# I want to learn everything about the world - what to read?



## Kelhanion (Dec 6, 2008)

I have a thirst for knowledge. I want to know what was behind the greatest movements and the most horrible wars. I want to know how it was possible for the great religions to come to be and why nationalism was so popular in the 19th century. Basically, I want to learn everything I can about how the human mind works and what makes it tick. I want this partly because that would be helpful for me as a writer but also because recently this thirst has just grown expotentially.

So, what I want from you is suggestions. Have you read any good books (fiction or non-fiction) that have broaden your perspectives?


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## Dr. Malone (Dec 6, 2008)

Shaara writes some great non-fiction war books.  American Gospel is a cool non-fic.  Biographies can be enjoyable.  I've got loads of those on the shelf.


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## JHB (Dec 6, 2008)

Is your name Sylar by any chance? :-k


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## froman (Dec 6, 2008)

I just took a Western Civilization course at my college and I loved it.  If you have the money you should enroll in one, but make sure that the professor is good first (ratemyprofessors.com).  He/she will be able to direct you to all the good books.  In fact if your professor is cool he/she will probably loan you them for free.  The only thing that sucks is that the semester is too short to get in depth, but it will give you enough knowledge to know where to start looking.

Now I want to enroll in an Eastern Civilization course.


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 7, 2008)

All the essential information is in "Eleanor's little book of interesting facts" on my associated content page, or will be in the coming chapters.


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## The Backward OX (Dec 7, 2008)

Olly Buckle said:


> All the essential information is in "Eleanor's little book of interesting facts" on my associated content page, or will be in the coming chapters.


This sounds suspiciously like a modern version of "1066 and All That".


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## Mike C (Dec 7, 2008)

You want to know everything? Read the internet. It's available in book form too.


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## Edgewise (Dec 7, 2008)

Go to University.


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## The Backward OX (Dec 7, 2008)

Mike C said:


> You want to know everything? Read the internet. It's available in book form too.


Can you give me a link to download the latest version of the internet?


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## JosephB (Dec 7, 2008)

Too bad you aren't one of those people who think they already know everything.


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 7, 2008)

Actually the last person who was able to learn everything probably lived about 600 years ago, when the amount of transmitted, written knowledge was limited by printing not yet having come into existence, and that's talking about the knowledge of the Western world. The Arabs still held Greek knowledge before we got it back through the Moorish occupation of Spain and there were unknown civilizations in the Orient and South America with their own knowledge stores.


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 7, 2008)

The Backward OX said:


> This sounds suspiciously like a modern version of "1066 and All That".



No, far more erudite, check out my associated content page listed below.


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## Edgewise (Dec 7, 2008)

Olly Buckle said:


> Actually the last person who was able to learn everything probably lived about 600 years ago, when the amount of transmitted, written knowledge was limited by printing not yet having come into existence, and that's talking about the knowledge of the Western world. The Arabs still held Greek knowledge before we got it back through the Moorish occupation of Spain and there were unknown civilizations in the Orient and South America with their own knowledge stores.


 
Thank you.  I actually said pretty much the same thing on another forum.

I stand by my university comment.  It's the closest you will get to learning everything, though you will be nowhere near total knowledge.


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## Dr. Malone (Dec 7, 2008)

That rainman guy (the real one, not the movie) is pretty close.  He sits in the library all day speed-reading everything he can get his hands on and memorizing it all immediately.


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## moderan (Dec 8, 2008)

Kim Peek


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## The Backward OX (Dec 8, 2008)

Olly Buckle said:


> check out my associated content page listed below.


If I click on _that, _you get paid $0.015. That's all well and good and I don't begrudge you it. What I want to know however is _who pays _the $0.015? If I find out someone is raiding my bank account in some clandestine manner, there'll be Questions Asked. I've heard of these guys before; they set up a cunning little program to skim a few thou of a cent off everyone's account, they get rich and the poor silly bank customer never even notices.


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## The Backward OX (Dec 8, 2008)

All you people talking about rainman and ancient Greeks and university and all the rest of it are missing one important point. The knowledge is out there, but you can never learn it all, for the simple reason it hasn’t been written down.

Think about it.


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## JoannaMac (Dec 8, 2008)

I'm reading a fabulous book at the moment called "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson You couldn't ask for a better rough guide to science and natural history. It's unputdownable and full of so many interesting tidbits of information, you wish you could memorize the whole thing. If you could, you'd be a hit at dinner parties


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## Mike C (Dec 8, 2008)

Malone said:


> That rainman guy (the real one, not the movie) is pretty close.  He sits in the library all day speed-reading everything he can get his hands on and memorizing it all immediately.



Thus proving that knowledge is not wisdom.


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 10, 2008)

The Backward OX said:


> If I click on _that, _you get paid $0.015. That's all well and good and I don't begrudge you it. What I want to know however is _who pays _the $0.015? If I find out someone is raiding my bank account in some clandestine manner, there'll be Questions Asked. I've heard of these guys before; they set up a cunning little program to skim a few thou of a cent off everyone's account, they get rich and the poor silly bank customer never even notices.



Only half the page is my input, the other half is advertising, that's what pays. You are welcome to ignore the adverts and steal a march on them by looking for free, glad you don't begrudge me my pittance.


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## Dr. Malone (Dec 10, 2008)

It's linking to a sign-up page, Olly.  I was gonna not look at the ads for all I was worth.


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## BoredMormon (Dec 18, 2008)

JoannaMac said:


> I'm reading a fabulous book at the moment called "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson You couldn't ask for a better rough guide to science and natural history. It's unputdownable and full of so many interesting tidbits of information, you wish you could memorize the whole thing. If you could, you'd be a hit at dinner parties


 
I second that thought. My other suggestion would be an encyclopedia. Just follow references as you find interesting words. You can do the same on the net, but who wants to?

Don't go to uni to know everything. Uni's focus on producing specialists. They teach more and more about less and less, until you know everything about nothing. I am still aways from that point, but that is my ultimate aim


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 21, 2008)

Malone said:


> It's linking to a sign-up page, Olly.  I was gonna not look at the ads for all I was worth.



Bummer, I just went back and copied and pasted the link from the top of my content page and it still comes up like that, seems like they don't want people in except they are members, off to Google Olly Buckle I seem to remember a link there. Yes it does, I have copied and pasted again, I'll post this and try on the new signature.

Edit . No it diverts you to the sign up page, bastards.


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## WillytheSmall (Mar 23, 2009)

Awesome book.I've read a few things in it.






Maybe you can learn something in an encyclopedia?*gasps* =)


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## NaCl (Mar 24, 2009)

I love encyclopedias; collect them, in fact. My oldest complete set is copyright 1901 -- printed long before automobiles, aircraft, telephones, radio and many other inventions we take for granted today. Even streets in most cities were cobblestone or compacted dirt. The collection includes a set for every ten years since 1901. I find it fascinating to read "facts" from the perspective of different generations.  History is re-interpreted about every twenty years.  A common view of an historic event in 1910 may have an entirely different interpretation by the 1930s. So, when you say you want to "know" everything, I don't see how that is possible when history itself is being re-written all the time.


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## WillytheSmall (Mar 24, 2009)

Well he doesn't want to know _Everything_, just a lot.He wants to learn from what I see it as.


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## m alexander (Sep 21, 2011)

*Rupert Sheldrake, professor of biology and author.*

Sceptics are calling him a fringe scientists because he has publicised his scientific finds of the telepathic, but ask yourself this question: How many professors set themselves on a journey with the intention of becoming a fringe scientist?  I doubt there would be any.  He performed scientific testing of non-psychic people at Goldsmiths college in London and was given very successful results.  He has also studied telepathy within the animal kingdom and sees it as being a normal capability of theirs, not a paranormal one.
  He was a very successful and very respected professor of biology before publicising his scientific finds of the telepathic, now he is being named a crackpot and fringe scientist because he like many other people proved the existence of the psychic, that part of capabilities the establishments of the Western world doesnt want to be seen to be looking into and dont want to be accepted in public ways.

  There have also been many news reports about a group of UC Irvine scientists who have been awarded a multi million dollar fund by the US army so to look into the possibilities of turning people telepathic, the US government know telepathy exists and they want to perfect their soldiers by turning them telepathic!
  These are major developments in human conscious awareness but many religious and spiritual people already knew telepathy exists, Rupert has a book about his telepathic investigations, I am unsure of the name but he has a website too.  I think its going to be a decade or two before these truths are accepted into the mainstream.  Telepathy is a scientific fact nowadays, it just isnt being commonly accepted yet.


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## anisha_astrologer (Oct 11, 2011)

if you have a thirst for knowledge then don't limit yourself with only western civilization. explore asian, african, latin american and other cultures that have been sidestepped by the monoploy of western civilization. you will learn a lot.


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## j.w.olson (Oct 11, 2011)

Start with Khan Academy. Watch all of the free video lectures, and that'll give you a good base in science and math.
Also browse random articles on Wikipedia for at least 15 minutes every day. Spend at least 15 minutes more reading non-random articles.
Watch all of the TED talks that you are able to (from TED.com).

That's about all I know of that you can do in your underwear.


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 11, 2011)

A set of pre 1940 Encyclopedia Britannica - Before then the entries were essays by people who knew stuff, not the cut down entries in the modern ones.


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## Circle (Oct 13, 2011)

You could read "Being Jordan" by Katie Price.

However for your subject, nationalism I would suggest any modern history textbook recommended by a good University.


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## helium (Oct 22, 2011)

Reminds me of this episode from a TV show and that 4th sequel to Indiana Jones... Didn't end too well for them


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## Jinotega (Nov 24, 2011)

I agree "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson is a good start. Also "The Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant is excellent. Read history, science, psychology, and always keep an open mind. Take long walks, travel, and ponder. Figure things out for yourself and follow your instinct. 



> I find it fascinating to read "facts" from the perspective of different generations. History is re-interpreted about every twenty years. A common view of an historic event in 1910 may have an entirely different interpretation by the 1930s.



That's very true! The best magazines are those over 30 years old - you can see how events were perceived back then and how it has changed over time. They also show how our perceptions, biases, morality, etc have evolved over the years. And you realize that what is acceptable today could easily be looked back on as inconceivable in another generation. Lots of wisdom to be found in an old pile of newspapers.


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## philistine (Nov 25, 2011)

> The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.



- Samuel Johnson

Read poetry, historical texts, philosophical disquisitions, _soi-disant _'great novels' and perhaps several dramatic works, to get the brutal edge of how character's touching upon reality actually compose themselves. Most importantly; read, read and read!

You could start with the Western Canon, The 'Great Books's list, or even the Everyman list of essentials, or simply devour anything and everything which you may happen upon. There are no rules, after all.


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## Rob (Nov 25, 2011)

Kelhanion said:


> Basically, I want to learn everything I can about how the human mind works and what makes it tick.


Then what you need to know is that a lot of people are genuinely stupid. Understand that and the world starts to make more sense.


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## Sharon L (Dec 19, 2011)

Tall order, but perhaps you want to make up a New Year's challenge for yourself and select 52 books--any genre--that you've always wanted to read to take on a week at a time. One author always leads to another and you might even get some friends to join you in your quest!

Good luck and have fun,

Sharon L.


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## Quadrillion (Dec 19, 2011)

Smartest thing I ever did was buy Tom Robbins' Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas read by Barry Bostwick. Bostwick, the mayor in Michael J. Fox's Spin city, does a marvelous job of bringing the characters and the story to life. Robbins is incredibly prolific. He is a master at weaving history and mythology and unexplained phenomena into a contemporary story. And he's funny. He is the master of the metaphor. I've listened to it a hundred times and never grow tired of the complex metaphors. They are so complicated, you forget them after a month.

How is it possible that, 3000 years ago, certain tribes in Africa were aware of the existence of Sirius B, a star that can't be seen with the human eye? Impossible? No, just the tip of the iceberg. Robbins performs this magic in book after book. And, as I said, he is funny. Did the Church really craft Satan after the goat - a benevolent and much woshipped figure used by their competition (the pagans). There are a million factoids like that. If you want to learn how the world and history as we know it was constructed by those in power, Robbins is your man.


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## Walkio (Dec 21, 2011)

Some of my favourite non-fiction books include:

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
The Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene
The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkings
The God Delusion, Richard Dawkings
The Road Less Travelled, M Scott Peck
Tricks of the Mind, Derren Brown


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## elfwriter (Mar 10, 2012)

If you want to know everything try reading a autobiography of a politician. You can peep into minds of the greatest leaders and see how their minds work.


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## blyish (Mar 28, 2012)

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson 

or read books in the Dummies series. Good introduction to basically any subject you might want to know about. Though I have to confess the Dummies book on quantum physics requires you to be smart BEFORE you start reading them... It's a bit unfair, I think.


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## frappie3 (May 28, 2012)

I have a thirst for knowledge as well. One of my favorite sections in the bookstore to go to quench my thirst is the psychology section.  So many interesting books about the way the mind works.  I love those.  I've always been interested in psychology though, so it may not catch you in the same way.  Stiff by Mary Roach, a very interesting book about the various things that happen to the body after death.  Another one I liked was A Billion Wicked Thoughts, cannot think of the author offhand. Both are easy to read books though.


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## Writ (Aug 3, 2012)

Seems like hubris to me.

It would be great to be a deep sea welder, astronaut, helicopter pilot, ophthalmologist, undercover narcotics officer and a member of all the other millions of occupations and specialties simultaneously but I don't see it as realistic.

Certainly reading a lot and widely will improve your knowledge about many different things about life and this world. Improve, not make you an expert or always right.

And unless you are carrying out original research yourself you inevitably place faith in other men and women. 

A difficult road to becoming a "Renaissance Man" requires going through university for a great portion of your life and acquiring advanced degrees in several core fields of inquiry. Even then you won't know everything but you'll certainly be learned and far above the world's mean in educational attainment and professional ability.

I recall reading about an East Indian man in the metro Milwaukee area that had like 4 or 5 degrees. The guy had a law degree, a degree as a medical doctor, and several other degrees that I can't remember. Just flabbergasting. Even then he didn't know his wife was embezzling millions of dollars from the company she worked at.


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## TinyDancer (Aug 3, 2012)

this?

(from anonymous)

It is said that knowledge has Three Spans; whoever enters the First Span will become Arrogant (he thinks he Knows it All), 
then the one who Enters the Second Span will become Humble (because he Realizes he needs to Learn a lot More),
then he who enters the Third Span will Realize that he knows Nothing !!!


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## Circle (Aug 5, 2012)

So,

I wonder if the starter of this thread found what was sought?

...?

Regards,
"Circle"


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