On my Self-Education

I'm not going to get super philosophical with my definition of self-education. In this case, I'm simply referring to voluntary activity similar to what I would be required to do were I still in school. Essentially, my efforts are being focused on obtaining textbooks, reading them, and taking notes. You could argue that it's not the most effective way to learn, but it's what I'm used to so why not go with it? It's unfortunate that I can't really incorporate a field component very easily. For example, my current subject of study is geology. I can go out and attempt to look at rocks and rock formations all I want, but without an experienced geologist to guide me, answer questions, and either confirm or correct my thoughts, it isn't going to help me much. And so I am utilizing the textbook. But no matter: knowledge gained from books, if nothing else, provides a solid basis for experiential knowledge that may be gained later in life. I am aware of how inarticulate this paragraph may be...and I don't really care all that much. I'm sorting through thoughts a little bit here, and I feel like updating so why the hell not?

So geology is sort of interesting I guess. Learning the basics is a little dull, and I'm eager to get to chapters later in the book. But I don't want to rush it, because oftentimes boring stuff can be important to know, and it may inform more exciting stuff. Overall I'm making decent progress. I think I've read 6 chapters at this point? And since the book is due back next Monday, I've had it for 2 1/2 weeks. Not too shabby, but I'll definitely be renewing it at least once, probably twice. Interesting observation: one would think that chapters on natural disasters would be the good, juicy stuff that most people would want to read about. But I skipped the chapter on volcanism after the igneous rock chapter in favor of trudging right through sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and I definitely plan on skipping the chapter on earthquakes. I may go back to them later, but my initial reaction was that these topics just didn't pique my interest.

I know that it's looking somewhat far ahead, but I'm debating whether my next subject should be Ornithology or Genetics. If I put off genetics, I'll probably continue to do so in favor of more interesting topics, but I'd really like to have a basic understanding of the subject (beyond the Mendelian stuff you learn in intro bio and E&E). And given that my textbook source is currently the library, and said books have a due date and a limit on the # of renewals, I don't want to take on multiple subjects at the same time (especially since I plan on reading various other books too). I suppose if I find a good textbook at Goodwill or something I can pick it up and take as long as I would like. But last time I was there (which, admittedly, was a couple of months ago) they didn't really have anything that I felt like buying.

Question: how bored does one have to be to actually read through blog posts of this nature? If someone else wrote this and I started reading it, I think I'd move on after the first few sentences...

Oh well, whatevs.