Whats up nexus, i recently have had an appetite for structured education, something that i feel was diminished long ago in high school.
When i took chemistry in High school, i had it taught through an online course due to scheduling conflicts. Being the kind of person i was back then, i really just bullshitted through it without learning anything and cheating using a web browser when testing. I still got an A in the class, but never really learned a lot of basic chemistry stuff that i am interested in learning about now. I regret this deeply, along with alot of other shit that was high school, and want to start my real education my way. Plant Biochemistry is something i'm definalty interested in, but know its really more complex than any of the basic chemistry i struggle to understand now. I just want to start taking steps in that direction to see if its something i could possibly pursue in the future.
college is really not an option for me, goes against some firm beliefs i have about society, the government, and for profit education. I really don't care about the prestige and usefulness of a college diploma in the business/corporate world. I only want to purse my interests in my own way, and if i can make some kind of living with this skill then cool, as long as i'm confident i am applying myself in a positive way to the world. In my mind profit breeds greed. Money is fucking evil and i'm not on this planet to contribute to the rat race.
I love all the scientific information available on the internet and the nexus, but don't understand the nitty-gritty of alot of it really, and i do really well teaching myself things. That's why i was never inspired to actually get into the hard dedicated work in high school, and for other issues i have with the education system. I know i have alot of potential, and IMHO more intelligence than most. At least that's what people tell me.
Anyway, I'm looking for a good introduction to chemistry textbook, preferably a freely available online one, or i may just torrent something if i have to. not going to be buying anything though, at least until i can get a free digital copy to evaluate. Really feel like i missed out on this essential skill set. A college level textbook or even an free online course would be great although slightly ironic
, i just don't want to jump into this without some forethought and making sure the information i am learning from is well written and understandable. Preferentially something that helps with some of the math if it gets more complex than geometry/alg2. I know i'm going to have to work on my math skills too, but first i think i can get through chemistry before going into that.
Looking forward to the replys.
Thanks
"let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry