wishes it wasn't a box: fyi
wishes it wasn't a box: I said a while back
wishes it wasn't a box: I thought you have the skills to be a good physicist
Sam.: I remember
wishes it wasn't a box: You said that it was never something you had considered, and knew nothing about it
wishes it wasn't a box: I have nfi if you have any interest
wishes it wasn't a box: but I'm starting a basic 1st-year physics class through MIT's opencourseware thing
Sam.: I haven
Sam.: haven't heard about it
Sam.: opencourseware
Sam.: what is it
wishes it wasn't a box: it's
wishes it wasn't a box: fucking
wishes it wasn't a box: awesome
wishes it wasn't a box: like
wishes it wasn't a box: holy crap
wishes it wasn't a box: bunch of MIT classes
wishes it wasn't a box: all of their course content
wishes it wasn't a box: minus participatory shit like labs etc obviously
wishes it wasn't a box: assignments, notes, textbooks, exams, solutions
wishes it wasn't a box: are available for free
wishes it wasn't a box: online
wishes it wasn't a box: just a second
wishes it wasn't a box: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-012-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-2008/index.htm
wishes it wasn't a box: that's the course I'm doing
Sam.: do you get a degree from it? O.o
wishes it wasn't a box: more classes are here: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic/
wishes it wasn't a box: no, but you can just learn whatever you want
wishes it wasn't a box: find out what doing a degree in something would be like
wishes it wasn't a box: so you can try a million things before actually enrolling in a university to do one officially
wishes it wasn't a box: and
wishes it wasn't a box: if you were really on to it
wishes it wasn't a box: you could just learn
wishes it wasn't a box: a degree's worth of material
wishes it wasn't a box: then go enrol in that degree at a university
wishes it wasn't a box: straight As
wishes it wasn't a box: ez pz
wishes it wasn't a box: get whatever job you want
wishes it wasn't a box: graduate top of your class
wishes it wasn't a box: scholarships
wishes it wasn't a box: etc
Sam.: ...not as easy as it sounds, i imagine
wishes it wasn't a box: all it takes is self control
wishes it wasn't a box: like discpline to actually clock hours doing the work
wishes it wasn't a box: would be worth it
wishes it wasn't a box: because of the immense opportunity you'd have at the end of it
wishes it wasn't a box: graduate with distinction doing something you really enjoy
wishes it wasn't a box: like it depends on what you're studying
wishes it wasn't a box: but with the stuff I'm doing, i.e. math, physics, etc
wishes it wasn't a box: it's actually just reading stuff and practicing using what you've read to solve problems
Sam.: I'm going to save this conversation
Sam.: and read over it properly after this demo
Sam.: my attention is split currently
wishes it wasn't a box: okidoki glhf
Sam.: and I feel I need to give this my full attention
Sam.: Thanks Amper =]
wishes it wasn't a box: I'll probably be asleep, I'll talk to you more about it tomorrow or something
wishes it wasn't a box: later
Sam.: Sounds like a plan.
Sam.: Night night
Sam.: amperland
Sam.: are you still there
wishes it wasn't a box: yes
Sam.: could you
Sam.: repaste me
wishes it wasn't a box: I shouldn't be
wishes it wasn't a box: but I am
Sam.: what you said
wishes it wasn't a box: yes
Sam.: i accidentally
Sam.: closed the window
Sam.: i'm glad you're still up
Sam.: ;D
wishes it wasn't a box: http://pastebin.com/cB9pEUVr
Sam.: thanks amper
wishes it wasn't a box: np
wishes it wasn't a box: plus
wishes it wasn't a box: if you're studying something
wishes it wasn't a box: on ocw
wishes it wasn't a box: and you're having trouble with it
wishes it wasn't a box: you can just
wishes it wasn't a box: go to whatever university is near you
wishes it wasn't a box: go talk to a lecturer teaching a class similar to the one you're having difficulty with
wishes it wasn't a box: and ask questions
wishes it wasn't a box: they usually have office hours during the semester
wishes it wasn't a box: where students are allowed to come ask questions
wishes it wasn't a box: doubt they'd turn you away if you had genuine questions even if they could tell you weren't enroled in their classes
wishes it wasn't a box: and if you're good at what you're doing
wishes it wasn't a box: you get their attention
Sam.: What benefits would having their attention get you?
Sam.: If you weren't enrolled that is
wishes it wasn't a box: maybe just skip the degree entirely, weasel your way into a research job
wishes it wasn't a box: if research was what you wanted to do
wishes it wasn't a box: but if you find something you want to devote your life to
wishes it wasn't a box: you just treat it like tf2
wishes it wasn't a box: clock huge hours on it
wishes it wasn't a box: get really really fucking good at it
wishes it wasn't a box: and you'll get people's attention, which is never bad for employment reasons
wishes it wasn't a box: I dunno, that's what I gather a lot of at least physics research is like
Sam.: Jersh just changed his name back
Sam.: just an offtopic heads up
wishes it wasn't a box: like, have the skills to analyze stuff, have access to open problems/experimental results on the frontier of research (ez pz with some journal subscriptions), and then just publish good ideas
wishes it wasn't a box: fuck, that's lame
wishes it wasn't a box: I think he's going to change it next time we scrim so it shows up in the killfeed
wishes it wasn't a box: but anyway, a bunch of rambling above was sort of specific for what I personally want to do
wishes it wasn't a box: just saying
Sam.: It's definitely a lot to comprehend
Sam.: I've never thought about it before
Sam.: As I previously said
Sam.: I'll look a bit into what physics actually is
Sam.: And see if it interests me
Sam.: I regret taking Biology in school
Sam.: ..
Sam.: I hated Biology
wishes it wasn't a box: ocw is an awesome resource to have access to, just gives you a lot of opportunity to try stuff out
Sam.: and I had a semester on "Intelligent Design"
Sam.: which made me want to cut myself
Sam.: A term*
Sam.: not semester
wishes it wasn't a box: yeah like honestly, I have nfi if any of this will interest you at all, but I figured I'd let you know about ocw anyway since you said something about not knowing wtf you want to be doing for a career
wishes it wasn't a box: I have never taken a chem/biology class in my life
Sam.: I appreciate the effort
Sam.: I do
Sam.: I'm incredibly lost
Sam.: Any idea is a good idea to me currently
Sam.: Just something to look into
wishes it wasn't a box: have you ever had a class in high school that inspired an interest in some subject?
Sam.: No.
wishes it wasn't a box: yeah high school is really bad about that
Sam.: I thought IT at the time
Sam.: but I only liked that
Sam.: because I was good at it
Sam.: and got A's
Sam.: I'd finish my work 4x faster than the allocated time given
Sam.: and play video games
wishes it wasn't a box: rofl
Sam.: My IT teacher was cool like that
Sam.: Once you checked off all the work you had to do
Sam.: it was free time
wishes it wasn't a box: no real interest in it though?
Sam.: Not really
Sam.: I did a Diploma of IT
Sam.: Finished it
Sam.: easily
Sam.: but
Sam.: Didn't motivate me at all
Sam.: If anything
Sam.: it steered me away from the field
wishes it wasn't a box: yeah
wishes it wasn't a box: fuck doing anything you're not completely passionate about