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Ask HN: How do I learn? Help, I'm having anxiety about this

2 points by nukemarss ↗ HN
I always wonder how to approach the study of a subject, such as Mathematics, for example. I want to self-learn it, but I'm unsure of how to begin. Which books should I read, and where can I find them? With hundreds of books available, I aim to learn in a sequential and progressive manner, starting from arithmetic and progressing to the graduate level. Similarly, for biology, I am uncertain about where to start and how to proceed. What books should I read to cover the subject comprehensively from beginning to end?

This thing is causing anxiety within me because subjects are long and too many things to read but I'm not even getting started.

5 comments

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houseatrielah
Most people don't have the discipline to learn advanaced math without a university setting. But if you really want to try, you can look up university curriculum, see their course progression and see what books they use for each course.
kstenerud
Don't try to learn mathematics on your own. That way lies the path of madness.

Higher learning provides the structure, curriculum and pacing that you wouldn't even know how to put together yourself (that's what you need an expert for).

There are self-taught mathematicians out there, as are there self-taught musicians, artists, engineers, and so on. But they are the exception, not the rule. And if they HAD learned from an expert, they would have saved themselves a lifetime of pain unlearning all the bad habits they picked up.

proc0
Watch YT videos to get yourself into the right mindset, i.e. for math there is 3Blue1Brown that has excellent primers. There is virtually a channel for every subject matter and while they don't go into details, generally speaking, they are cool presentations that give will you a framework and help you build a map of where to start.
bwestergard
Good for you! Khan Academy is designed for this. If you have the means, going to a local community college or hiring a tutor will probably speed up your journey a great deal.
heckraiser
Many libraries have the excellent “master teacher series “ or “the teaching company” lectures which tend to be of excellent quality.

In my self pursuit of knowledge I have found several specific areas of interest for which I infill my understanding.

Architectural engineering (calculating beam loads for instance) and fast Fourier transformations (lots of things) are among my favorites.

Pick a specific end goal (like maxwells equations) and study everything necessary up to that. Doing so a few times in different directions (over years) will cover an impressive range of relevant materials.

As for how? You must be persistent and playful about it or you won’t follow through.