Long-Term Goals

It seems you'll be nose-deep in physics while bundled up in your winter reading nook this year

I'll need to add those to my long-term goals list. You know, my long long long term goals list.

Tell me something you've read lately. Or what area you find yourself interested in these days, pls.

I'm not sure that my reading list be of much interest to anybody here.

Sappho tends to come up a lot. When I'm relaxed with a tea and a smoke, she's nice to come back to. It's sad that I have to read her in translation. I also read Catullus and Tibullus and Ovid. The ancient world inspired some interest again fairly recently and so I've been re-acquiring latin proficiency. Mostly I'm reading poetry at the moment which is new to me.

Otherwise, I've been looking at some pretty weird fascist stuff that nobody cares about. A Russian book called Foundations of Geopolitics that essentially goes through the wet-dream list of things the Kremlin ought to achieve, and Julius Evola's Revolt Against the Modern World which, while not strictly being read because of some fascist (super-fascist is the correct term) idealism, I find quite compelling in other aspects in the way he tries to bridge the primordial world, different religions and spirituality together, his discussion on the genders. This kind of thinking may be related to why I've gone back to the ancients -- something timeless and solid maybe.

I did also pick up a couple of Jane Austen's books recently for another reading, since I probably read them too young the first time. I'm being slow with these.

Manners73 wrote:

justonemoreperson wrote:

Manners73 wrote:
Thought that was quite good. Then I thought I'd challenge myself and read Stephen hawking brief history of time. I understood about 20% of it but I loved that 20%

I did the same and got about 20%. Read it again a couple of years later and managed to get about half way through before my brain started screaming.

Fascinating stuff.

I liked the bit about the black holes and space men getting sucked in and turned into spaghetti.

@Reaper I'd love to travel with ya.

Eight wrote:
If this is the case, why did jomp/manners only grab 20%?

Two problems for me:

1. I'm terrible at maths.
2. I need to deconstruct things to understand them properly, and there are aspects of quantum mechanics that kinda need to be just "accepted" because they make no logical sense, unless you can follow the maths (see point 1).

Basically, though, the whole subject is fascinating. Recognising that everything that exists is basically just energy; that matter doesn't really exist and neither does time.

You can get caught up in your own head about it sometimes; if you keep on following things to their logical conclusion, you end up questioning everything you think you believe.

Player 1, ready. Level 2.

Eight wrote:Tell me something you've read lately. Or what area you find yourself interested in these days, pls.

You're one of those self-help book readers, aren't you?

-- Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:06 am --

Eight wrote:

solemnlysworn wrote:Brief history of time is just a pop-sci book. Very few equations. you should give it a read Eight. I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

Are you being cute, SS, or do you really think it's something I might be able to handle?
I'm crap at math and physics isn't my forte.
I don't mind working hard at what I'm reading as long as I'm not absolutely lost and it's all flying over my head -- I think that's been my concern re this book.
Have you read it? Did you glean more than 20%?

Even the simplest book is hard to understand if you aren't interested in it.

poxalis wrote:You're one of those self-help book readers, aren't you?

Sometimes. Depends how smarmy they are. Does psychology count as self-help?

What are you reading? You're smarter than you let on, and a damn good writer. I find that good writers read good stuff. What are you reading?

If you read self-help books then it's not self-help, it's just help.

With special thanks to George Carlin, the greatest President that America didn't have.



My long term goal is to keep on breathing.

I usually don't like books. I prefer to read things online.

Eight wrote:

poxalis wrote:You're one of those self-help book readers, aren't you?

Sometimes. Depends how smarmy they are. Does psychology count as self-help?

What are you reading? You're smarter than you let on, and a damn good writer. I find that good writers read good stuff. What are you reading?

Nah, that's just part of the act. No one knows how dumb you really are if you put on a low effort idiot act while hinting that you "know more". Just finished Monster Hunters International by Larry Correia.

-- Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:50 pm --

MacBuddhaBurger wrote:
My long term goal is to keep on breathing.

hey, i was wondering if you were still alive!