Lord save us from autodidacts (derogatory).
October 3, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Lord save us from autodidacts (derogatory).
Really like this! Well done Autodidacts 🙌
October 3, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Really like this! Well done Autodidacts 🙌
I think their target was originally ~autodidacts and engineers, and it slowly shifted to bring gifted teens and undergraduates where a lot of the concepts would be being introduced for the first time with the LessWrong frame
October 2, 2026 at 12:58 AM
I think their target was originally ~autodidacts and engineers, and it slowly shifted to bring gifted teens and undergraduates where a lot of the concepts would be being introduced for the first time with the LessWrong frame
Like one of the basic functions of academia is they don't need to give unqualified "autodidacts" the time of day. There are no shortage of crackpots in the world, and it doesn't behoove geologists to do geology when they have to rebut people who think the earth is 4000 years old.
October 1, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Like one of the basic functions of academia is they don't need to give unqualified "autodidacts" the time of day. There are no shortage of crackpots in the world, and it doesn't behoove geologists to do geology when they have to rebut people who think the earth is 4000 years old.
Great post. Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
October 1, 2026 at 4:54 AM
Great post. Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
That or something else. And I would argue pretty fiercely that for non-academics and adjacent autodidacts who are not Jewish, the only normal way to deal with the Talmud on social is NOT to talk about it.
September 30, 2026 at 5:35 PM
That or something else. And I would argue pretty fiercely that for non-academics and adjacent autodidacts who are not Jewish, the only normal way to deal with the Talmud on social is NOT to talk about it.
Surrounding myself with neurodivergent creatives, autodidacts, and generally clever-clogs peeps helps keep the harpies away.
September 30, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Surrounding myself with neurodivergent creatives, autodidacts, and generally clever-clogs peeps helps keep the harpies away.
Great post! Nice work Autodidacts 🙌
September 30, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Great post! Nice work Autodidacts 🙌
Really like this! Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
September 30, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Really like this! Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
Great post. Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
September 29, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Great post. Congrats Autodidacts 🙌
Love this! Well done Autodidacts 🙌
September 29, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Love this! Well done Autodidacts 🙌
We’re now doing forensics on what influenced 14yo dropout autodidacts who went on to write the millions of words now guiding the billionaires who were encouraged to be 19yo dropout autodidacts by the older billionaires with philosophy degrees who found HPMOR more useful for their purposes.
September 28, 2026 at 4:19 PM
We’re now doing forensics on what influenced 14yo dropout autodidacts who went on to write the millions of words now guiding the billionaires who were encouraged to be 19yo dropout autodidacts by the older billionaires with philosophy degrees who found HPMOR more useful for their purposes.
It's popular on here and sneerclub to mock the rationalists for being rogue autodidacts who aren't sufficiently deferential and servile to the subculture called academia, but imo, that's the opposite of their failure mode: they're too fucking compliant unoriginal undriven chumps.
September 28, 2026 at 4:05 AM
It's popular on here and sneerclub to mock the rationalists for being rogue autodidacts who aren't sufficiently deferential and servile to the subculture called academia, but imo, that's the opposite of their failure mode: they're too fucking compliant unoriginal undriven chumps.
Autodidacts can totally be experts but when they are you can usually point to a project that unambiguously demonstrates it
September 27, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Autodidacts can totally be experts but when they are you can usually point to a project that unambiguously demonstrates it
there's another word for people who are autodidacts who think it would be counterproductive to go engage with Academia:
crank
aka crackpot
(c.f. the infamous Crackpot Index math.ucr.edu/home/baez/cr... )
crank
aka crackpot
(c.f. the infamous Crackpot Index math.ucr.edu/home/baez/cr... )
Crackpot index
math.ucr.edu
September 27, 2026 at 4:06 PM
there's another word for people who are autodidacts who think it would be counterproductive to go engage with Academia:
crank
aka crackpot
(c.f. the infamous Crackpot Index math.ucr.edu/home/baez/cr... )
crank
aka crackpot
(c.f. the infamous Crackpot Index math.ucr.edu/home/baez/cr... )
I do love hearing about autodidacts. I think you must be one of the people here on bluesky responsible for getting me interested in CAS—thank you!
September 27, 2026 at 2:46 PM
I do love hearing about autodidacts. I think you must be one of the people here on bluesky responsible for getting me interested in CAS—thank you!
This is why “autodidacts” drive me nuts. You have to get your thoughts and ideas challenged in a real way. Too easy to think you “got it” if theres no one to call out misconceptions, or show you how to deeply cross examine something
youtu.be/bIuMmAXz8PM?...
youtu.be/bIuMmAXz8PM?...
Arrival Louise outsmarts
YouTube video by Sam Higgs
youtu.be
September 27, 2026 at 8:04 AM
This is why “autodidacts” drive me nuts. You have to get your thoughts and ideas challenged in a real way. Too easy to think you “got it” if theres no one to call out misconceptions, or show you how to deeply cross examine something
youtu.be/bIuMmAXz8PM?...
youtu.be/bIuMmAXz8PM?...
Autodidacts and home schooled kids a plus.
September 27, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Autodidacts and home schooled kids a plus.
Our classes have also helped autodidacts turbo-charge their learning — so if you’re tired of going back through the same few chapters in that Teach Yourself book and feeling like you’re not really getting anywhere, click the link in my pinned post/bio! 11/
September 26, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Our classes have also helped autodidacts turbo-charge their learning — so if you’re tired of going back through the same few chapters in that Teach Yourself book and feeling like you’re not really getting anywhere, click the link in my pinned post/bio! 11/
oh i agree wholeheartedly. there was a short moment when web series were a big thing, and i would even argue things like lets plays on youtube share a similar spirit and format (if not being nearly as comparable to tv). there's no room for autodidacts or hobbyist television though, which is a loss.
September 25, 2026 at 4:58 PM
oh i agree wholeheartedly. there was a short moment when web series were a big thing, and i would even argue things like lets plays on youtube share a similar spirit and format (if not being nearly as comparable to tv). there's no room for autodidacts or hobbyist television though, which is a loss.
Sartre did come from a whole culture of "autodidacts". Existensialism fed that, but was also reflected the tension between individualism - finally extant in Foucault's 'Methodological Individualism' and the idea of class/collective as the most powerful agent of history.
September 25, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Sartre did come from a whole culture of "autodidacts". Existensialism fed that, but was also reflected the tension between individualism - finally extant in Foucault's 'Methodological Individualism' and the idea of class/collective as the most powerful agent of history.
alright, experiment today. i'll post two versions of a thing about autodidacts. feel free to compare and contrast. i will eventually delete whichever one i feel loses the agon and also this post. call it A/B testing. enjoy
September 24, 2026 at 4:01 PM
alright, experiment today. i'll post two versions of a thing about autodidacts. feel free to compare and contrast. i will eventually delete whichever one i feel loses the agon and also this post. call it A/B testing. enjoy
autodidacts are in full on denial about it
September 23, 2026 at 2:13 PM
autodidacts are in full on denial about it
I, for one, think there should be more Force autodidacts
September 21, 2026 at 1:11 AM
I, for one, think there should be more Force autodidacts