Reading For A Degree, or Several ???

[Ellen Brown]

This location is the best I can do.

I've seen several ads about Old People getting a Degree, and so far I think the hitch is that it costs just lots of money to get one, so doing so could be construed as a revenue source?

In my dotage I have studied Psychology but ran out of money to do so. Now it occurs to me that if I could get and complete the reading list for a degree, or various degrees, I could get a long way toward the knowledge I would have with a degree, but save the money and aggravation from grumpy, egocentric Professors perhaps?

Are there such reading lists? I would likely read about Anthropology, Archeology, Astronomy, and a bit of Quantum Physics. Yes, I know that I left readings about religion out because I have already suffered sufficient aggravation from that.

 

[Stevicus]

This location is the best I can do.

I've seen several ads about Old People getting a Degree, and so far I think the hitch is that it costs just lots of money to get one, so doing so could be construed as a revenue source?

In my dotage I have studied Psychology but ran out of money to do so. Now it occurs to me that if I could get and complete the reading list for a degree, or various degrees, I could get a long way toward the knowledge I would have with a degree, but save the money and aggravation from grumpy, egocentric Professors perhaps?

Are there such reading lists? I would likely read about Anthropology, Archeology, Astronomy, and a bit of Quantum Physics. Yes, I know that I left readings about religion out because I have already suffered sufficient aggravation from that.

I suppose such reading lists might vary by college, although you could probably get a course syllabus and reading list from whichever department you're interested in.

But with some things, you might still need some hands on experience. Like with astronomy, I heard students have to spend long hours at the observatory, working all night and hardly getting any sleep. Or if you're an archeology student, you might have to work as an assistant to some crazy, adventuring archeologist.

 

[sayak83]

This location is the best I can do.

I've seen several ads about Old People getting a Degree, and so far I think the hitch is that it costs just lots of money to get one, so doing so could be construed as a revenue source?

In my dotage I have studied Psychology but ran out of money to do so. Now it occurs to me that if I could get and complete the reading list for a degree, or various degrees, I could get a long way toward the knowledge I would have with a degree, but save the money and aggravation from grumpy, egocentric Professors perhaps?

Are there such reading lists? I would likely read about Anthropology, Archeology, Astronomy, and a bit of Quantum Physics. Yes, I know that I left readings about religion out because I have already suffered sufficient aggravation from that.

If you don't need an official degree, here's something that will get you an unofficial degree in physics,
Course Catalogue | The Theoretical Minimum

Edx is a good platform to take free courses (though certificates will cost money).
Eg:-
The Climate-Energy Challenge

 

[Twilight Hue]

This location is the best I can do.

I've seen several ads about Old People getting a Degree, and so far I think the hitch is that it costs just lots of money to get one, so doing so could be construed as a revenue source?

In my dotage I have studied Psychology but ran out of money to do so. Now it occurs to me that if I could get and complete the reading list for a degree, or various degrees, I could get a long way toward the knowledge I would have with a degree, but save the money and aggravation from grumpy, egocentric Professors perhaps?

Are there such reading lists? I would likely read about Anthropology, Archeology, Astronomy, and a bit of Quantum Physics. Yes, I know that I left readings about religion out because I have already suffered sufficient aggravation from that.

I sometimes wonder if there's enough information on the internet to essentially get to the academic level to qualify for a degree.

If anything, I would think if a person did that before hand, they wouldn't have to cram for classes and tests to get that degree! *Grin*

It probably explains that once you get to the technical aspects, they are usually locked behind hideously expensive pay walls to access that information ranging from hundreds of dollars to even thousands of dollars for a single book.

 

[Polymath257]

I have a PhD in math and almost another in physics. But the vast majority of what I have learned is from reading on my own.

Some people need the structure of a class and the guidance of a professor in order to learn, while others don't. So, if you are good at self-teaching and motivated, you can do all of the *book* learning on your own.

But, as others have pointed out, there is also the practical aspects of learning: going on field trips, spending time at a telescope, being in a lab trying to get some instrument to work. Those are also very important aspects of education and are much harder to accomplish on your own. For example, if you want to do anthropology, it is a good thing to go on a dig with a professional. It is a good thing to actually hold the different artifacts and bones and learn to identify them by feel. And often the dig sites are restricted to those with some sort of degree (or their guests).

As a more specific recommendation: if you really want to do some quantum physics, learn math through differential equations first. Then do some basic engineering physics first to get terminology correct. THEN do the quantum physics.

 

[Polymath257]

I sometimes wonder if there's enough information on the internet to essentially get to the academic level to qualify for a degree.

If anything, I would think if a person did that before hand, they wouldn't have to cram for classes and tests to get that degree! *Grin*

It probably explains that once you get to the technical aspects, they are usually locked behind hideously expensive pay walls to access that information ranging from hundreds of dollars to even thousands of dollars for a single book.

This is true. if you can be associated with a university, the paywalls can often be avoided, but you need to be taking at least one actual class.

 

[Yerda]

I sometimes wonder if there's enough information on the internet to essentially get to the academic level to qualify for a degree.

I've been taking courses in maths and physics for years now with the Open Uni and I can always find high quality lectures, notes, texts, and even software online for free if I need to fill in gaps or supplement what I'm doing. At least up 'til bachelors level the free stuff is a high enough quality and so easily found that if you could get exams booked somewhere you could, with a little bit of discipline and some advice, get yourself through an undergraduate program.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

You can educate yourself, but what you miss are the interesting discussions and the evaluations of the books. Some published material is rubbish, even if the writer is a professor!

Start with a well-reviewed introductory textbook. So for archeology, there's
Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice / Colin Renfrew, Paul Bahn. 6th ed. Routledge, 2012.
There may be a more modern edition — I bought this one just to keep relatively up-to-date. Every chapter of a good textbook should have a reading list and you can follow up whatever takes your fancy.

If you have a university near that allows you to become a paying user of the library, that helps. That facility is common in the UK, but I don't know about other countries. That also gives you access to journals they don't subscribe to via Jstor.

 

[Ellen Brown]

You can educate yourself, but what you miss are the interesting discussions and the evaluations of the books. Some published material is rubbish, even if the writer is a professor!

Start with a well-reviewed introductory textbook. So for archeology, there's
Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice / Colin Renfrew, Paul Bahn. 6th ed. Routledge, 2012.
There may be a more modern edition — I bought this one just to keep relatively up-to-date. Every chapter of a good textbook should have a reading list and you can follow up whatever takes your fancy.

If you have a university near that allows you to become a paying user of the library, that helps. That facility is common in the UK, but I don't know about other countries. That also gives you access to journals they don't subscribe to via Jstor.

Thank you.

I see that Oxford now has free online courses. I live close to a large University, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA. I won't say it is the best but they do have a large Library, from which I have checked books out.

Much of my reading has been in the Bible and other associated books. The rest of my reading is in subjects that just catch my fancy; The Sciences and some Psychology, though I am losing respect for it. There has been just lots of recreational Science Fiction reading and that often triggers my study of other subjects. At my age and income, there will not be any digging about in the dirt in obscure digs. Medicine is sometimes very interesting and I am surprised at how rapidly the knowledge is changing. Genetics might be interesting but that would be out of personal interest.