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I should have loved biology

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Re: I should have loved biology

#161

Post by FranzFerdiNaN »

FalconSensei wrote: post #15
m463 wrote: post #2

I read this and it it fills me with so much melancholy. I took biology 101 in college and what I thought would be really interesting turned out to be SO unexpectedly meaningless. Now years later all I recall is the memorization of phylums and kingdoms on one test and cell structures on another test and sitting in a large auditorium looking at the map and not the territory. The course was so much about WHAT and never…

I would say it's also similar with other subjects, like history, which focus SO MUCH in memorizing dates and names, instead of actually understanding why things were happening.

You cant understand why things happen if you don't know when they happen (the other way around works just fine, which is why quizzes on tv love to ask random dates). You need to know when Caesar crossed the Rubicon in relation to when other events happened to help you understand why he did what he did. If you think he conquered Gaul after becoming dictator your entire narrative changes.

It sucks, but you really do need to know a lot of whens to help you contextualize the why. I've got a BA and MA in history and my first year at university was spend memorizing so many things, which was the absolute worst. But it did really does help a lot once you start doing your own research.

Re: I should have loved biology

#162

Post by watwut »

etripe wrote: post #148
Sophistifunk wrote: post #98

This isn't just biology, it's school . The only time you're taught processes and methods, it's when they're busywork, and you're wasting a year memorising how to do something nobody does any more because we have computers and calculators. What you're being taught is to squash your individuality, demand and follow orders, and to seek your worth only in the approval of your betters. But most of all, you're being kept o…

You made me exhale in amusement at this comment, because it is true to a degree. Do you think most people don't actually mind this kind of education? I'm asking because I'm baffled this is the way education seems to work in most places and has done for ages . I also assume that something would eventually change if enough people disagreed. Or might it be because that is still how we think about the employer-employee r…

Education is actually changing all the time. There are some efforts to improve it in general, improve it for selected groups (disabled) and periodical efforts to dismantle and destroy its public form entirely.

Re: I should have loved biology

#163

Post by bboygravity »

hnmm23 wrote: post #106
joshuamcginnis wrote: post #41

After 15 years in tech and a life-changing psychedelic trip, I decided to self-learn genetic engineering and share it with the world[1][2] while I look for a meaningful biotech venture to found. What you can do today from your kitchen or home lab is remarkable. For instance, I taught myself PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and recently published my first genetic sequence at GenBank from fungi that I cultured, extracte…

i asked this elsehwere in the thread, and if you scroll lower you'll see why i want to learn but this is going to sound like a bit of a ramble as im tired and feeling passionate and emotional right now but bear with me... ..if i want to learn more bio not bc i want to hack or edit genes or whatever but because of reasons such as: understanding autoimmune diseases, the treatments for them, relationship to other issues…

I'm an electronics/embedded programming guy and I "accidentally" learned biology by listening to a great bunch of podcasts while going to sleep and commuting.

At first you won't get all the terminology, but if you keep listening you'll eventually get it (that's how it worked for me).

The cool thing is that you'll dive right into the state of the art of academic research by the very people who do the research and write the papers. It's geared towards people like you and me: the curious general public.

Since you mentioned autoimmune diseases and medication, I recommend starting with: https://www.microbe.tv/immune/ If you have any particular disease you're interested in I would just do a search on that page and dive right in.

They also have weekly (almost daily now) updates on SARS-CoV2 where they seem to be ahead of the MSM by weeks to months: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-683/

They talk with not just virologists and immunologists, but also people in industry who develop vaccines/meds, people who organize clinical trials and PEOPLE LIVE FROM SPACE: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-682/

Re: I should have loved biology

#164

Post by srom »

I am currently self-learning biology and I just completed MIT's 7.00x introduction to biology on edX [1].

The course is outstanding and anything but a "lifeless recitation of names". Prof Eric Lander (key researcher on the Human Genome Project) goes through two centuries of research and takes the time to explain how and why discoveries came into existence. It goes from the early days of biochemistry to recent major advancement such as CRISPR/Cas9.

I'm looking to apply my ML expertise to the field of biology and this course was a real windfall, I highly recommend it.

[1] https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-biology-the-secre...

Re: I should have loved biology

#165

Post by m463 »

FalconSensei wrote: post #15
m463 wrote: post #2

I read this and it it fills me with so much melancholy. I took biology 101 in college and what I thought would be really interesting turned out to be SO unexpectedly meaningless. Now years later all I recall is the memorization of phylums and kingdoms on one test and cell structures on another test and sitting in a large auditorium looking at the map and not the territory. The course was so much about WHAT and never…

I would say it's also similar with other subjects, like history, which focus SO MUCH in memorizing dates and names, instead of actually understanding why things were happening.

I also have a theory about history. I think it might be wasted on young people because they lack some maturity and life experience.

I think after you've seen human nature, chaos and conflict, and how people get along, it gets more interesting.

How did people with no fast communication or transportation manage to fashion constitutions or governments that have lasted hundreds of years?

Re: I should have loved biology

#166

Post by m463 »

FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #161
FalconSensei wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say it's also similar with other subjects, like history, which focus SO MUCH in memorizing dates and names, instead of actually understanding why things were happening.

You cant understand why things happen if you don't know when they happen (the other way around works just fine, which is why quizzes on tv love to ask random dates). You need to know when Caesar crossed the Rubicon in relation to when other events happened to help you understand why he did what he did. If you think he conquered Gaul after becoming dictator your entire narrative changes. It sucks, but you really do ne…

well, hmmm... I think you can tell a good story just by painting a picture of the situation.

(and I think of computer makefiles - you don't need to know times, you just need to know what depended on what, and what things combine to cause something)

Re: I should have loved biology

#167

Post by m463 »

rjsw wrote: post #150
kernoble wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I excelled at AP biology, but college biology was a total drag. Honestly, it's just the teachers, my high school teachers taught with passion in college it was a chore for my professors. At least software has more jobs and better pay, even if it's less fundamentally interesting.

All my high school biology teachers were good. As you point out, there are not as many other good jobs for biology graduates as there are for CS ones.

that's a shame.

I liked the quote in the article:

Imagine a flashy spaceship lands in your backyard. The door opens and you are invited to investigate everything to see what you can learn. The technology is clearly millions of years beyond what we can make.

This is biology.

Re: I should have loved biology

#168

Post by olau »

Biology is awesome!

I have an older sister who majored in biology long time ago. The some time later while visiting her I borrowed one of her university books (introduction to zoology or something like that). It was actually written in the style suggested here, and yes, it was just amazing to read about people having studied and eked out mysteries of life. For instance, why do you have a front side?

I think I ended up reading 5 of her books. If you're the kind of person who could pick up a book on physics just because you're curious about the world, this will definitely appeal to you.

Re: I should have loved biology

#169

Post by watwut »

FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #161
FalconSensei wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say it's also similar with other subjects, like history, which focus SO MUCH in memorizing dates and names, instead of actually understanding why things were happening.

You cant understand why things happen if you don't know when they happen (the other way around works just fine, which is why quizzes on tv love to ask random dates). You need to know when Caesar crossed the Rubicon in relation to when other events happened to help you understand why he did what he did. If you think he conquered Gaul after becoming dictator your entire narrative changes. It sucks, but you really do ne…

I think that this is wrong. It is easier to remember sequence of events in logical order then arbitrary dates. You really dont need to remember exact date of when Caesar crossed the Rubicon in order to understand his motivations. You need context in enough details in order to understand motivations.

> It sucks, but you really do need to know a lot of whens to help you contextualize the why.

I always managed to memorize those dates in high school and elementary school. And then I promptly forgot them after test. I blamed my bad memory, but later when I learn how human memory works, I started to blame the way they taught us. People remember stories and systems well. Our memory works on relationships between facts. Most people sux at remembering unrelated arbitrary numbers.

All that done to me was that I seen history as boring pointless class. Historical characters came across as somewhat inhuman, absurd unrealistical creatures. Their behavior made no sense. Yes, they were actual real people, but the way history was taught made them sound like badly written characters from mediocre fiction.

It was only after I started to read history that was focused more on context, motivations and reasons I both starterd to long-term rememeber times+places and also like it.

Re: I should have loved biology

#170

Post by olau »

Sophistifunk wrote: post #98

This isn't just biology, it's school . The only time you're taught processes and methods, it's when they're busywork, and you're wasting a year memorising how to do something nobody does any more because we have computers and calculators. What you're being taught is to squash your individuality, demand and follow orders, and to seek your worth only in the approval of your betters. But most of all, you're being kept o…

Not all schools are like that. Vote with your (children's) feet.
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