Are you a philomath? If so, Open Textbooks may be for you!

Irwin

Irwin

Well-known Member
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
A philomath is someone who enjoys learning. We don't need no stinkin' formal classes to learn. Formal classes are extremely inefficient way to learn if you just want to learn for the sake of learning. Some people like the classroom environment and discussions as well as the structure, but there's a better way for the rest of us. Books! And even better if they're free books!

So here's a website with all sorts of free textbooks:
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/

If there's a shared interest in any topic, we can have online SF discussions.

I'm going to study social psychology and modern philosophy.
 

Thank you! I am ravenous about learning in my retirement. Unfortunately, I've gotten more into politics and it has become angering and depressing.

I am also looking into taking online psychology courses and have already researched what is available.

I want to know enough about what is going on the world to make smart decisions, but not enough to keep me depressed about our future.
 
Irwin said:
Philo means of love of a specific thing, so I originally thought it was a love of math. :ROFLMAO: (People who love math are weird.)
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Philo is a Greek word and means, like you said, a love of a specific thing. For example, Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. Adelphia means brothers.

I am taking online courses. One of the things to be aware of is that when we were young, we were taught by a method called "pedagogy" which means (in Greek) leading the child. Now, as adults, we learn by a total different way. Now, we come to the class with experience, we know what we want to learn, we become part of the learning process, and our teachers are more facilitators than leaders, and now we learn through a process called "andragogy" which means leading man. That is why in adult learning, teachers only spend like 20 minutes teaching, then leave the rest for the students to have discussions and to do the research on their own. This is the true way to learn as adults.:)
 
Irwin said:
A philomath is someone who enjoys learning. We don't need no stinkin' formal classes to learn. Formal classes are extremely inefficient way to learn if you just want to learn for the sake of learning. Some people like the classroom environment and discussions as well as the structure, but there's a better way for the rest of us. Books! And even better if they're free books!

So here's a website with all sorts of free textbooks:
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/

If there's a shared interest in any topic, we can have online SF discussions.

I'm going to study social psychology and modern philosophy.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Irwin, for bringing this up! I'm a lifelong learner also. I have found that archive.org is also a wonderful place to read books that have been instrumental in changing our world. They are free and you can sign up and read - just like a regular library. I have done a lot of my reading for classes from here. Books on philosophy, psychology, education, etc can be found here. Also, podcasts are here, too. When reading, keep in mind that if an author does not share where they got their sources (for example, footnotes or references) and do not substantiate their work, then I hesitate to quote them. Good authors are those who have done their research, and give credit to others who have written works before them. These are my thoughts. :)
 
I think I'm going to study journalism instead of what I mentioned above. That sounds like it would be more fun. Plus, I've studied psychology quite a bit already when I was in a Master's program for counseling psychology. That was during my early 50s. I only got two semesters into it when they told me I couldn't continue because of my behavior in the summer intensive. I'm not a well person. :ROFLMAO:

I'd be a crappy therapist, anyway, so it's good that I didn't continue with the program. I've continued learning about psychology, albeit informally.
 

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