Hey Veeky Forums, this is my first time visiting the board.
So lately I've been thinking a lot about feeling ignorant. As life goes by I just get the sense that my knowledge of the world is completely laconic and fragmented. I'm from a shitty country and my parents are lower class factory workers so growing up my education wasn't the best and I had little incentive to learn. I could probably count on my fingers the amount of books I read in my lifetime. Whenever I think about stuff like politics and economy I just don't feel qualified taking a stance because I have such a poor understanding of it. But hey, the fact that I'm self aware at least counts for something, r-right? I'd like to change but it feels overwhelming not knowing how to go about it. How does one approach getting the essentials of everything? I would just like to have a basic understanding of worldwide history that touches on the development of economy, politics, philosophy, science and art. At this point my comprehension of ancient egypt doesn't go beyond lolpyramidsandpharoes, Im not sure which century shakespear or mozart are from, I don't know how the hell europe transitioned from philosophers wearing togas to kings living in castles and I have zero clue what the fuck goes on in central asia.
So yeah, are there any materials (free or pirateable because I'm poor) that have this sort of basic holistic approach at culture fit for a noob? Preferably stuff that follows a timeline rather than jump around and tackles more than western civilization. No need for much detail, If there's a specific subject that picks my interest i'll research it individually more thoroughly.
Also, I have poor discipline, a short attention span and my life feels busy enough already so it's gonna be a struggle to create room for acquiring knowledge. Do you have any advice or tips to enable me to learn? I do have a period of about 2-3 hours daily while wageslaving when I'm able to wear headphones so if there's some sort of audiobook I could listen to it would be even better.
tl;dr: I'm uneducated, recommend me things that provide an overall basic grasp of all facets of culture throughout history rather than heavy literature that tackles a specific subject in detail.
Where are you from, dude? What's your native language?
James Stewart
This is a literature board, not a self-help board.
Robert Hall
Look at all this vanity
Wyatt Murphy
(southern) spain, is my english that bad? lol
which is why im asking for book recommendations
Gavin Taylor
greeks, greeks. the greeks!
Chase Morris
>is my english that bad Yeah, it's really embarrassing
Luis Phillips
Start with the Greeks my dude
Kevin Smith
??? idk is it really that vain to want to improve my life? Im getting out of a long period of depression so now I'm trying my best to understand the world. Since I procrastinate a lot i've been putting this off for a long time, so just asking for your help is already a big step for me. It would mean a lot if you could lead me into the right direction.
but doesnt stuff like mesopotamia, egypt, etc come before that? I was looking to sort of be able to create a clear timeline in my mind of how historical events lead into others so it seems sort of arbitrary to go straight into greeks and then jump backwards. I was hoping there would be some kind of "for dummies" type literature that would cover the essential events from prehistory to current day in order.
>How does one approach getting the essentials of everything Read the book called a little history of the world
Gavin Ortiz
Thank you but after a quick look it seems that book focus mostly on science and the natural world right? I was looking to learn more about the evolution of the human world.
Jaxson Hughes
read jm roberts history of the world, then start with the greeks. dont learn all this stuff so you can discuss politics and economics. that shit is garbage. learn it so you can throw the bonds of modernity and become yourself again.
good resources: stanford encyclopedia of philosophy partially examined life podcast vocabulary.com
Benjamin King
you are probably looking for a multi-volume work
The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant is well regarded I think, but they both died before getting past napoleon
Andrew Bailey
those books are fine, but more than you need for now i like more
Samuel Hernandez
Thanks so much. It's pretty hard to not feel overwhelmed so I think I'll start with the most concise books and later delve deeper if I feel like it wasn't enough.
By all means keep the suggestions coming, I'll keep checking the thread.
Cooper Long
I would have thought you are a native English speaker. I am almost certain the other poster was being sarcastic.
Alexander Turner
en.wikipedia.org
es.wikipedia.org
Nolan Gutierrez
Oh, thanks I guess, though to be fair it took me at least 5 minutes to type out that post and rereading it now I'm already picking up some mistakes.
I think wikipedia is a great tool which I use all the time but it kind of goes against what I'm looking for. I often find myself switching articles until I realize I have over 20 open tabs. I need some sort of structured work that won't cause me to drift off.
Henry Morales
That's not a personal problem. Most people have no knowledge of economy/politics, it's just that everyone pretends to know what they are talking about.
Christian Johnson
Your English is good
Logan James
>I have zero clue what the fuck goes on in central asia. nobody does. it's not like you're missing out
David Campbell
Say, what about Bertrand Russel? His "history of western philosophy"is pretty meta. Exactly what you need for general knowledge of the topic at hand. Well you at least need to know about timurids, big game and ussr war in afganistan.
Samuel Torres
>timurids, big game and ussr war in afganistan
Can you recommend a book on each of these? Not OP and I have rough knowledge of each, but I would enjoy to read something specifically about those topics
Ryder Phillips
your english is fine, the only amusing mistake i can be bothered to point out was you used picks for piques. other than that you sound like a natural
Leo Fisher
also, do you honestly think that your average layman goes around reading lengthy, sprawling works of history, politics, culture etc. ? of course not. you'll find the majority of the population base their political beliefs around one particular stratum -- for example, someone is intimidated and fearful of muslims, they vote an anti-immigration, right-wing party. that's what it boils down to.
you need a clear idea of what you actually believe constitutes the meaning of life, and how society should actually be governed. should everyone be equal? are there inherent social hierarchies that keep some people at the top? should we work towards breaking down these hierarchies or chalk it up to inevitable human nature? asking yourself questions like these, and doing the required research in formulating a well-read opinion, will give you "ammo" to contribute to a discussion. you then use various historical and philosophical works to give validity to your arguments.
don't try and bog yourself down by trying to learn EVERYTHING. it won't work. focus on a few issues and gain a lucid idea of what it is you truly think about and want out of life.
William Hughes
G R E E K S R E E K S
To actually become cultured, you are to learn ancient greek and latin, and read the originals of the canon works from Greece and Rome. But provisionally, translations will also do.
Dominic Sanchez
For history, these two should give you a pretty good overview. They should be piratable, as they're on a few college required reading lists:
Beyond that, Postwar by Tony Judt is very good if you're into modern European history. It's on audible as well. For ancient history, Roman and Greek primary sources are generally very well written.
Justin Rogers
I just find this really interesting in light of the long thread from yesterday about some book on Veeky Forums culture, in which a few people were describing Veeky Forums as basically a "self-help" website to address various young male insecurities rather than the right-wing website the author of the book seems to call it.
Chase Richardson
Calling it self-help is just as correct as calling it right-wing. That is, mostly incorrect, even if there are general tendencies towards these.
>to actually become cultured you are to learn ancient egyptian and shumerian, and read the originals of the canon works from Egypt and Mesopotamia. But provisionaly, ancient greek and roman stolen copies of their works will also do Also Rome has like zero canon works worth reading. They were military guys.
Colton Cruz
The point isn't what was the first, but rather what served as a foundation for the western culture. That's why reading greeks is the most holistic approach possible in that regard: pre-XX century everyone worth shit read greeks, and in XX century everyone worth shit read those who read greeks. Thus you'd be able to get to the main source of the literary styles and inspirations >They were military guys. In the beginning, maybe. Its gradual decay coincides with the richness of the art produced.
Chase Sanders
>history of western philosophy shit tier. do not follow this advice
Elijah Flores
You are no pleb m8 you are European. If you were from a third world contrite I would have told you that there was no hope. I suggest you start reading The Economist cover to cover every week and in two or three years you will be more informed then the majority of the population. It will introduce you to almost every debate and issue happening in every part of the world mostly in politics and economist, although there is a science and literature section. Make sure you read everything and google anything you dont understand. At first it will be confusing and difficult but as time goes by it will get easier. Its not hard to do, you will have a whole week to read each issue. In my opinion The Economist is the publication that has it all almost. It will give you the practical information that you need to know about the world. As for books, I recently read "World Order" by Henry Kissinger and its a pretty good simple introduction for a way of looking at the world. Just stick to it, make it a part of your daily routine and over time you will become an "informed" person. Then when you know a thing or two about the world you can choose to specialize in something you think you like, no one knows everything about every subject.
Benjamin Phillips
I'm from Georgia, is there hope?
Matthew Walker
No worse than Durant
Bentley Wood
hahaha, no.
Matthew Thomas
There are lots of podcasts (and YouTube videos) out there designed to help with this sort of thing. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast is free and should give you a good overview of select portions of history. If you want some digestible political/historical explanations, CGPGrey's YouTube channel has lots of those as well. Best of luck, OP, you seem like a genuine person.
Nathaniel Bailey
What is Dan Carlin's reputation in the historical community?
Dominic Diaz
Not trolling, seriously asking why does it matter where are you from? If one speaks fluently at least one language besides his native one (something like English, French, German) what's stoping him to get educated?
Austin Wood
Nigga stop buying into memes maybe you are too stupid
Ayden Cox
I wouldnt say so. There are many places in to world where a persons cultural capital has fall less opportunity to be uninstalled or even accumulated.
Logan Jenkins
Fucking auto correct. I meant to say: I wouldnt say so. There are many places in the world where a persons cultural capital has far less opportunity to be utilized or even accumulated.
Jack Hernandez
This is a very good recommendation. Start here my man.
Carson King
The fun thing is that now that there's wikipedia, you can literally start anywhere. I mean anywhere, just choose a classic and start reading. When you reach something you don't understand, just look it up. If a book references some part of a country's history, wikipedia that shit. When you have a couple of books under your belt from the same time period, compare how different they are. Slowly you'll build up a base of knowledge and widen your perspective. I mean, don't torture yourself with it, but stick with it even if you're reading something you don't like or understand.
I mean, you could just read one of the history books in this thread that go over the overarching history of the world, but if you want to actually understand stuff and gain perspective, you're probably going to want to go read some books to anchor your knowledge. Some people like to shit on fiction, but when ideas and history are centered around characters and narratives, they tend to stick a lot better.
Bentley Lopez
There is so much available content now, I think that the problem is narrowing down what to spend your time on. I think getting started, you should focus on whatever interests you. Challenge yourself, but don't rush it. You have a lifetime. Enjoy the journey.
Jose Rivera
Dude, don't worry. You just chose a bad place (Veeky Forums). You won't find much friendliness here. You are a good man and you set an interesting and rewarding path for yourself.
Nathaniel Garcia
I would suggest that you look into Kids shows that center around History or Science. There are quite a few good ones, and the information is often uncomplicated and gets repeated.
Aaron Young
I respect you for trying to better yourself, it's really admirable. As said, it's a good place to start-
Ryan Powell
If you are interested in the history of art, I'd recommend Janson's history of art. But it's limited only to visual art, not the entire history of mankind. But that's not bad in any way, since you get a really thorough overview of the development of architecture, plastic arts and decorative art.
Also, why don't you get some books intended for high school students in your native language?
Lincoln Wilson
I've been on Veeky Forums for years and still have no idea what happens in Central Asia.
Hunter Bell
There is little written in the western world about eastern philosophy, but a book I enjoyed is "The tao of Pooh". It explains Taoism (and other eastern philosophical principles) through the cartoon of winnie the pooh.
Oliver Walker
OP here
Just thought I should thank everyone itt. I took all your advice to heart and I've already started my journey. Thought it would feel more like a chore but as it turns out I'm enjoying the process.
I do realize I'm not gonna know everything worth knowing by reading a couple of books, but hey, gotta start with baby steps.
Again, thank you.
Eli Lopez
You have the entire internet available. What else would you even need?
