Re: Course Pre Reading


"PD" <TheDraperFamily@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1149713578.047250.248500@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ken S. Tucker wrote:
Phineas T PuddleDuck wrote:
In article <1149703396.935315.182190@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Ken S. Tucker" <dynamics@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

shuba wrote:
Bill wrote:

The study bug has bit and I have decided to actually enroll in a
degree
in
physics.

Because my math degree is 25 years old now they won't give me
exceptions
for
the math. Not really a problem; don't mind a bit of revision.
Does
anyone
have and ideas on some good prereading other than the obvious
Feynman
lectures, Landau etc that I already have? I really would like to
hear
from
guys like PD, Bilge etc that actually teaches/has taught this
stuff, but
any
comments most welcome.

It's so great when people decide to pursue educational
experiences for pure intellectual enjoyment. You are a
delightful person, Bill, and I fully expect you will have a
wonderful time.

GAG, who want's an old fossil plugging up
the education system? A university is NOT
an OLD FOLK's HOME.
If he can't muster the resources to learn the
material - for himself - at his age, he never will.
Ken

I hope thats sarcasm.

Nope

I'm a mature student in his late 30's 3/4 of the way through a physics
masters. Education should never be restricted, or the sole property of
one age
group. Agism really pisses me off.

You're far from retirement and your skill improvements
will benefit society, OTOH Hobba suggested he wishes
to take up university space as a hobby, he should by
now become a member of the faculty, even as honorary.

Ken you have missed the point. Students learn for all sorts of reasons -
but by far the best IMHO is for the pure fun of it and that has nothing to
do with age.

Ken

I'll remind you that a young person can muster the same resources that
an older person can to teach himself, if that were an effective way of
doing things. In fact, they routinely do when they go to a university,
paying a premium for the latest edition of a book that hasn't changed
substantially for two decades, and for access to services that they may
never use. Mustering those resources is precisely why they live on
macaroni and cheese for a number of years. The reason they DON'T muster
the resources to teach themselves is that it is not an efficient way to
learn material. The only reason to try to learn something completely on
your own is that you've got plenty of time to kill and you don't
particularly care about the quality of the outcome. If you want to
learn to play billiards really well, you don't teach yourself, you
compete with someone who is better than you.

I'll also remind you that a university student PAYS for the service of
being taught the material in an effective manner. If someone wants to
pay for that in support of a hobby, there is no reason in the world
they should not do it.

I'll also remind you that those tuition fees support, in part, the
research program at that university, so that going to school DOES
benefit society.

Very well said. I want to add that I consider the tuition I pay a bargain
as well as the texts I purchase. It is pure luck on my part that here in
Australia the government loans you the money and you pay it back later when
your income allows. Because I will be formally retired by then my income
will be low so it is unlikely I will pay it back before I die. But even if
that was not he case I would still spend the money and cut back in other
ways eg other retirees travel the world which has never really interested me
much. Learning can never be done effectively on the cheap. The so called
'University of the Third Age' is a growing phenomena worldwide.

Thanks
Bill


PD



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