• magic_lobster_party
    link
    fedilink
    623 months ago

    I post my ignorant opinions somewhere. There’s always someone who will correct me with correct information.

  • Ioughttamow
    link
    fedilink
    333 months ago

    Well you see I’m a major GEN er alllllllllllll

    But seriously Wikipedia, YouTube guides, enthusiast forums. Usually try to read from multiple sources

    • @linucs@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      173 months ago

      Love books and huge fan of libraries but how do you find the right book in the ocean of books?

      • @rescue_toaster@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        213 months ago

        “Don’t you know the Dewey decimal system?”

        Sorry, stupid reference. In seriousness though, type in a topic into your library’s search and start browsing, check out a few that seem useful.

        I’m an academic and I find my University’s library useful for finding knowledge on a new topic. If an introductory textbook exists on the subject, can be a good starting point.

        For Most hobbies though, youtube is a great resource. I’ve gotten into woodworking and fishing, and youtube is a superb resource for information.

          • @Dagwood222@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            53 months ago

            Franz is here to help you, little man. Bend over and breath deeply. It will all be over in fifteen to twenty minutes.

      • BougieBirdie
        link
        fedilink
        English
        113 months ago

        Ask the librarian nicely and they’ll probably be able to point you in the right direction. Cataloguing information is kind of their thing, and helping people get access to that information is why many of them join the profession.

      • @variants@possumpat.io
        link
        fedilink
        English
        83 months ago

        Just sit at the library for a while, sit near the shelf that has the topic you’re interested in and grab a few books at a time and go through them to see if any seem like the right book

      • @MajorHavoc@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        6
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        I was taught in school how to use the library catalog. It was considered essential, for success in life, at the time.

        I actually do know how to use Dewey Decimal, if I haven’t forgotten.

        In these modern times, there’s generally a PC near the information desk, with the browser home page set to a library catalog search tool, specific to that library.

        And as someone else mentioned, we can ask the librarian for help, when we don’t find what we need. I actually shortcut the process and ask for a quick lesson in how to use the search, if I’m feeling uncertain.

    • @Dorkyd68@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      133 months ago

      Idk man. YouTube tutorials are pretty helpful. Especially when I was studying electricity. Those Indian dudes are geniuses

    • @bitfucker@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      83 months ago

      Why do we have teachers then? Listening and watching is absolutely a valid strategy of learning. You just need to make sure that the speakers are trustworthy on the subject.

      • @BCsven@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        33 months ago

        Probably meant don’t rely on youtube, (as people produce fake info) while text books are rypically vetted, except in USA where Texas writes the curriculum supporting oil and gas and denying clinate change–and the other states purchase the Texas curriculum

  • Annoyed_🦀
    link
    fedilink
    153 months ago

    Watch and read as much youtube and article as possible, and try to join a discussion with open mind.

    • @Shard@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      83 months ago

      I’d caveat that with watch reliable well researched channels and not pop-sci or even god forbid pseudoscientific, or pseudo-intellectual channels that seem helpful but are actually BS wrapped in foil.

      Any of the PBS science channels are typically good for science.

      How money works, Wendover, are great for Economics stuff.

      The engineering mindset, practical engineering are great for engineering related stuff.

        • @Shard@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          33 months ago

          History of the Universe,

          There’s probably good stuff on SEA, Astrum, PBS Spacetime? even Cool Worlds. To a lesser extent perhaps even John Michael Godier or Isaac Arthur have lots of good information because even though they are Sci-fi channels, they do hard sci-fi, so all based on established science and astronomy.

          History of the earth(geological),

          PBS Eons, Sci Show, History of the Earth,

          History of the earth, (anthropological) North 02

  • @Nobody@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    123 months ago

    My flat earther forums have a stickied Q&A where you can find the real truth on any topic. Did you know that dolphins are aliens sent to spy on us?

  • wuphysics87
    link
    fedilink
    113 months ago

    Read. Write. Execute. RWX. I’m going to piss some people off. Here goes: you are wasting your time if you watch videos. At all. A video moves at the pace it plays. It is linear. You can’t jump around easily. Reading? You can jump wherever you need immediately. You can have multiple sources at once. If you use a book, yes a physical book, you learn where things are and jump right to them. Read

    Write down a paraphrased version of what you read. Do not copy. Include references so you can return to source if needed. Note taking is a skill. Your notes should be organized in a way you can skim what you wrote as easily as the sources themselves.

    Execute. You don’t learn anything unless you do it. I’ve had too many students who watch Khan Academy, and think they understand it when they haven’t done it. They don’t score well on exams. Not my fault. I told them they have to do it to understand it.

    RWX. I await the flame war I just started with the video people.

    • @nyctre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      23 months ago

      It might depend from person to person? I agree with you, tho. That’s also my preferred method.

      However, if the stuff you’re reading is fairly dense and not that well organized, you’re gonna have a harder time than watching a well written educational video or lecture and taking notes along the way.

      • wuphysics87
        link
        fedilink
        1
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        I can see where you are coming from, but that is a skill in and of itself. Go far enough into any technical field and you reach that boundary. Especially if you do research.

        It’s this kind of thing that develops into imposter syndrome. You’ve gotten this far doing things this way, and it’s always worked. You are told you are smart. Fixed mind set. Maybe you aren’t that smart at all. It effects your mental health dramatically. I’ve literally seen it hundreds of times.

        But I do get it. Students are expected to perform at a high level. That approach is expedient and it works well to get everything done.

        I recognize things are different than they were ‘back in my day’, but I was a C student. I did the bare minimum, except for the subjects I cared about. Those I was exemplary.

        Now ‘kids these days will’ say "no that’s bullshit. It doesn’t work anymore’. That I can tell you isn’t true. I have those students. You just need to figure out how to get around the artificial red tape that keeps you from focussing entirely on what you want.

        (Sorry for sp. I haven’t installed spell check on this phone)

  • @LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    93 months ago

    Wikipedia rabbit holes every time lol.

    I am fascinated by medical stuff, especially conditions I have and similar conditions. Spent like 2 weeks reading about so many kinds of diseases.

    • @linucs@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      53 months ago

      Follow up question: how do you find actual good and trustable channels on a specific topic?

      • @Muun@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        33 months ago

        Youtube comments can be strangely helpful here, sometimes. If there’s a lot of “akshually” comments on every video, it may be a sign the youtuber is full of it. Not always true, but anything helps. Can also look up the youtuber’s credentials as well.

        • @wewbull@feddit.uk
          link
          fedilink
          English
          4
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          You know that channels can curate which comments they have visible on their videos? Mostly this is used to silence hateful comments, but it’s just as easily abused to remove all differing points of view.

          If all the comments agree, you’re probably in a curated bubble.

      • monsterpiece42
        link
        fedilink
        3
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Not the other guy but I learn a lot of high quality information of YouTube. The golden rule for me is longer-form video is generally higher quality. People that know what they’re talking about typically aren’t going to explain complex things in 30 seconds, or at least not to the depth you should understand it.

        Aside from that, I look for people with actual qualifications first. Example, I love psychology so I will look for psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and so on. I’ll even listen to life coaches, but more selectively.

        The lower on the “chain” they are, the more I will do “spot checks” on information and see if they know what they’re talking about (ESPECIALLY if they’re making big or new claims about something). For that I’ll look into peer-reviewed studies and such for that.

        Once you get a small knowledge base it’s a little easier to continue. Talk something you have a clue about, and watch a video with that topic from another content creator.

        Do all of this for a while and you’ll find what you need to.

      • @OhmsLawn@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        23 months ago

        I’m going to think about that and get back to you. I think it’s mostly intuitive, based on many years of experience, but I’m not sure at this point.

        I also have to mention that I was half joking. I don’t use YT all that much for my profession. I would, but it’s just not entirely relevant.

  • Dr. Bob
    link
    fedilink
    English
    73 months ago

    A review paper from a reputable journal. The Annual Reviews series was great for this. Some of the Nature journals also used to run mini-reviews associated with research papers in the issue.

    • @The_v@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      43 months ago

      For lesser known subjects, a literature review in a dissertation works. It at least gives you a list of papers to review.

  • @some_guy
    link
    73 months ago

    Wikipedia and books, depending on the subject matter and my degree of interest. For example, I’ve been reading historical research books because I love history. If it was something about the moon, it’d be Wikipedia and good enough.

  • Vampire [any]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    73 months ago

    sci-hub and annas-archive

    I want to be less reliant on Wikipedia and Google Scholar, but in truth I still use them a lot

    • @linucs@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      63 months ago

      So you directly read papers on those topics? I tried doing that but I feel it requires a huge amount of background

      • @Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        53 months ago

        I am not the person you are replying to.

        I read a lot of papers and it is hard if you don’t have background knowledge of the subject. If it’s something I am really interested in, then I will dive deep, if it’s not I will probably let it go when I get to the point where I no longer grasp what’s being said.

        • sunzu
          link
          fedilink
          -13 months ago
          1. Centralize anything and it will be ruined bubthe regime

          2. Wiki is already under a lot of pressure as is due to be as central as it is. There were rumors of them being under US Security service supervision so how good can it really be and where is it going to go now

      • BobDole [none/use name]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        2
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Wikipedia editors are petty and incredibly biased. Start reading the talk pages, especially on controversial articles, and your opinion on Wikipedia’s objectivity will rapidly plummet.

        Also, it’s a bit like reddit: you find yourself learning so much about new topics, until you start reading about things you have actual expertise on, and you realize the people writing this shit are uninformed idiots, and, when you try to fix the information, the petty nerds who control it revert your changes and ban you.

  • Arturo Serrano
    link
    fedilink
    53 months ago

    My first stop is always Wikipedia. The rest of the internet is a minefield.

  • @cygnus@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    53 months ago

    I skim the Wikipedia page on whatever topic is being discussed and pretend to be an expert.

  • @Xianshi@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    5
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    I watch videos and read articles and use LLMs to give me the key points to grasp the basics. Then build upon that knowledge with more focused learning.

    • @seaQueue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      43 months ago

      I do this plus follow competent people in those fields on Mastodon/reddit/etc for current news relevant to practitioners in the field