Thread: I must know! I will know!

Hi, science peeps! What an amazingly large forum you guys have here. I've been looking for one more focused on the cognitive sciences, but this'll definitely do.So yeah. I'm still in high school at the moment, but ever since I read The Story of Psychology two years ago, I've been obsessed with understanding how the mind works.I've definitely done my best to extend my capacities beyond just psychology, though. I've become comfortable with cognitive science, computer science and neurobiology, too, as well as philosophy (which was my first love, but has since fallen out of favor). This is all thanks to the internet and its vast collection of illegally digitized textbooks. I've been able to study many of those.I'd like to build my knowledge base a lot before I get to college. I've been especially eager to build my quantitative skills. I know that if I'm going to be a great scientist that I'm going to have to jump into deeper waters. Psychology was basically my gateway drug into much more rigorous (and interesting) things. Because of my slanted public education, I'm still much stronger in the humanities and social sciences than I am in the harder sciences. I joined to help temper my lonely studies with social interaction and discussion.I'm completely in love with this stuff.

Ha, how did you find me?

Well, you've read my introduction, but there is one thing I never included. If have all those interests and claimed that there is some purpose to it, but never mentioned that purpose.

You could call it psychology. Eastern philosophy and religion is essentially holistic psychology. The Buddha was a psychologist and a scientist. The Lao Zi is essentially a manual for control, in a psychological sense, which can be applied to both a nation and an individual.

My drive goes deeper than the vague umbrella term "psychology" can entail. But first, I will ask you if there is something deeper. What about psychology intrigues your fancy? Do you know? Is it just an urge, like an addiction? If you sit still and quiet does the answer come to you?

What about related fields, like maybe the physiology of thought, or how thought moves our world?

Good for you. I am also a high school student, but I'm not obsessed with psychology. I like Physics and Mathematics, especially things like relativity and quantum mechanics. But a person should be versatile as to earn the name 'Wise Man'. So tell me what's so fun about psychology? Is it associated with psychiatry? Social science is not my thing, unlike you I like 'hard science'.

Welcome aboard!

OK, you're still in high school. Number 1 priority is to get your maths education as strong as possible. You may not need the further reaches of calculus that you would if you wanted to do physics, but social and biological sciences need good statistics skills and understanding- and a lot of statistics is highly counter-intuitive as well as requiring good mathematical manipulation.

Number 2. Get familiar with some of the successful and interesting work that's currently being done. My current favourites are Daniel Willingham - a cognitive scientist who does great work with education, particularly in debunking a lot of nonsense that's taught as reality in education faculties - and Norman Doidge. Doidge is a neuroscientist specialising in neuroplasticity.

Reading these two people will keep you excited about possible future career options as well as giving a graduated introduction to related research and other writers.

Originally Posted by Wise Man

Good for you. I am also a high school student, but I'm not obsessed with psychology. I like Physics and Mathematics, especially things like relativity and quantum mechanics. But a person should be versatile as to earn the name 'Wise Man'. So tell me what's so fun about psychology? Is it associated with psychiatry? Social science is not my thing, unlike you I like 'hard science'.Welcome aboard!

Didn't you read me? I'm only into the hard components of psychological science. That is where the promising and endless frontier lies.Psychology's merit is its truly personal nature. It's the scientific embodiment of humanity's quest for self-understanding. Unlike other sciences, the science of the human soul seeks to investigate those questions truly intrinsic to human existence. For me, my appreciation of psychology is spiritual in this sense. For only once we rigorously understand ourselves can we develop truly meaningful ethical systems, discover the meaning of life, understand how we exist as discrete agents, and direct our society toward progress.Your physical sciences may help us toward material progress, but the psychological sciences promise us something much more substantial — happiness, harmony, and spiritual well-being. Psychology is the wellspring of the advances of society that truly matter, that truly constitute steps forward for mankind. Once it matures (indeed, it already has — society just hasn't noticed it yet), Western society will have truly fulfilled itself.

Originally Posted by adelady

OK, you're still in high school. Number 1 priority is to get your maths education as strong as possible. You may not need the further reaches of calculus that you would if you wanted to do physics, but social and biological sciences need good statistics skills and understanding- and a lot of statistics is highly counter-intuitive as well as requiring good mathematical manipulation. Number 2. Get familiar with some of the successful and interesting work that's currently being done. My current favourites are Daniel Willingham - a cognitive scientist who does great work with education, particularly in debunking a lot of nonsense that's taught as reality in education faculties - and Norman Doidge. Doidge is a neuroscientist specialising in neuroplasticity. Reading these two people will keep you excited about possible future career options as well as giving a graduated introduction to related research and other writers.

You don't have to worry about that. I'm double majoring in Computer Science/Mathematics and Neuroscience when I get to college.