I coasted through high school, coasted through college, with a brief detour into physics and then back out when I couldn't handle the calculus (and couldn't be bothered to try)--I ended up with a degree in anthropology, which I found relatively easy. I still think I gave up too easy on the hard sciences, and wonder what my life would be like if I'd really dug into it.
I didn't really work hard until law school, and even that was the kind of learning & work I was good at. There was just a lot of it. There, you get a very strict form of argument beaten into you: Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion.
This conversation has made me wish I could find my ninth grade history teacher, Mr. Stewart, and thank him.
Yes. The way I love science now, I wish I had realized that back in the day. I feel like science itself is more interesting now, but maybe that's just because I get to pick and choose what I pay attention to. ETA: All the cool stuff is much more accessible these days; maybe that's it.
It is ridiculously windy outside today.
This is why I want to go back to school, because I think I know how to learn now. But oddly enough, very few continuing education programs contain "Physics for People who were Scared of Physics" courses. Heck, I should look for some remedial algebra and see how far my brain can get around higher math. That would keep the brain limber.
Connie, you might want to take a look at Thinking Physics [link] I have kind of the opposite problem - I learned physics in a very mathy way but have little in the way of intuition as to how and why the equations work in the world and had that book recommended to me for that. It's helped clarify things I thought I knew and covers quite a lot.
I was one of those people who hit college and had a hard time academically for the first time, but I dug in my heels and refused to be beaten by the hard science core curriculum and got my BS. I kind of regret it, because that process beat a lot of the enjoyment of those subjects out of me for a long time.
Heck, I should look for some remedial algebra and see how far my brain can get around higher math. That would keep the brain limber.
I've usually found Purple Math [link] to be a good algebra resource. I'd like it better if they gave examples to work out on your own at the end of each section, though.
This thread gives a lot of recommendations for Khan Academy.
I play a lot of problem solving games to keep my brain limber. There are all kinds of games on the internet, on phones, on various devices that can keep you engages and have your neurons firing.
ION, I had a bloody nose this morning right before I had to leave for work. I hope the rest of you had better mornings...
