/sci/ - Science & Math » Thread #11656678

3MiB, 2523x3313, 0E29432C-60B2-49E8-BE0E-D7A68E53CE32.jpg

View Same Google iqdb SauceNAO

Anonymous Sun 10 May 16:45:22 2020 No.11656678 View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>11656696 >>11656994 >>11657006 >>11657328 >>11657388 >>11658248

Is it possible to teach myself advanced physics and mathematics as a hobby/interest for fun at the same level of professor without going to a college/university? Just through books and the internet?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 16:49:36 No.11656687 Report

Quoted By:

I think so, why not.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 16:53:34 No.11656696 Report

Quoted By: >>11657008

>>11656678
maybe. but uni is a lot of fun, you should consider it

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 16:57:16 No.11656708 Report

Quoted By: >>11656750 >>11656754 >>11657009 >>11657052

Advanced physics, probably not. Undergrad physics, yes, but it would be difficult since you'd have nobody to ask.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 17:06:56 No.11656750 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656708
>you'd have nobody to ask
he has us!~ uwu

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 17:07:50 No.11656754 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656708
Damn, if only he had access to the internet

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:19:07 No.11656983 Report

Quoted By:

Yes. But, professor-level is not so significant

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:22:54 No.11656994 Report

Quoted By: >>11657022 >>11657389

>>11656678
yes, but it takes a lot of work. the biggest thing i learned in math undergrad is that getting good at math is not about being smart, it is about being dedicated and having a very good work ethic. so it's an uphill battle if only in the sense that many people find it difficult to stay disciplined & motivated in their learning when there's not external reason to do it

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:27:25 No.11657006 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656678
yes, i study in a university and this is what i do most of the time.
I can work through the material much quicker myself than in lectures and can wikidive any topic at any point or just take my time to understand it properly.

But being forced to do exercises and learn the specifics enough to pass tests really helps. I’m not sure I would do so without the structure uni offers. Plus there’s a lot of like minded individual.

Personally tho I wouldn’t do it if it cost me 10-20k per fucking semester. I’d go to a civilized county where the highest financial burden in studying is food and living.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:28:21 No.11657008 Report

Quoted By: >>11657051

>>11656696
>uni is a lot of fun, you should consider it
lol no

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:28:29 No.11657009 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656708
there’s a lot of great books on the basics, for the advanced stuff you just read papers and google everything you don’t understand.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:31:24 No.11657022 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656994
I agree, being smart helps a lot, but the most important aspect is dedicating time.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:34:27 No.11657038 Report

Quoted By:

professor itself is a teacher. Teacher itself is a lector. Lector itself is a reader. Yes u can

Anonymous

View Same Google iqdb SauceNAO wizard vs virgin vs chad lecture.png, 485KiB, 2442x1068

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:38:15 No.11657051 Report

Quoted By: >>11657060 >>11657077

>>11657008
>t. virgin

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:38:26 No.11657052 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656708
Advanced anything has so much specialization that I wonder how much people with the same education working in other areas can actually understand.

Anonymous

View Same Google iqdb SauceNAO vouG7Ye.gif, 117KiB, 500x250

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:39:36 No.11657060 Report

Quoted By:

>>11657051

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 18:46:10 No.11657077 Report

Quoted By:

>>11657051
heck'in meme

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 19:58:56 No.11657328 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656678
Yes, although without a tutor to guide you through it will be hard to find your path

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 20:17:10 No.11657388 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656678
Yep, MIT have lots of free undergrad stuff to get into:
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/

best thing about learning it yourself, if you're not interested just skip it. Best way to do it is solve problems, don't just read.
Leonard Suskind has a series of books taking this approach covering classical, quantum and basic relativity - "The theoretical minimum".

Feynmans lectures are available for free, not so user friendly first time round. I think his problems are available too, but the units are imperial.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 20:17:33 No.11657389 Report

Quoted By: >>11657398 >>11657509 >>11658241

>>11656994
This exactly.
I am self taught and in the process (very early in the process), and this is so much the true.
Some advice from the trenches:
>Devote AT LEAST two hours daily, but the more the merrier!
>Don't run before you can walk. If you are missing prerequisite knowledge, get that before you go to the more advanced stuff, put it another way, don't overesimate your ability.
>Follow reasonings carefully, if you feel stuck at some step, think why it's confusing, and try to find the justification
Sometimes books come up with crazy devices they seem to have pulled off their sleeves, sometimes the point is not *how* they got there, but *what* they're trying to convey
>Try all the excercises. At least try. Bad solutions can illuminate the path for thr right one, in the end if you just csn't get there for some reason, peek at the solution, but then try to go over it again on your own and try to apply a similar reasoning in future problems.
>drink plenty of water and eat fruit.
>Get your mind off study at intervals (say 40 minutes) and do something else. Excercise is best.
> Remove all distractions. No internet. Nada. NIL. Nihil. ???
>Approach a handful of books at a time. Don't jump around. Marry those books. Don't think of when you'll finish.
>Keep a record of how many hours of study, how many excercises, etc. Add to it daily, revise it weekly, monthly.
>College education is 4 years. It'll take you AT LEAST 4 years.
>Have a study plan. Define the topics you're going to work on first.

tl;dr need lots of discipline but yes you can

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 20:22:21 No.11657398 Report

Quoted By:

>>11657389
>no internet
Of course if you *need* the internet to ask, watch lectures, lookup definitions or alternative explanations or examples, solutions, etc, do it during your break. Also during your break you should do some dopamine. Watch porn, shitpost, etc.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 10 May 2020 21:09:45 No.11657509 Report

Quoted By:

>>11657389
>Sometimes books come up with crazy devices they seem to have pulled off their sleeves, sometimes the point is not *how* they got there, but *what* they're trying to convey
this can be so frustrating at times.
Also don’t feel bad when some transformations or steps seem overwhelming, a lot of time has gone into that from many people, and it has been optimized to comprehend, it is not expected from you to come up with that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 11 May 2020 01:03:55 No.11658241 Report

Quoted By: >>11658501 >>11658671

>>11657389
I'm self-taught to the "phd" level as well seeing as I know category theory, some high pde's, algebraic topology, point-set topology, and algebraic geometry (although I have a bs in computer science) all this is very true, although I was self studying at least 3-4 hours per day the last couple years so yes, its not easy at all but definitely possible.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 11 May 2020 01:06:03 No.11658248 Report

Quoted By:

>>11656678
You theoretically could, but it would be very difficult as one is prone to delusions about ones own abilities and understanding.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 11 May 2020 02:28:48 No.11658501 Report

Quoted By:

>>11658241
except a phd requires you to make a novel contribution to the field

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 11 May 2020 03:42:35 No.11658671 Report

Quoted By:

>>11658241
Are you regularly reading current papers? Are you publishing? If not you are not at the "phd" level.

Like, this is in principle possible, but realistically, it's not gonna happen. Maybe you could get the equivalent of an undergrad degree after years of pushing, but it's completely different to do full time research on your own without guidance.

Capcode	All Only User Posts Only Moderator Posts Only Admin Posts Only Developer Posts
Show Posts	All Only With Images Only Without Images
Deleted Posts	All Only Deleted Posts Only Non-Deleted Posts
Ghost Posts	All Only Ghost Posts Only Non-Ghost Posts
Post Type	All Only Sticky Threads Only Opening Posts Only Reply Posts
Results	All Grouped By Threads
Order	Latest Posts First Oldest Posts First

Your latest searches