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Have your critical minds set to 'active', still it's the times we happen to live in. Mind blowing stuff, really. Have your perception extended. For those who wish to read the papers, the rationale.. here and this one too Barnsley

Last fall, I invested in a blockchain startup. Now, I have a goal of creating a paid position in the company within a few months. There looks to be some very big investment just around the corner, and they are launching an extremely exciting product within a couple of months. I do not have any concrete skills that are directly relevant and that can be easily monetized in the company - yet. Therefore, my intention is to learn by showing up. Basically being at the office pretty much every day and absorb. I have money for spending for a few months to come, so I can afford to be there without getting paid for a little while. Plus, of course, my equity may do a job giving me an "income" as well. So, wealth will most likely increase anyway, but I of course need some income to pay bills etc. While showing up is usually a great way to learn stuff in general (and I have good experience of this), I think I may need a strategy for exactly how I should be showing up in this context. Does anybody here have experience immersing yourself in a new business? What is my best strategy here, be as curious as I can? Ask questions as often as possible? Help brew coffee as often as possible? Be as critical (constructively, of course) as possible? Etc etc Advice would be much appreciated

Usually the reason I pick up a book this days is to learn about subjects I'm personally interested in. My issue is that lots of times I finish a book and don't remember a lot about it. I have an idea of its basic structure and remember specific passages but even then if I go back and read the paragraphs I'll probably discover I missed some important aspect of the text. Unlike many, to me, reading in itself is not a pleasurable experience. I enjoy and love specific books, I like learning, but not the action itself. I'm trying to figure out if I can change some of my reading habits to improve my understanding. This are some ideas and the potential problems: Book Club: I think probably this one would work best for me. Read the book and then discuss it with people, the downside is I would have to read stuff others selected. Make a blog post about it?: This looks like a lot of work and I'm a terrible writer. Read about subjects that are on the news: I think this would help me relate the stuff people talk about with the things I read but that would limit a lot the books I can select. Reread specific chapters: I'm doing this and I think it helps, I try to go back and read chapters that for some reason pop in my mind, but I don't like rereading a lot. Do you have some advise? What do you do?

Hi! I've recently begun learning programming "full-time" about two months, with a focus on web development. So far I've done Codecademy's Python, HTML & CSS and Javascript, done most of Learn Python The Hard Way and am doing a couple Coursera courses. My aim is to actually learn enough to be able to find an entry-level job in the field, and go from there. As you can see, I'm learning using online resources, and am really trying to avoid my country's god-awful state (higher) education. I was wondering if anyone is planning to embark on or is currently on the same journey as me? I'd really like to connect up, I believe that the right company can be very stimulating while learning - and there's not much of it physically around me (I live in a small town currently). Also, if there's anyone who is currently working in the field (be it Web or not), could you give me 20 minutes of your time? I have some questions on the subject, and I'd be very grateful to talk to someone who has experience. Maybe you could PM me? Thanks a lot!

Hey, I was wondering whether someone could recommend something along the lines of "online course in philosophy". I want to learn more about philosophy starting from the basics. Cheers!

Interesting article, got my mind blown a little at one of the studies they use as examples. Imo totally worth the read, enjoy https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201506/how-early-academic-training-retards-intellectual-development

Hi, FDR I am in the planning stages of creating a curriculum for homeschooling, and it would be great if my product could fulfill the needs of people like the ones here. I am looking for secular homeschoolers. I would like to know about the textbooks and classroom resources you use. Ubiquitous topics like algebra, chemistry, and music have been done very well. I would like to fill niche areas, instead. Does your homeschooled child have access to courses such as: engineering, hydrology, thermodynamics, ecology, mycology, nutrition, food chemistry, quantum mechanics and do any of these courses resonate with you? Would you purchase course materials for these or other course topics? I appreciate your feedback. When my product goes to market, I will give generous discounts to anyone who provides honest feedback. Best, Tibor

When I was 8 I thought that the past was all in black and white.

Hello All, I have been an FDR subscriber/donor for years. To quote my favourite philosopher, "I hope you're all doing very well". I sit on the board of the Compass Centre for Self-Directed Learning, a charity in Ottawa, Ontario that provides support and guidance to teens that have chosen to pursue their educations outside of the conventional government school system. Many homeschooling and unschooling families in Ottawa use the services of Compass. Compass is competing for a prize being awarded by the Canadian Scholarship Trust. The prize is for innovation in education, and goes to the idea with the most votes on their web site. If you support the project of getting kids out of the government school system, please give us a hand. Go to http://learningproject.cst.org/ideas/376 and register. Registering is a minor hassle, but once that's done, it's very easy to vote. You can vote every day for the next couple of weeks. Many thanks. Jared

Is anybody on here a counselor or working towards a career in psychology? What books would you recommend for someone considering this as a career goal? Thank you for your time, Jami

Update on the Free Academy project:Well we’re stuck in Puerto Rico through at least Sunday, waiting on the weather, but it’s given me the opportunity to reflect, and for that I’m grateful.I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of explaining this project. It’s hard because I’m doing it for so many reasons, personal and philosophical, and they mix together in a tangled web. But I’m seeing a thread now, so let me see if I can unravel it. Why am I sailing to an uninhabited island to build a little habitat, just to leave a few weeks later? And why am I calling it “The Free Academy”? This is freedom propaganda. I’m trying to show people a perspective. It might be foreign to some, familiar to others, but probably a faded childhood memory for most. It’s a way of seeing the world without judgement. Open to everything and sold on nothing. An honest search for truth. This perspective isn’t an answer to anything. Perspectives never are. But my journey has given me the opportunity to peer from a new vantage point, and I’d love to share a glimpse of my vision with you. I’m trying to help people to think outside the box, but to do that, first I have to get your attention. Sailing to a desert island seemed like a fun way to do that. But the island works on several levels. Uninhabited islands are intuition pumps. They’re aids to the imagination, tools to help us think. It’s been in the philosopher’s pocket for centuries: the old desert island scenario. People love to speculate about what would happen in a “state of nature”, tabula rasa, and often cite speculation as evidence for various claims. But no one ever runs the experiment! Well, I want to experience it first hand, if only for a short while with a few people. Is this really a “state of nature” though? We’re taking all the modern tools and technology we can afford, and enough food and water to last the trip. Not exactly an extreme survival situation (hopefully!) But that forces us to examine the whole idea of a “state of nature”, that elusive foundation for our social contract. If this freshly inhabited island isn’t a blank slate, do blank slates really exist? Because what we’re doing is exactly how every society, large and small, in the history of humanity has ever been formed: a few people went to a new place (often already claimed by another group), carrying all the tools and supplies they could manage, and simply continued living their lives. So should we form a government? Should we claim property rights? Should we vote on these issues? How will we resolve disputes? How will we build infrastructure? What do we need to survive and thrive? These are the sorts of questions I hope to investigate, and hopefully some of you will think about them too. But why give it a name? Why does sailing to an island and building a hut deserve a name like “The Free Academy”? The name is another intuition pump. I made it up to help us think about learning. To force us to examine the question: what exactly is a learning institution? Could four guys on a desert island be a college campus? Well, we’ll be thinking a lot, teaching and learning from one another. What else does it take? It’s important to understand: the hut is not the Academy. The Academy lives in our minds. Like all learning institutions, it’s made of people, not buildings. Buildings are just tools we use to make our lives more comfortable. So we’ll establish the Free Academy on an uninhabited island and film the entire endeavor, but it sails with us when we leave. Remember, the Academy lives in our minds. I look forward to sharing our adventure with all of you, and building new Free Academy campuses as I continue my journey. If you’re excited about the project, please help us by sharing this post, and consider making a small donation to our GoFundMe campaign: http://FreeAcad.comWe’re offering a funny t-shirt for donations of $50 or more: http://imgur.com/vd3u7rI