There is also a complementary point to point number 1. I have seen systematically people coming mostly from the physics and mathematics underestimate the complexity of the ideas/problems in Biology. I have seen a lot of that in LW, so watch out. If someone says that by reading a DNA sample a very powerful computer can derive the moral values of humans, you can bet a lot of money that this person has no clue about biology. To me, it sounds like a biologist saying that the Bayes theorem is false because probabilities are in the mind. Don’t become that arrogant prick. Do your homework!
The above list gives you a very solid understanding of molecular biology, certainly more than the vast majority of philosophers. Something missing is probably Physiology. To learn about physiology, use the same ideas above: YouTube, some manual, present your ideas to other people, etc.
Much thanks for your recommendations & advice, I appreciate you taking the time to share those things!
That’s good to know re: the biology vs physics distinction. I’m great at remembering and playing with concepts and also do decently at memorizing all the “hardware bits” so to say (my intellectual & professional background is mixed and requires proficiency with many concepts as well as being able to RTFM a textbook and memorize things).
I will check out the books you mentioned, other sources, and generally do my homework, hehe :) I love physics, but biology is more fun in a few ways BECAUSE of how many more moving parts you have to deal with (biology uses less abstract maps of the territory than physics, usually, ergo there are more moving parts and thus more covarying input parameters in whatever system one’s dealing with).
What topics in biology do you classify as “you need a deep or solid understanding of them generally before moving to specific subtopics” type topics vs more specialty topics (you touched on this some I think, are there other helpful topics to learn for longevity research in addition to the ones you mentioned)? Looks like evolution, molecular biology, and physiology are what you mentioned so far.
Any recommendations for networking with biologists and finding good mentors in that space? Besides posting in public forums where they might hangout, heh. (any other good places besides this one?)
Any recommendations for networking with biologists and finding good mentors in that space? Besides posting in public forums where they might hangout, heh. (any other good places besides this one?)
Search a good University around where you live / a place where you can go physically. Go to the tab: Research. Find the biology department. See what they are doing. Read their research. Cold email them. Did wonders for me.
Besides, happy to have chat on Skype or similar at some point if you fancy
What topics in biology do you classify as “you need a deep or solid understanding of them generally before moving to specific subtopics” type topics vs more specialty topics (you touched on this some I think, are there other helpful topics to learn for longevity research in addition to the ones you mentioned)? Looks like evolution, molecular biology, and physiology are what you mentioned so far.
Start with Evolution and Molecular Biology in parallel first, once you have the basics right, move to Physiology.
Can you please link some of those Youtube channels you mentioned in the comment? I’d like to learn more about the topic—ideally, grasp the big ideas & what-I-don’t-know (coming from the pure math angle, so not much grounding in the natural sciences).
For reference, I found Introduction to Biology—The Secret of Life (an MIT course at edX) to be very helpful in this kind of exploration.
To tell you the truth, I can’t think of any right now. The reason is that the things I know about Biology I learnt them mostly using books, interacting with people in my environment, teachers, reading in the internet etc. I just assumed that there must be excellent YouTube channels out there because it is the case for other areas that I actively follow (History, Language learning, etc). I have used YouTube (when YouTube was a baby) to understand things as basic as transcription, which is WAY easier to understand once you see the different parts of the cell interacting. The MIT course you mention, I don’t know it, but it is certainly very useful.
A couple of things I wanted to add:
There is also a complementary point to point number 1. I have seen systematically people coming mostly from the physics and mathematics underestimate the complexity of the ideas/problems in Biology. I have seen a lot of that in LW, so watch out. If someone says that by reading a DNA sample a very powerful computer can derive the moral values of humans, you can bet a lot of money that this person has no clue about biology. To me, it sounds like a biologist saying that the Bayes theorem is false because probabilities are in the mind. Don’t become that arrogant prick. Do your homework!
The above list gives you a very solid understanding of molecular biology, certainly more than the vast majority of philosophers. Something missing is probably Physiology. To learn about physiology, use the same ideas above: YouTube, some manual, present your ideas to other people, etc.
Much thanks for your recommendations & advice, I appreciate you taking the time to share those things!
That’s good to know re: the biology vs physics distinction. I’m great at remembering and playing with concepts and also do decently at memorizing all the “hardware bits” so to say (my intellectual & professional background is mixed and requires proficiency with many concepts as well as being able to RTFM a textbook and memorize things).
I will check out the books you mentioned, other sources, and generally do my homework, hehe :) I love physics, but biology is more fun in a few ways BECAUSE of how many more moving parts you have to deal with (biology uses less abstract maps of the territory than physics, usually, ergo there are more moving parts and thus more covarying input parameters in whatever system one’s dealing with).
What topics in biology do you classify as “you need a deep or solid understanding of them generally before moving to specific subtopics” type topics vs more specialty topics (you touched on this some I think, are there other helpful topics to learn for longevity research in addition to the ones you mentioned)? Looks like evolution, molecular biology, and physiology are what you mentioned so far.
Any recommendations for networking with biologists and finding good mentors in that space? Besides posting in public forums where they might hangout, heh. (any other good places besides this one?)
Search a good University around where you live / a place where you can go physically. Go to the tab: Research. Find the biology department. See what they are doing. Read their research. Cold email them. Did wonders for me.
Besides, happy to have chat on Skype or similar at some point if you fancy
Start with Evolution and Molecular Biology in parallel first, once you have the basics right, move to Physiology.
Can you please link some of those Youtube channels you mentioned in the comment? I’d like to learn more about the topic—ideally, grasp the big ideas & what-I-don’t-know (coming from the pure math angle, so not much grounding in the natural sciences).
For reference, I found Introduction to Biology—The Secret of Life (an MIT course at edX) to be very helpful in this kind of exploration.
To tell you the truth, I can’t think of any right now. The reason is that the things I know about Biology I learnt them mostly using books, interacting with people in my environment, teachers, reading in the internet etc. I just assumed that there must be excellent YouTube channels out there because it is the case for other areas that I actively follow (History, Language learning, etc). I have used YouTube (when YouTube was a baby) to understand things as basic as transcription, which is WAY easier to understand once you see the different parts of the cell interacting. The MIT course you mention, I don’t know it, but it is certainly very useful.