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I should have loved biology

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Re: I should have loved biology

#301

Post by FalconSensei »

valesco wrote: post #194
watwut wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 memori…

When you know the date of an event, you can locate others events that are not in a direct relationship with it. You can then situate the evolution of distant lines of events without needing to memorize too many dependency graphs.

Memorizing if something happened at Nov. 20th or Nov. 21st is not usually that important. We don't have exact dates for ancient history and we can still understand the sequence of events.

Understanding that A happened, which led to B happening later on is what matters. Having a ballpark is good for most things. Or do you still remember the exact dates you memorized on your history classes?

Re: I should have loved biology

#302

Post by FalconSensei »

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…

But you are a MA in history, which is not true for 99% of the population. For everyone else, knowing the order of the events, and why A led to B, is more than enough.

"Evidence" that memorizing dates don't work: no one remembers crap from their history classes.

Edit: > If you think he conquered Gaul after becoming dictator your entire narrative changes.

That's the whole point. You only need to know the order of the events. Do you know the exact date and time when he became officially a dictator?

Re: I should have loved biology

#303

Post by joshuamcginnis »

koeng wrote: post #64
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…

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…

Hi there - thanks for the thoughtful response and great list of contacts! I'm actually in talks with a few of them already. Rolando Cruz Perez, I didn't know about and will reach out to chat soon. Appreciate your support!

Re: I should have loved biology

#305

Post by text70 »

eyeundersand wrote: post #270
text70 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

If I may ask, what were you working on before? (Just curious, feel free to disregard)

Most recently, protein engineering, before that, medicinal chemistry.

Re: I should have loved biology

#306

Post by bergstromm466 »

_mt3y wrote: post #269
kls wrote: 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 point of school is to teach discipline and grit

Have you heard of neoliberal magical voluntarism?

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