by Top 3 Mind-Opening Subjects To Start Learning
Because some subjects make a better starting point.
Learning is life long. Albeit, there are some things worth learning before others.
These top 3 subject areas are foundationally profound and help to provide context for your whole life’s experiences and provide a base for mental resiliency.
Whether it be upon reflection of moments past or events yet to unfold in the evergreen present, you will find contextual value to draw on from these subjects. Consider that your greatest opportunities are areas where you have the least awareness.
One may care to present an alternative view, please do. Perspectives are welcome! Feel free to propose alternative options to the bullets below for sake of debate.
All American History
“History is a relay of revolutions.”
-Saul Alinsky
This is easily one of the top 3 mind-opening subjects to start learning and I often recommend PBS programming due to the quality and availability of the information that they furnish. Please bring your most open mind.
Focus on people over presidents and seek out not just the stories you grew up with, but rather the unfamiliar. Part of our exceptionalism comes from our system’s capability to sustain pluralism. Lend your curiosity a voice and see where it leads!
- Making North America
- Native America
- The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
- Reconstruction (MUST WATCH)
- Breaking Ground
- 187: The Rise of the Latino Vote
- The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix) (Youtube)
If nothing above, then check these out:
Top Book for All American History
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
An American non-fiction book written by Colin Woodard and published in 2011. Woodard proposes a framework for examining American history and current events based on a view of the country as a federation of eleven nations, each defined by a shared culture established by each nation’s founding population.
Anthropology
“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.”
-Ruth Benedict
This is the most macro area historically of the top 3 mind-opening subjects to start learning. The view of Anthropology is long and chiefly the subject of humans studying themselves in all forms, manners, and ways. We interest ourselves, no doubt about it! Regardless of how abundant we’ve become on this planet, we’re still each so unique in so many ways according to nature.
- Becoming Human(MUST WATCH)
- Neanderthals
- The Gene
- Human Nature
- Gene-Editing Reality Check
- The Truth About Fat
Perhaps more in the realm of geology, having a stable planet crust to live on is pretty important for human life.
- X-Ray Earth (NatGEO series)
The Brain
“Those who are nurtured best, survive best.”
― The Neuroscience of Human Relationships: Attachment And the Developing Social Brain
“A typical adult human brain runs on around 12 watts—a fifth of the power required by a standard 60 watt lightbulb. Compared with most other organs, the brain is greedy; pitted against man-made electronics, it is astoundingly efficient. IBM’s Watson, the supercomputer that defeated Jeopardy! champions, depends on ninety IBM Power 750 servers, each of which requires around one thousand watts.”
Source: Ferris Jabr, “Does Thinking Really Hard Burn More Calories?” scientificamerican.com (
This is the most myopic and yet ethereal area of the top 3 mind-opening subjects to start learning. Inside your skull is still the most efficient of all computers on Earth and is responsible for you experiencing everything you will ever know, or think you know, in your entire lifetime. It’s all in your head, literally. Shouldn’t you know the latest information we have on how the hardware generally works? 😉 Rhetorical question!
- The Brain with David Eagleman (MUST WATCH)
- The Begining of Life (Netflix series)
- Transcendent Man (Wikipedia, may be available to stream on youtube)
We can’t let this post go without some links to fun fallacy reading. We’ll have to find or make a video for this stuff.
All American History
Land of revolutions
Anthropology
All about us
The Human Brain
All about you
