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I should have loved biology

jsomers.net

281–290 of 306 posts

Re: I should have loved biology

#281
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started to reply to one of your other comments before coming to the background one. I was basically going to recommend going the university education route. I have a degree in biochem/molbio, and the topics you are interested was basically the third year of my degree. Not to discourage you (you can do anything if you want to bad enough), but they are pretty complex topics and without the foundational knowledge you…

hmm thats understandable, ive found im met with that resistance with a LOT of questions i have about a lot of fields that you need an education to understand, yet somehow i manage(d), and will have to for now. in the immediate time being, do you have any alternative, actionable advice? topics/subjects/key people i can consider or look into that you covered your 3rd year? not saying i disagree with your comment Nor th…

I'd probably start with basic chemistry and organic chemistry, and cell biology, and probably physiology would help. Once you feel like you have a solid understanding of those, biochemistry, immunology and pharma will be accessible.

I'd start with YouTube and MOOCs. Unfortunately, I don't watch too many videos about this stuff, so I don't have any specific recommendations.

There is also the Manga series, which some people find more accessible as a narrative format: https://nostarch.com/biochem https://nostarch.com/mg_mbiology.htm https://nostarch.com/physiology

Also, keep in mind this field is rapidly moving forward. Crispr was discovered after I graduated, which wasn't that long ago. Try and stick to newer materials where possible.

Re: I should have loved biology

#282

This is why people like Neil Degrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan are such a treasure. Our education system rewards memorization so that's what teachers focus on, but guys like them make you actually realize how crazy our universe is. This is also why we should legalize and regulate psychedelics for safe consumption.

Tyson's an entertaining bull shitter. It's easier to be entertaining when you have no need for rigor and accuracy. See biologist PZ Myers comment on Tyson: https://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/03/17/some-days-its...

Re: I should have loved biology

#283
post #256

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…

Same pathway as the author! In high school, biology class meant memorizing modules of the human heart and pricking my finger to find out what my blood type was (I stayed home sick that day). "Loving biology" meant carrying around AP Bio books thicker than an unabridged Webster dictionary. No thanks. Then later in college, my friend said it would be fun if we both took the genetics class he needed to take for his pre-…

Do you have links to any of the tools you made?

Re: I should have loved biology

#284
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not the same education system, but there are many things I no longer do explicitly that are nevertheless important for understanding the concept. Off the top of my head, for just mathematics: - Long division - Calculate limits - Curve sketching These aren't things I do by hand any more. But if I hadn't learned how to do them, I wouldn't be able to apply them to more advanced problems. From my extremely limit…

I would say the times tables is a good example, once you know the mechanics of multiplying 2 numbers you don't need to redundantly memorize the exact values of tables of numbers. The mechanics and how to solve for it are the important pieces to learn. Further I think it actually does more harm as it hinders the child's ability to look at numbers as placeholders and variables when they get into higher level maths. Spe…

I hated school as well, but I think most things we studied have a purpose. Even limits are "useless," but mind-bending enough to possibly help you develop.

What I personally didn't like was reciting mathematical rules; Being able to apply them should be good enough.

Re: I should have loved biology

#285
post #158
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think that comment just reflects the current thinking that you can have something without putting any effort.

I certainly wasn't saying that, nor do I think it. I don't see what it has do to with the topic at all.

Re: I should have loved biology

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll tell you something about memorizing phyla, orders, families, genera, and species. If you've never had exposure to any of that, it might seem arbitrary. But now, go out in the woods and try and identify species you see. You can start with birds and mammals because they are the easiest. As you begin to do so, you can keep a record of them in a spreadsheet or notebook. Look up their biological classifications. All…

Which is why I suspect the obsession of education around the world with biological classification dates to the period where most people lived in the country, not in urban spaces. Us city kids, we didn't get to spend so much time in the woods, to see so many different kinds of plants and animals - and the ones we did, we've already known by their laymen names. Tangential: it would be helpful if schools explained to ki…

> Which is why I suspect the obsession of education around the world with biological classification dates to the period where most people lived in the country, not in urban spaces.

Honestly, I would be surprised if that "obsession" has been around for nearly all of humanity's existence. If you're a hunter-gatherer (or even just hunt or gather to add variety to your diet and for medicine), being able to classify the biological world in some detail is an essential survival skill.

Re: I should have loved biology

#287
post #269
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed 100%, I have a troubled kid in school right now, who is off the charts smart but the only thing he will apply himself to is Advanced Math, Auto Shop and his Culinary program. If it's not hands on or mechanical he just has no interest in rote memorization. School needs to fundamentally change especially for adolescent males, it just stacks the decks against the high functioning learn by doing types. I often won…

> School needs to fundamentally change especially for adolescent males, it just stacks the decks against the high functioning learn by doing types. The point of school is to teach discipline and grit - the subjects in and of themselves are merely incidental. Do you really think that these "great minds" - the kids who can't sit through a lecture and half-ass everything off of natural talent alone - would be doing grea…

The problem is it is not "smart but lazy" it is a value proposition and some kids don't see the value, even if they are smart enough. The reality is many smart kids today know that even higher education, unless specifically focused is a waste of resources. The smart ones generally leave the uni for a business venture before they even complete postsecondary.

Further grade inflation and the continuing of lowering standards means that the ones that know how to game the system, can skate in general ed, pull out 2, 4.0 GPA years at community, where they get some choice in their direction, save money and then usually gain admittance into a decent school. As I said, it's not lazy it's a value proposition and in many ways the ones that don't totally wash out, don't see the value in applying their faculties to the endeavor of educating themselves the way the State proscribes.

Boot camp is for discipline and grit, compulsory education is well compulsory and you don't get a choice in how you learn, not everyone learns the same, and not everyone is lazy for seeing the emperor has no clothes. Many successful tech Founders/CEO's would meet your definition of "Smart but Lazy" but some smart people do just wash out. Maybe it's just like burnout that is so prevalent in the tech industry, yet they hit it early.

For example my youngest son can look at a fairly complex algebraic equation, and within a few seconds he can tell you the answer by calculating it in his head. It's some nearly savant level stuff, one time I asked him how does he do that and he said the equations are a painters pallet, each part has a color, he takes the color and paints a picture in his mind and that picture is the answer. I think you can imagine sitting him down to force him to learn algebra the way most of us do it, is painful to say the least. Not only can he arrive at the answer faster than us, he has to actively suppress the way he learns to learn a process he will never use in reality. He does not see the point, he already has the answer. He is not being lazy, his mind just uses the creative half to solve logic, its pretty messed up, but it works for him, so you can imagine his frustration when he has to show his work because we "The Education System" want him to think and solve the problem the same way we do. The value proposition for him is not there. My older son is the exact opposite, once he learned the mechanics of solving equations and how to apply them to real world problems like fabrication, fuel maps, etc. etc. he was hooked but he is the one that struggles in other areas, because he sees the value proposition of focusing on what he is interested in and sees subjects such as English and Literature as a complete waste of his time. I sympathize with him, because I hated those two subject as well.

Re: I should have loved biology

#288
post #267

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 am an out of work scientist. If you want someone that is happy to chat all things bio, pm me.

There is no contact info in your profile.

Re: I should have loved biology

#289
post #287
post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> School needs to fundamentally change especially for adolescent males, it just stacks the decks against the high functioning learn by doing types. The point of school is to teach discipline and grit - the subjects in and of themselves are merely incidental. Do you really think that these "great minds" - the kids who can't sit through a lecture and half-ass everything off of natural talent alone - would be doing grea…

The problem is it is not "smart but lazy" it is a value proposition and some kids don't see the value, even if they are smart enough. The reality is many smart kids today know that even higher education, unless specifically focused is a waste of resources. The smart ones generally leave the uni for a business venture before they even complete postsecondary. Further grade inflation and the continuing of lowering stand…

Thanks for sharing that precious perspective. Good luck with/for your kids :-)

Re: I should have loved biology

#290
post #64

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…

It is awesome that you're getting started in this community! Here are just a few very biased recommendations of interesting folks for your podcast: There are a bunch of different cliches (community bio vs biohacking vs citizen bio vs grinders vs transhumanists are all VERY different), but I'd recommend checking out a few of the conferences. iGEM is going on right now which is super cool, and BioHTP and Biosummit are…

Not OP, but thanks for taking the time to share, this is an awesome list.
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