The other day I was scrolling around Netflix (looking for something to put on while I slept on the couch) and I thought, “How long would it take to watch all the movies?”
And the rabbit-hole began:
“Probably a lonnnng time.”
“I bet if you started really young, you’d have a shot.”
“What if my child just wants to watch Netflix all day?”
“What if my child decides she wants to become a Netflix master? She’d have a blog and a YouTube channel and that’s how she’d make her living; watching shit, all day.”
“If she didn’t go to elementary school she’d probably be really weird, she’d have a totally twisted view of the outside world.”
“But she’d probably learn a lot from Netflix.”
Then I wrote!
Being educated is a virtuous practice; it is the most beneficial tool for any human being who has any goal. In the U.S. we’re lucky to have access to a special collegiate experience, but if you’re not in college, another very real education is just as available. The internet has made information more accessible than ever; virtually anything anyone has ever known can be found through Google. Don’t know a word? You can Google it and learn. Never read Rene Descartes? Hobbes? You can access some of the greatest thinkers’ best writing for free on the internet. If you need to simplify some ideas or need clarification, those things are on the internet, too. The sum of years and years of knowledge is available, and I encourage everyone to access it more often.
The most entertaining, diverse education you could get is no doubt through podcasts. I have learned more from podcasts than any other source (besides maybe my parents. They taught me to eat and walk, etc…). I recommend The Joe Rogan Experience, RadioLab, Neil Degrasse Tyson’s StarTalk Radio and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. Podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience are talk-show style, they’re filter-less, honest, and witty. You can listen to anyone from Action Bronson to Sue Aikens via The JRE, I couldn’t praise it enough. Dan Carlin’s series “Wrath of the Khans” is truly the most enthralling history lesson I’ve ever received, and to receive knowledge directly from Neil Tyson is an honor! You have geniuses and experts at the tips of your fingers, waiting to feed you knowledge—all you need to do is open your ears to them! If you’re looking for a diverse education for free, there’s no better place to find it than the thousands of podcasts on the web; you can choose what to listen to, you’re free in every way to pursue truth.
With the internet, education becomes a forever-project, which means you can take your time and learn whatever you’d like because you can’t learn it all. There is no failing, no grading, only understanding (and sometimes misunderstanding, but that’s okay.) There’s always more to learn, and there’s a seemingly unending source of information in front of both of you and me, right now.
