The most interesting thing you ever read / studied

[patrick_mcmurray]

Following on from theBruiser's post, I thought this might be interesting.

My contributions are:

1. Ethnicity. How societies define themselves by using other societies. Like the Northern Irishman on a desert island who had to build 2 churches, because as well as the church that he was going to go to, he had to build the church that he was NOT going to go to : )

2. The relationship between myth and religion. The nature of thought before the Enlightenment and its implications for our current understanding of religion.

3. A Short History of the World - Gombrich. Am just finishing this. For the first time I have some (very limited) idea of the big sweep.

4. Evolutionary psychology. How we have evolved has fundamentally effected the way we think. Sex and violence. Helps to explain a lot.

What about you?

[xorbie]

theoretical physics and the future of biology.

[diebitter]

Memetics and a subset of this field - 'Urban Legends'

AI

Evolutionary Theory

[jetsonsdogcanfly]

the linear algebraic foundations of special relativity. really linear algebra in general is incredible. it's power in describing so many different processes, and ability to tie so many fields together is pretty cool.

social contract theory: it's fascinating to see how hard it is to be rigorous when discussing complex systems of relationships, especially across cultures, etc.

laws of large numbers; statistics and probability in general: its nuts how you can bring order to disorderly systems using relatively simple tools.

[MightyMouse2]

At the college which and I and fellow poster "NaphinFitos" attend, we have something called the experimental college. While these are all electives and not required (most are pass/fail), everyone is encouraged to take one before graduation. Naphin has the idea to teach a class on a card game that begins with P and is NOT pinochle. I would enroll in this class, and argue with the teacher so much, because im much better than he is.

[waxie]

the history conservative politics in the united states is really interesting.

[J.A.Sucker]

My PhD thesis, which is about finished now.

[waxie]

social contract theory sounds interesting. i think i studied that, but never in the context you're describing. OP, what college? Hampshire?

[man]

1. Relativity (special/general). I took a one-semester course on this stuff and it was probably the most engaging class I've ever taken. and it's great for drunken pseudo-intellectual conversations.

2. foundations of american political thought. Jay, Madison, Hamilton, and especially Tocqueville, who wasn't even american. I find it faschinating how well these guys predicted how our government would behave. faschinating.

these are the only two that I really loved, but that's because they're some of the only classes I actually applied myself in. I find that the more work you put into a subject, the more rewarding and enjoyable you will ultimately find it. my gpa certainly doesn't reflect that though.

[edtost]

[ QUOTE ]
My PhD thesis, which is about finished now.

[/ QUOTE ]

what is your thesis topic?