411 Report

Quoted By:

>>10912549
Linguistics is interesting, but will comtribute little to being a polymath. If you want to scratch the language itch, go for some formal grammar stuff (math and compsci). You will find powerful, broadly applicable mechanisms and sane languages due to design.

I say this as someone who had Latin for 5 year and picked up Italian fluently at 18. Langs are great, but likely not what you are looking for. In any case, knowing about how languages work is irrelevant to understanding papers, books etc.

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