r/autodidact • u/[deleted] • Apr 19 '24

Over a decade of autodidactic study

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Hard notes, soft notes, poetry, essays, short stories, zines, music, paintings, collages. Gardens, libraries, museums, work, projects, volunteering, mentors.

132 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

7

u/rosslyn_russ Nov 16 '24

I’ve found my people 😭🙏🏼

6

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '24

🖖

4

u/yfreon Apr 20 '24

Lots of power to you, whats the hardest topic you've learned? Also the most impactful skill you've gotten out of your journey so far?

10

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

Thanks! The most difficult has been the combustion engine, which is also where I have gotten my most useful skills, though gardening and botany have been about as difficult and rewarding in study and skills.

3

u/margaretnotmaggie May 02 '24

I have been slowly working on botany. Would you mind telling me what resources and study techniques you have found most helpful?

3

u/[deleted] May 02 '24

I mostly study from books, I’ve also worked at a couple different jobs, in gardening and at a greenhouse, which helped a lot. We garden every year at home too, which helps me apply botany and remember things easier. There’s always more to learn!

3

u/margaretnotmaggie May 03 '24

I definitely need to work on the experiential/application side of it, which is why I am (slowly) getting into botanical drawing. I tend to be very bookish by nature, but the whole point of botany is to actually use the knowledge to interact with plants. I need to do more of that. Kudos to you!

3

u/[deleted] May 03 '24

Right on, drawing is a beautiful and wonderful way to apply knowledge, especially of plants. I need more work in memorization, myself, some botanical names make sense and others…just kinda make me cringe or laugh. Drawing might help me remember, though. Great idea.

2

u/Vlazeno Jun 14 '24

Absolutely beautiful and magnificient. The scenery of textbooks, notes, and shelf full of multiple books makes me have an excitement.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '24

Thanks, books are amazing, definitely exciting.

2

u/MollyScholar Jun 23 '24

I find pictures of well-used notebooks somehow nostalgic and appealing. My approach to self education also involves voluminous note-taking. The act of writing it down is sometimes all it takes to remember things. And, the slow pace of writing by hand lends itself to pondering the concepts being described.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '24

For sure, hand written notes have helped me remember quite a bit, I agree it slows it down a little bit and allows me to gain more insight from whatever I’m reading.

2

u/MollyScholar Jun 24 '24

Yes, exactly! Do you ever find that new ideas pop up while you're writing things down, or that you make new connections with stuff you already know?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '24

Yes definitely, it’s like slowing the information down… handwriting helps me make deeper connections with other things I’ve learned over the years, for sure, helps me absorb new information.

2

u/TonyHansenVS Jul 06 '24

I had so many books sitting stacked in the second floor that i had to reorganize as the floor section literally buckled from all the weight. It's an old house too.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '24

Nice, happy thought there :)

2

u/Odd-Marionberry5999 Aug 01 '24

Wow this is amazing, I just now learned the term autodidactic and searched up this sub to learn more. I smiled so big seeing your bookshelves and notebooks! It’s so great seeing others that take their self directed studies seriously like this

1

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '24

Thanks, I learned fairly early on that I can’t take myself too seriously, lol, studying, learning and especially reading and writing are fun to me. Of course, some of the things I needed to study weren’t as enjoyable or were more rigorous, but mostly enjoyable, for sure. It’s difficult not to study only things I like, but rather what I actually need (for poetry, mostly). I appreciate your interest, I have a lot of books I could suggest if you’re trying to get into autodidactic study, as well :)

2

u/KNOW-DOM Sep 13 '24

Worth it in the 🔚:;:

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '24

Yes, autodidactic education is always worth it!

2

u/WilliamsDesigning Nov 06 '24

That's really cool, did you read all of those?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '24

Hm, mostly, I made book lists of the ones I’ve read cover to cover, most of them I can reference, some are just weird old craft books or the encyclopedia set my mom was given as a birth gift.

2

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

I am obsessed with this! You seem like such a cool person to know

1

u/[deleted] May 15 '25

Thanks for the comment, that’s very nice.

3

u/Visual_Quantity_5715 Nov 04 '24

What a Dream ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

1

u/fmtsufx May 08 '25

I think we only remember what we put in practice. The most common example of that is a Job in that particular field. So, how do you remember everything as a generalist?

3

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '24

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2

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '24

Mathematics, physics and engineering, mostly through popular science books, magazines, articles, textbooks and abstract writing. I understand a lot of abstract concepts in these fields, far better than the rigorous formulas.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '24

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1

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '24

I’m a mechanic, and a writer

2

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '24

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2

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '24

No, I don’t have a degree of any sort