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Ask HN: How do methodically study a subject or field?

by L0in on 8/12/24, 10:43 AM with 2 comments

I've always been a person with vast interests: math, history, security, woodworking, etc. I like learning but my study of any topic or field is disorganized and leads to nowhere.

I'm not a phd or write a MA thesis. I'm not academic publishing papers but i find the process of deeply studying something fascinating.

  • by gus_massa on 8/12/24, 2:17 PM

    At least here in Argentina, most courses in the university have an only page with all the books and exercises. You can try going to one curse about a topic you are interested and try reading the recomendad material. Usually there is one main book and it's in English, so if you can read English you will be fine. Which topic do you want to learn first? (Not cheating, like trying to study General Relativity before Classic Newtonian Mechanics. Yes, it's boring, but it's necessary.)

  • by bombcar on 8/12/24, 11:59 AM

    I start with a good (usually older/respected) book in the area. I won’t understand everything but it provides a framework.

    Then I look at its references and poke around a bit. Search the authors and see what they have.

    Then if there are forums or video channels on the subject I take a look.

    By now I have a decent amount of material to work through - a notebook (actual paper) helps me to jot down key concepts and things I want to dig into in more detail.

    I reread the notebook and investigate further as needed.