(no subject)
I'm studying. A while back I was considering three possible Open University courses; one in physics, an environmental science type one, and a history one. While all were interesting, I did eventually decide that history was my best suited subject. Unfortunately the area I really want to 'specialise' in would be human evolution and prehistory, from the first hominids through to perhaps the early stage of ancient Egypt, and the OU course was centered around European colonialism in the 16th century. I decided not to go for that one. If I can find something somewhere that fits into my intended area of study then I can consider that, but in the meantime I continue with independent study.
Which is why I was sitting in bed last night with Steven Mithen's epic 'After The Ice : A Global Human History 20,000 - 5000BC', furiously scribbling down notes. I find writing to be the best aid to memory, repeating something in your own words helps to process and understand in a way that passively reading doesn't, as does stopping after each chapter and re-reading your notes, making sure you've learned and understood. And each little fact leads to further questions that I will have to look elsewhere to answer. He mentions at 20,000BC people were gathered around a fire. When did people begin taming fire? They wore stitched clothes. When did people begin to wear clothes? I also write down facts to check, like that solar output has been increasing for the past 150 years from the introduction chapter (it has).
Before that, I was in the library playing Syberia on the laptop. It's a game that immediately calms me down and cheers me up, and I'll be sad when it's over (though I have Syberia II standing by). Between those, my ebay listings and study, I could probably pass the next 100 evenings or more quite comfortably and quite happily. When life is simple and focused, I am more happy. I know this, but somehow keep forgetting at frighteningly regular intervals, then I rediscover this basic fact that I already know like some kind of revelation. It would be good to stop doing that at some point.
Which is why I was sitting in bed last night with Steven Mithen's epic 'After The Ice : A Global Human History 20,000 - 5000BC', furiously scribbling down notes. I find writing to be the best aid to memory, repeating something in your own words helps to process and understand in a way that passively reading doesn't, as does stopping after each chapter and re-reading your notes, making sure you've learned and understood. And each little fact leads to further questions that I will have to look elsewhere to answer. He mentions at 20,000BC people were gathered around a fire. When did people begin taming fire? They wore stitched clothes. When did people begin to wear clothes? I also write down facts to check, like that solar output has been increasing for the past 150 years from the introduction chapter (it has).
Before that, I was in the library playing Syberia on the laptop. It's a game that immediately calms me down and cheers me up, and I'll be sad when it's over (though I have Syberia II standing by). Between those, my ebay listings and study, I could probably pass the next 100 evenings or more quite comfortably and quite happily. When life is simple and focused, I am more happy. I know this, but somehow keep forgetting at frighteningly regular intervals, then I rediscover this basic fact that I already know like some kind of revelation. It would be good to stop doing that at some point.