I'm coming clean right off the start by admitting this is my first time on this board...

I'm coming clean right off the start by admitting this is my first time on this board. I will also admit that I am a pretty [spoiler]dumb[/spoiler] average 23 yrs old with no special school feats (barely passed weak maths in hs), limited science knowledge (what are physics) but I do have the utmost admiration for creative minds (sci-fi writers, visual artists, vidyas, etc.).

So what the fuck am I doing here? Well, I'm tired of being stupid.
I'm tired of being in the mass of uninformed degenerates who live their daily lives without questioning anything that's in front of them. I want to open my boundaries, to understand the world better, I want to be shocked and amazed. I want to be smart.

I probably sound like a crazy person and this will most likely be the biggest trolled thread on here and I understand that. But I would like to how can one achieve such goal. And by smarter I don't mean I want to be the next world renowned scientist, no, I mean what are some basic stuff to do. Sudoku? Puzzles? Good habits? What are some good daily-read websites? Must-own books?

Other urls found in this thread:

Veeky
youtube.com/watch?v=Bsyplaii9p4
thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2013/06/19-quotes-to-get-you-through-an-existential-crisis/
io9.gizmodo.com/how-to-cope-with-an-existential-crisis-1718285502
wikihow.com/Deal-with-an-Existential-Crisis
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

>but I do have the utmost admiration for creative minds (sci-fi writers, visual artists, vidyas, etc.)
ur fukd

so you don't enjoy the vidyas? Sad life it must be.

It's very sad, yes.

You can't magically be smart. Find something that interests you, anything at all. Once you have that go from there, if you like vidya then perhaps go into basic CS. Once you have established a field of interest just study anything you want. There is no set way of being smart, apply yourself.

go to bed syd
jk
start with sagan, hawking and feynman for learning inspiration and then maybe take some classes on what you want to learn ie Astronomy, simple physics, maths

>I probably sound like a crazy person

Wanting to be smarter is perfectly normal.

You can read a book (or more like a paper) on how to solve sudoku puzzles. Will that make you satisfied? Probably not. If you want to learn maths, this is what you do:

- Book of Proof by Hammack
- Algebra, Trigonometry, the Method of Coordinates by Gelfand
- Calculus by Spivak

That should keep you busy for a while, and then come back here and ask more specific questions. These maths basics will help you with any other STEM subject, as solid, rudimentary maths is always required.

This isn't the "smart" board, it's the science board. Science doesn't make you smart, but being smart usually means you might have an interest in science. Some people have a tendency to intellectuality more than others do, depending on their genetics as well as environment they grew up in. Unless you have the scientific curiosity in you by this age, there's no reason to try to force it upon you. Puzzles and daily read websites and books that great scientists have in their possession does not make you smart or science-minded. Also, it's worth noting that the popsci you read online is quite different than the real technical parts of science. That article you read about gene modification? There's hundreds of papers detailing how it is used and what it is, all of which require a lifetime of studying to understand and improve upon the concept. That article about quantum mechanics? Same deal. It's not all fancy words and lab coats.

That said, that doesn't mean you can't transform yourself into an intellectual, even if you weren't raised or born as one. If you want to gain basic science knowledge, you can watch some lectures at KhanAcademy, which will tell you whether you have the curiosity and persistence to actually learn science. If you pass that, you can use these textbooks for whatever interests you:
Veeky Forums-science.wikia.com/wiki/Veeky Forums_Wiki

Also, there's no harm in indulging in sci-fi fantasies in movies or video games or romanticising certain parts of science, we all do it and it's good fun; as long as you know that real science is far from that.

As a matter of fact I have been looking into programming as my starting point. Gotta start SOMEWHERE...
>go to bed syd
I am probably missing some humorous reference here.
Hawking and Feynman, duly noted.
Wrote those down, although maths scare the shit out of me, I do understand the necessity.
Where there's a will there's a way, right? I may not have a high IQ but I believe I've got enough "scientific curiosity", as you say, to seek out real knowledge. I like to think that I'm still young and better now than never.

Thanks anons for the guidance.

>although maths scare the shit out of me

Really isn't scary. Book of Proof is easy to understand and it requires no prerequisite knowledge. Everyone can learn undergrad maths subjects, the only thing you need is a will to learn.

>Everyone can learn undergrad maths subjects, the only thing you need is a will to learn.
You know what, you're right. The reason I'm scared is simply the feeling I've carried with me since highschool (last time I touched maths, sadly) and back then, the "will to learn" was nonexistent. I will master you, undergrad mathematics.

Dawkins made me enlightened with my intelligence

So, at 23 years old and with no clue about science and math you want to become a smart-person that cuestions, understands and is in a perpetual state of intellectual shock?

You already sound like a visual artist. Tell me more about yourself. How would you describe the relationship with your mother while you were growing up?

I'd recommend carl sagan's cosmos, and brian greene's elegant universe. elegant universe gets kinda hard to understand when it comes to quantum and string theory stuff, but first 100 pages or so you can easily understand relativity and its really interesting and amusing to understand relativity.

for easier to consume stuff I'd recommend some youtube channels such as Kurzgesagt, Computerphile, Vsauce....but start with feynman - magnets... any feynman video is great actually

Dude he's 23 not 35, it's not too late.

skimmed your post OP

I would start by working on/reading whatever you like. That does not include popsci books.

Do not procrastinate. Do not make excuses. Kill it every day. Being smart isn't real, working hard is real and hardly anyone has the balls to do it.

Um... well I'm a single child with a single mother parent (my dad is alive but I never met him). Growing up I was very close to my mom but then I started being stupid on the internet and trying to meet too many people and that distanced us. We're still close but she's a real motherhen which can be unbearable at times because I'm trying to have my own life now and we have different opinions.

And yes, I do love digital drawing.

Love me some youtube content, thanks a bunch.

Well said. I am currently very motivated to be on top of my shit due to the last several months of my life being... depressing. "Kill it ever day" is now my next tattoo (jk).

just spend a summer and learn all the basic mathematics especially algebra. use example khan academy for this. this is much easier now that you are 23 and more mature. you can learn everything from 1 grade to high school in a couple of months. even if you missed all of it.

then you sign up for some engineering or science degree. and you are not expected to know anything more before starting so you take it from there.

after 3-4 years then you are 26 and have engineering/science degree and are on your way to become "smart" congratulation.

You need to read books and acquire knowledge.
You need to find ways to practice and apply the knowledge you gain through direct physical representation.
You need to do these things regularly and avoid closed systems.
Keep an open mind and do not allow one man's practice or philosophy to dominate your entire learning.

Kill yourself and pray that you reincarnate with a higher iq

>Read a Pre-calculus book
>Read a Calculus book
>Read a Intro Physics book
>Read a Gen Chemistry book
>Read a Gen Biology book
>Read The Holy Bible
>Learn some programming

There, you now have a rough idea of how the world works.

fuck this, if you want to read popsci books, then do. there's nothing wrong with them.

what an elitist cunt

The search for the truth is real my friend.

youtube.com/watch?v=Bsyplaii9p4

Honestly, just go read books.

Find a topic that interests you, and read a lot about it. It can be almost anything. I like to go on the Pulitzer website because even if it turns out not to be a subject I'm particularly into, the books will be well-written and informative. Also, I'm not aware of any seedy Pulitzer-staging underbelly. So, I assume the award is actually based on merit.

>>Read The Holy Bible

>2016
>He is still subscribe to christianity.

Sorry my man, but the only acceptable religions are the non-white ones like Islam and Hinduism.

If you are white you can be an atheist though. Please keep up with the times, Jesus is so 2015.

>>Read The Holy Bible
>>Learn some programming

>there's nothing wrong with them

They don't teach you anything. You may as well read the index to a textbook.

>I am probably missing some humorous reference here.
no my friend would probably post what you did though.

what no sagan?

...

>He thinks I am baiting

It is now socially acceptable to mock christians and call them fucking faggot retards. You can't do the same to muslims.

So for all I care, go suck a dick you bitch.

Christians, am I right? topkek.

>implying Christianity wasn't pivotal in the rise of the west
>implying computers and embedded systems aren't everywhere

I pity the fool with such a narrow world view

you suck at false flagging. Go home.

>>implying Christianity wasn't pivotal in the rise of the west

It wasn't. The west became what it is today when people stopped subscribing uniquely to theology and started creating other philosophy system that then gave rise to atheism and agnosticism.

Had we stayed christian we would still be shit. The west was formed by a drive to shit on bibles and start hunting for ancient greek texts.

>>implying computers and embedded systems aren't everywhere

Yeah, that's right.

0/10

thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2013/06/19-quotes-to-get-you-through-an-existential-crisis/

io9.gizmodo.com/how-to-cope-with-an-existential-crisis-1718285502

wikihow.com/Deal-with-an-Existential-Crisis

I'm not bulshitting, there were even problems specifically because of christianity.

For example, back when the roman empire was still a king, the church was divided because of the dumb father, son and holy spirit shit because every hack with a pen could write his own fanfiction about what this actually meant.

When the empire was at a huge war where they were being conquered by the arabs, the people on the other side who were other type of christians took the chance to also fuck the romans over and get easy territory.

Before christianity those tribes were loyal and completely integrated into the roman empire, but ultimately became separated when the christianity popular in Rome was not the same christianity popular among the tribes.

Had christianity never fucking spread, the roman empire would be standing very tall.

This shit shattered the western world for hundreds fo years and gave so much power to the arabs because conquer and divide is strategy #1 on the book but yet christians were too dumb to understand it.

Back to /thrash/.

>Being smart isn't real, working hard is real

this x1000

Good tips here.

>Had christianity never fucking spread, the roman empire would be standing very tall.

Read the "City of God" and stop repeating old meme.

I have popsci books on my shelf - they're for fun, for after work time.. ^_^

keep it up homie!

definitely!

History is important too. That's the only justification for the bible on a sociological sense.
Not for understanding the base mechanics of reality but more so the pysche of the world. What's the point of learning science if you can't apply it real life?

Probably a good place to ask.

I'm a trig retard who is finished up trig, going into calc for summer.

Is there any other fields of math I can get into with only trig knowledge?

Most of them, to be honest.
But it'd be helpful to get a quick primer into actual math before you dive in.

Matrix Algebra
Proofs

>he actually described his relationship with his mother growing up

holy shit my sides, you really are a spastic

yo good shit on trying to get your shit together op. are you going to school? id suggest taking classes in something you haven't previously been exposed to if so. Even basic math classes helpful and have applications to real world situations you might find interesting

Since this seems to be a "wat do i do with my life" thread...

CS is easy as fuck but I can't stand 2-6 more years of this trivial garbage and I don't look forward to any work opportunities that might be available to me. I thought about switching majors but I have less of an idea what the fuck to do elsewhere. I like space. Sometimes I think I should learn something industrial so that I can get an actual career in a year instead of stacking up debt with no clue what future I want. Besides, I can always keep studying. Is this naive? Should I suck it up and get the paper that says I'm useful to tech companies in positions I don't want simply because it pays more?

Everyone tells me manual labor is so much more work for so much less reward, but come on, machining isn't the same as construction or plumbing yeah? Is it unheard of to work up from blue collar to white/grey collar?

If it makes any difference, I don't mind math intend to study more math than required either way.

Check out numberphile on the tube op. Also, do some basic maths. If you understand functions you'll understand a lot of science.

Remember that no ones testing you on the math, thats the stressful part for most people. Just make it a challenging hobby, whether it feels like that or not to start with it will become enjoyable and very satisfying over time.

This is good advice. It's a bit of a shock to people to enter courses where the full grade is based on 2-3 tests. They start avoiding homework because no one is there to punish them for it.

>Check out numberphile
Why? So he can get stage four autism.

>I want to be smart.
You came to the wrong board son

lmao

This board sometimes has its great moments. But for the past four months its been cancer heavy. I don't know why, but i'm waiting until September to see more homework help questions, they've become the new high of the board.

This guy is autistic. Ignore him.

>>Read a Pre-calculus book
>>Read a Calculus book
>>Read a Intro Physics book
>>Read a Gen Chemistry book
>>Read a Gen Biology book
>>Read The Holy Bible
>>Learn some programming

Also learn about proofs, probability/statistics, economics, finance, world history, foreign languages, philosophy, music/arts, literature...

How do I improve my memory?

ther are mroe stars in the earth than are grain of sands in the hole galaxy

if you really don't like math, but want to get into it a little, skip the books for now. go to khan academy website, you can find a lot of content there

only smart people admit they're stupid OP, take comfort in that