Never Have I Learned So Much

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Elbata

Full time employment: Posting here.
Joined
Dec 23, 2012
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656
Being retired, one of its main benefits is time.

How I spend much of that time is reading, mostly on the computer. And I love it. Any question I have, any thought, just go to Wikipedia/Google wherever I like. (BTW, what I like about Wikipedia is the ability to hover the mouse over a link and a small page will give a brief description of the link, without actually taking me to the link or to another page).

What I find, my biggest passion and enjoyment is learning. With the world's knowledge at my fingertips, it's like a daily bazaar of choosing whatever interests me at that time.

I'm learning at a pace never experienced in my life. I took a basic iPhone class at Apple yesterday, and one of the attendees complained about her smartphone and wished she had her flip phone. No matter what the teacher explained, she was not impressed. I don't know, I think we're living in amazing times.
 
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Slightly off-topic, but I am very drawn to your post. I love learning and reading, too, and I never seem to have enough time.

Since I've returned to this forum, my thoughts about retiring have begun to shift. I am thinking much less along the "do I have enough?" lines, and thinking more about not cheating myself out of more years of working less. FIRECalc and the calculator at newretirement.com tell me I have enough. I'm looking at 66 (FRA for me; I just turned 65), and possibly cutting back further in the coming year; I'm currently working about 3.5 days/week.

I also need more time to be outdoors, hike, garden, and ski. Life is starting to become too short for all this work!
 
Youtube has been a great learning tool for me. I repaired appliances, rebuilt a transmission on my 4x4 Jeep, all sorts of things I'd never tackle on my own.
 
I, too, love to read about a wide range of subjects. Just be aware that anybody can write a Wikipedia article, it may be biased, an opinion, or just flat out wrong.
 
Elbata said:
What I find, my biggest passion and enjoyment is learning. With the world's knowledge at my fingertips, it's like a daily bazaar of choosing whatever interests me at that time.

I don't know, I think we're living in amazing times.
Click to expand...

I wish I had written that. My joy in life summed up in so few words, but so eloquently. For the past 30 years, in pursuit of my hero, Thomas young (the last man who knew ....).. and with all of the infinite resources he helped create, available to me.

:flowers:
 
Agreed ! My DSO and I watch every Documentary we can, on something we have no idea about - just to learn - and we are WOWed so often ! I picked up the remote and talk into it (that's amazing too) and say "Documentaries" and there is a list of stuff I have never even thought about and I can learn about it in less than an hour !
Rich
 
This is one of my great hopes for ER. I realized long ago that I'll never be able to learn everything I want to learn in one lifetime. I'll just have to do my best!
 
I’ve also learned a lot since retiring. I was too detached from the world when I was young and too busy with my family and work before retirement. Since retiring I’ve read a lot. I’ve read some classics like Dickens, Tolstoy and even a little Ayn Rand. I also have read quite a bit historical fiction. Probably not the best place to get my history lessons, but makes it much more interesting. I found myself using the internet while reading historical fiction to supplement my interest. I do the same thing when watching historical movies and series on Netflix.
 
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Agreed!
I am a life long learner and love reading also.
 
trumpeting_angel said:
I am thinking much less along the "do I have enough?" lines, and thinking more about not cheating myself out of more years of working less. FIRECalc and the calculator at newretirement.com tell me I have enough.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Could I have worked another 5 years and accumulated more? Sure. Do I have enough right now to live the modest life I want. Yup

I used to think I would really like a good used low mile exotic car. Is it worth another 5 years at the salt mines. No way
 
happy2bretired said:
I’ve also learned a lot since retiring. I was too detached from the world when I was young and too busy with my family and work before retirement. Since retiring I’ve read a lot. I’ve read some classics like Dickens, Tolstoy and even a little Ayn Rand. I also have read quite a bit historical fiction. Probably not the best place to get my history lessons, but makes it much more interesting. I found myself using the internet while reading historical fiction to supplement my interest. I do the same thing when watching historical movies and series on Netflix.
Click to expand...

If you haven't already.... check out James Michener's novels. Fascinating reads of fiction with several tons of history.
 
This thread resonates with me. Count me among those who love to learn. It seems that I am constantly looking up how to do/fix something. Over the years, I've come to realize that most people just want answers and aren't interested in the "hows and whys". To me, it's the "hows and whys" that make life fun!


I am constantly looking things up. I have friends who like to read paper books and make notes in the margins. I never did that, but I often will be reading something online and find myself opening another tab to look up a word, a second meaning, or even just to follow a rabbit trail on something I find interesting.


We aren't retired yet (just a few more years if all goes well), but I can see dh and I feeling overwhelmed at all the time we will have to learn and do things once that day comes. We are both bibliophiles and love going to used book stores and thrift stores where books are cheap. Buying used books is one of our guilty pleasures and we have an incredible range of interests and our purchases reflect that. Once we have the time to travel and visit some of the places we talk about, I envision serious information overload. However, I say "bring it on!"


Edited to add: Yes, we are living in amazing times!!
 
happy2bretired said:
I’ve also learned a lot since retiring. I was too detached from the world when I was young and too busy with my family and work before retirement. Since retiring I’ve read a lot. I’ve read some classics like Dickens, Tolstoy and even a little Ayn Rand. I also have read quite a bit historical fiction. Probably not the best place to get my history lessons, but makes it much more interesting. I found myself using the internet while reading historical fiction to supplement my interest. I do the same thing when watching historical movies and series on Netflix.
Click to expand...

Between working, raising a family, and keeping up with the latest "what's hot" TV shows, it's easy to see why reading a book can be last on the priority list.

I was at BIL's house one time for Thanksgiving, watching football, and asked if he had any books to read. He said, "What do you think, I'm a library?". He's a doctor.
 
I love to read and do it a lot now that I have more time. Career and kids used to consume tons of time.
 
I used to read.

Now I work all day, commute home, clean up dog poop, feed the dog, and pay bills. Then I go to bed.
Life is awesome. : )
 
Elbata said:
Being retired, one of its main benefits is time.

How I spend much of that time is reading, mostly on the computer. And I love it. Any question I have, any thought, just go to Wikipedia/Google wherever I like.

What I find, my biggest passion and enjoyment is learning. With the world's knowledge at my fingertips, it's like a daily bazaar of choosing whatever interests me at that time.

I'm learning at a pace never experienced in my life. ...I don't know, I think we're living in amazing times.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. I'm learning so much, and it's so entertaining and easy. Like you say, no matter what subject I'm curious about -- and I'm curious about a lot -- I can find lots of information about it on the internet.

I've become a big fan of Youtube. There is a ton of good information on there, in long and short form. All kinds of voices you just wouldn't hear otherwise, on any subject you like. I've learned some amazing, life-changing things on Youtube, just in the past couple of months. It's just astonishing.
 
I wish YouTube was closed captioned. I don’t use very often because of that. My daughter uses it a lot especially for home repairs.
 
Elbata said:
Being retired, one of its main benefits is time.

How I spend much of that time is reading, mostly on the computer. And I love it. Any question I have, any thought, just go to Wikipedia/Google wherever I like. (BTW, what I like about Wikipedia is the ability to hover the mouse over a link and a small page will give a brief description of the link, without actually taking me to the link or to another page).

What I find, my biggest passion and enjoyment is learning. With the world's knowledge at my fingertips, it's like a daily bazaar of choosing whatever interests me at that time.

I'm learning at a pace never experienced in my life. I took a basic iPhone class at Apple yesterday, and one of the attendees complained about her smartphone and wished she had her flip phone. No matter what the teacher explained, she was not impressed. I don't know, I think we're living in amazing times.
Click to expand...


Excellent post Elbata. I concur completely and consider the Internet to be a treasure trove of information. For those who have a spare 90 minutes and are interested in a stimulating "Ted" type talk I recently watched the following YouTube presentation delivered by Jordan Peterson, who wrote "Twelve Rules for Life". Peterson , an extremely charismatic speaker, is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. The video is a short presentation on the book itself, a best seller. It's a distillation of his views on some of life's most fundamental truths, described in very relatable and often humorous terms. For example, the first chapter is entitled "Stand Up Straight".



Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
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imoldernu said:
I wish I had written that. My joy in life summed up in so few words, but so eloquently. For the past 30 years, in pursuit of my hero, Thomas young (the last man who knew ....).. and with all of the infinite resources he helped create, available to me.

:flowers:
Click to expand...

+1
 
Yes, I find myself looking up something on YouTube or Wikipedia and realizing a couple of hours later that I've followed a dozen or so links, learning about stuff which I didn't know I was interested in - until I began the journey. YMMV
 
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