I agree with this, I find it much easier and probably more fun to browse a subject at the top level, but I also experience a sort of pleasure in obtaining a complex formalization of an idea that wraps it up in a neat package. I think that it is for this reason that I can pleasurably read a mathematics text in say, Model Theory or Set Theory or Lambda Calculus (to a somewhat lesser degree).
I do notice that my pleasure in learning a subject increases with respect to two variables: the apparent breadth of it’s implications and the applicability it has to my general understanding of the world. Together these seem to amount to how much stuff I can conceptually organize in to a formal framework with the information.
Maybe if you have an over arching goal in mind it could help you out. My broadest goal is to be able to consider as many objects and events as possible in formal frameworks so that I have a clear picture of how things interrelate. I immensely enjoy being able to break down what I might be mulling over or what I have experienced in novel ways to try to get insight in to the subject. So, when I research something related to history, it is because I am worried about modern politics, possible misinformation and about why I might take a certain stance on an issue rather than an obsessive desire to pick up neat little nuggets of information.
I have found that cycling through a specific spectrum of ebooks gives me a good result. What I do is I read a text on a subject I find interesting until it becomes difficult to follow, and then I switch to learning something else, and break it up with diversions whether it’s watching a video of some sort or playing a game of Go etc. I generally find that when I come back to the subject (I don’t have a good time frame for this) I have a much more intuitive grasp of the material I had previously learned, and can often anticipate certain things that appear in the new material. I then can easily go further along in the book than I could before. This allows me to maintain my level of fun while going deeper in to a subject without burning out. A caveat: I enjoy working problems, so if you don’t (depending on the subject), you probably will hit a ceiling as far as learning and maintaining your fun level goes.
On the other hand, you might just find yourself meandering ebooks (if you have a collection as large as mine and you are like me, you will). However; I have generally found that I meandering through technical ebooks can often lead to new insights and new areas to explore and can often lead to a better understanding of previously explored subjects. It is like wikicrawling on steroids.
I agree with this, I find it much easier and probably more fun to browse a subject at the top level, but I also experience a sort of pleasure in obtaining a complex formalization of an idea that wraps it up in a neat package. I think that it is for this reason that I can pleasurably read a mathematics text in say, Model Theory or Set Theory or Lambda Calculus (to a somewhat lesser degree).
I do notice that my pleasure in learning a subject increases with respect to two variables: the apparent breadth of it’s implications and the applicability it has to my general understanding of the world. Together these seem to amount to how much stuff I can conceptually organize in to a formal framework with the information.
Maybe if you have an over arching goal in mind it could help you out. My broadest goal is to be able to consider as many objects and events as possible in formal frameworks so that I have a clear picture of how things interrelate. I immensely enjoy being able to break down what I might be mulling over or what I have experienced in novel ways to try to get insight in to the subject. So, when I research something related to history, it is because I am worried about modern politics, possible misinformation and about why I might take a certain stance on an issue rather than an obsessive desire to pick up neat little nuggets of information.
I have found that cycling through a specific spectrum of ebooks gives me a good result. What I do is I read a text on a subject I find interesting until it becomes difficult to follow, and then I switch to learning something else, and break it up with diversions whether it’s watching a video of some sort or playing a game of Go etc. I generally find that when I come back to the subject (I don’t have a good time frame for this) I have a much more intuitive grasp of the material I had previously learned, and can often anticipate certain things that appear in the new material. I then can easily go further along in the book than I could before. This allows me to maintain my level of fun while going deeper in to a subject without burning out. A caveat: I enjoy working problems, so if you don’t (depending on the subject), you probably will hit a ceiling as far as learning and maintaining your fun level goes.
On the other hand, you might just find yourself meandering ebooks (if you have a collection as large as mine and you are like me, you will). However; I have generally found that I meandering through technical ebooks can often lead to new insights and new areas to explore and can often lead to a better understanding of previously explored subjects. It is like wikicrawling on steroids.