@freemo this is a loaded question so feel free to ignore or respond in parts but I've been reading your stuff for a while now and you seem super smart.
I was wondering if you could offer some advice for a young-ish dummy like myself in terms of expanding raw problem solving ability (idk calculus, analysis,logic, algorithms, etc.) That can allow you to learn more complex subjects faster and make research level contributions at MSc or PhD level.
@freemo A little background, I come from a third world country and missed a lot of schooling until I was 15 which is when I moved to [insert developed nation] and at that age I didn't even know how to divide, what exponents were, or anything like that (basically I ducked at math).
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Ya know, I want to start off by saying I dont view myself as smart, I accept it only because everyone states it as so, but as a person society has labeled "smart" I can say that to me it doesnt appear i have too many special skills or do anything different than anyone else other than to simply try and not give up when i fail, and to keep trying till i either get to a solution or I understand why a solution cant be achieved. I have come to beleive being "smart" is more about persistence than it is about any natural abilities (though not being discouraged too easily might be a natural ability).
the other thing is making sure ideas stick, thats a big part of it. For that I suppose I do make some calculated decisions. For that side of things I find its all about application, learn a concept but not just for the sake of learning, think about fun creative ways to apply the knowledge and do it before moving on to the next idea (even if its just on paper to prove it out), if youc ant go so far as applying the idea try to add your own twist or modifications to it and discuss it with those who undertand the idea (IRC is great for that for educated subjects. People will probably give you a lot of resistance for doing this as it comes off as quackery (trying to improve or modify classical theories when you yourself barely understand them)... but it isnt about your ideas being true, even finding out why your modifications would fail to bring an improvement is something you learned and is of value.
In the endit always comes back to one thing to me though... failure is as valuable if not more so than success, as you learned something you thought to be true was not, so you learned something new and important.
