The cost of living in 2024....

[supton]

In my day you had to at least show up and hand stuff in. No longer required. Not kidding.

It's amazing how much better one does with writing by hand. I take notes these days by computer, but at times will switch back to pencil and paper. Most of these notes are trivial, although with meetings via computer I can screenshot things easily into OneNote.

But back in the day, I felt bad when I would copy what the prof wrote on the chalkboard onto paper. It was all in the book! he was copying from the book to the blackboard. But back then I thought i was learning better. Today there seems to be data that this is true. As in, studies showing that we learn better when we write down what we see on a whiteboard. Something about processing it and putting into our writing.

But you know, having an LCD screen up and either typing or recording somehow is less energy intensive than using old school paper and pen... less effort. Who cares about results I guess.

 

[Astro14]

It's amazing how much better one does with writing by hand. I take notes these days by computer, but at times will switch back to pencil and paper. Most of these notes are trivial, although with meetings via computer I can screenshot things easily into OneNote.

But back in the day, I felt bad when I would copy what the prof wrote on the chalkboard onto paper. It was all in the book! he was copying from the book to the blackboard. But back then I thought i was learning better. Today there seems to be data that this is true. As in, studies showing that we learn better when we write down what we see on a whiteboard. Something about processing it and putting into our writing.

But you know, having an LCD screen up and either typing or recording somehow is less energy intensive than using old school paper and pen... less effort. Who cares about results I guess.

There have been many studies on memory and retention that demonstrate the limitations of electronic media.

The physicality of a book, of seeing the text on a page, adjacent to a diagram, perhaps, greatly enhances retention over reading off a computer or iPad.

Similarly, the act of physically writing something down, of putting pen to paper, allows much better retention than copying notes to a page electronically. It's the physical act, connected to the information, that creates more reliable memory of that concept/note.

Flash cards, too, by the way are far more effective than just reading the material.

Trust me on this - I don't care if you're a pilot learning a new airplane, or a doctor studying for your boards - write it down by hand. Make the notes. Study by quizzing yourself.

 

[SC Maintenance]

There have been many studies on memory and retention that demonstrate the limitations of electronic media.

The physicality of a book, of seeing the text on a page, adjacent to a diagram, perhaps, greatly enhances retention over reading off a computer or iPad.

Similarly, the act of physically writing something down, of putting pen to paper, allows much better retention than copying notes to a page electronically. It's the physical act, connected to the information, that creates more reliable memory of that concept/note.

Flash cards, too, by the way are far more effective than just reading the material.

Trust me on this - I don't care if you're a pilot learning a new airplane, or a doctor studying for your boards - write it down by hand. Make the notes. Study by quizzing yourself.

Well tell that to all these school admins who are spending millions on giving students computers and demanding everything is online.

I have a friend who commissions very complex industrial equipment. For each startup job, which can take weeks or even months he starts with a new hard cover grid paper book and makes all his notes throughout the process. He said on countless times the customer has offered to buy that book from him.

 

[supton]

There have been many studies on memory and retention that demonstrate the limitations of electronic media.

The physicality of a book, of seeing the text on a page, adjacent to a diagram, perhaps, greatly enhances retention over reading off a computer or iPad.

Similarly, the act of physically writing something down, of putting pen to paper, allows much better retention than copying notes to a page electronically. It's the physical act, connected to the information, that creates more reliable memory of that concept/note.

Flash cards, too, by the way are far more effective than just reading the material.

Trust me on this - I don't care if you're a pilot learning a new airplane, or a doctor studying for your boards - write it down by hand. Make the notes. Study by quizzing yourself.

I fully agree. Back then I had no data, but a gut feel. Now that there are studies, stating this to be true, I don't know how to go back, but I do point it out when I can to whoever. When it comes to learning, pen and paper. Type it up later. Just make sure to put a date and if necessary, subject (or project) number to the paper.

Number of years ago I revealed to a relative that I kept all my notebooks from college, and was happy to finally have a home office with a bookshelf to finally stack them onto. "You should have thrown that out years ago!" Uh no, I paid dearly for those papers, and they have paid for this office, and they will sit with prominence on my bookshelf, thank you very much. My heirs can throw them out, but I won't.

 

[supton]

I have a friend who commissions very complex industrial equipment. For each startup job, which can take weeks or even months he starts with a new hard cover grid paper book and makes all his notes throughout the process. He said on countless times the customer has offered to buy that book from him.

I can see why. I've pressed coworkers to document their work. And have a separate tool where I would track project status. Intent being, how did we get here. Too often I have found us documenting the answer but not the reason why. People have to follow a process, and to make it easy to follow you have to leave out the "why". But at some point, someone has to figure out why the process has certain bits to it, so as to know when the rules aren't actually correct. Sometimes things change, and what was true in the past no longer is, but the rule that says "this is how we have always done it" is in need of updating.

 

[andrew_j]

My wife is an NP, it pays around 125k in mid state MA and more in Boston. I would not recommend anyone applying for a job in MA, this hell hole rivals CA and NY as one of the worst states in the country.

Many people are pretty happy in the state I know and apparently it ranks across many polls that way. It’s in top 5.

Not everyone can be happy of course there and 49 other states to pick!

 

[pbm]

I'm on my last of three daughters putting them through private college. Cost was high but with great grades about the same price as going through a SUNY school. 2 already graduated working in Manhattan have there own separate apartments. College paid off for them making fantastic money living the good life need zero help from me. There pay stubs stun me sometimes I had to kill myself to make what they make with tons of risk. My girls make me proud they put in the effort and college paid off for them. One is in finance working for Morgan Stanley other works for Paramount. My little one has one more year going for education I'm hopeful it pays off for her. They will have no student loans my wife and I sacrificed we are blessed that we can do that for them.

Good for you nickaluch….all the more impressive considering the outrageous property taxes in Nassau County, NY. New York is an expensive state but SUNYs are a good deal…my youngest got her RN at SUNY Brockport and is a critical care cardiac nurse doing well. Degrees in ‘sociology’, gender studies, psychology etc…are a total waste IMO.

 

[SC Maintenance]

My wife is a RN at a major union hospital in Boston. She has been there 35 years so she is at the top of her pay scale. She makes like $80+/hr and starting nurses start around $34/hr. Minimum wage in MA is $15/hr. We have friends in NC and his wife is a RN with over 30 years at same hospital and only makes like $40/hr. Have her apply for jobs in MA!!

Average home price in Boston is what - a million?

Average home price in Charlotte is like $425K, and it doesn't snow.

BTW - I really like Boston - in the summer

 

[nickaluch]

Good for you nickaluch….all the more impressive considering the outrageous property taxes in Nassau County, NY. New York is an expensive state but SUNYs are a good deal…my youngest got her RN at SUNY Brockport and is a critical care cardiac nurse doing well. Degrees in ‘sociology’, gender studies, psychology etc…are a total waste IMO.

SUNY is the way to go for higher quality education for the money

 

[PWMDMD]

It's amazing how much better one does with writing by hand. I take notes these days by computer, but at times will switch back to pencil and paper. Most of these notes are trivial, although with meetings via computer I can screenshot things easily into OneNote.

But back in the day, I felt bad when I would copy what the prof wrote on the chalkboard onto paper. It was all in the book! he was copying from the book to the blackboard. But back then I thought i was learning better. Today there seems to be data that this is true. As in, studies showing that we learn better when we write down what we see on a whiteboard. Something about processing it and putting into our writing.

But you know, having an LCD screen up and either typing or recording somehow is less energy intensive than using old school paper and pen... less effort. Who cares about results I guess.

I'm about 2/3 the way through my MBA at the age of 45. I initially tried to take notes on my computer and order the e-textbooks as this is what the profs seem to be pushing and those textbooks are the cheapest option. I don't know if I'm just an old dog who can't learn new tricks but I gave it a semester and then went back to paper textbooks and notebooks/pens. It can be difficult to track down the physical textbooks these days and you pay a premium but there's something about holding it in my hand, flipping the pages, being able to dogear a page, and carrying the book around with me that helps me learn better. I seem to be able to remember roughly where I read something if I need to look it back up with the physical textbook whereas I do not have the same sense of where I am with etexts. I also think writing notes by hand slows down the process to give me more time to think about what I'm writing and make connections that help me understand and remember the material better. I'm also very visual and remember diagrams and drawings better than words and I can convert text into these pictures easily this way.

As an aside, it took a bit of time to get back into writing by hand because my hand would cramp and I'm still significantly slower than typing and sometimes even have to stop and think about how to connect the letters in cursive...lol.

 

[Astro14]

I'm about 2/3 the way through my MBA at the age of 45. I initially tried to take notes on my computer and order the e-textbooks as this is what the profs seem to be pushing and those textbooks are the cheapest option. I don't know if I'm just an old dog who can't learn new tricks but I gave it a semester and then went back to paper textbooks and notebooks/pens. It can be difficult to track down the physical textbooks these days and you pay a premium but there's something about holding it in my hand, flipping the pages, being able to dogear a page, and carrying the book around with me that helps me learn better. I seem to be able to remember roughly where I read something if I need to look it back up with the physical textbook. I also think writing notes by hand slows down the process to give me more time to think about what I'm writing and make connections that help me understand and remember the material better. I'm also very visual and remember diagrams and drawings better than words and I can convert text into these pictures easily this way.

As an aside, it took a bit of time to get back into writing by hand because my hand would cramp and I'm still significantly slower than typing and sometimes even have to stop and think about how to connect the letters in cursive...lol.

I know a 23 year old, currently getting an MD/PhD near you, who takes physical notes. Reads physical paper. It ain't you, doc.

Tech has changed.

Human cognition has not.

 

[PWMDMD]

SUNY is the way to go for higher quality education for the money

Went to college at a SUNY school and paid for the entire 4 years delivering pizzas.

 

[Astro14]

SUNY is the way to go for higher quality education for the money

SUNY is an excellent choice. Many of the state schools, like UCONN, UVM, and UMass are excellent. If you're in one of those states. Down here, UVA is an excellent choice, but admission has become extremely challenging.

 

[PWMDMD]

SUNY is an excellent choice. Many of the state schools, like UCONN, UVM, and UMass are excellent. If you're in one of those states. Down here, UVA is an excellent choice, but admission has become extremely challenging.

Getting my MBA at UMass Amherst and went to dental school at UConn. I'm a big fan of public university systems! My oldest was trying to keep the "affordable" higher education theme going and ended up at the University of New Hampshire but there's one big problem there - it's not our state school...lol.

 

[Trav]

There have been many studies on memory and retention that demonstrate the limitations of electronic media.

The physicality of a book, of seeing the text on a page, adjacent to a diagram, perhaps, greatly enhances retention over reading off a computer or iPad.

Similarly, the act of physically writing something down, of putting pen to paper, allows much better retention than copying notes to a page electronically. It's the physical act, connected to the information, that creates more reliable memory of that concept/note.

Flash cards, too, by the way are far more effective than just reading the material.

Trust me on this - I don't care if you're a pilot learning a new airplane, or a doctor studying for your boards - write it down by hand. Make the notes. Study by quizzing yourself.

My brother uses a large whiteboard all the time. I saw many patented things used in internet technology developed on that board. The scribbling on that board could not be done on some program, brain to pen is where its at.

 

[4WD]

My brother uses a large whiteboard all the time. I saw many patented things used in internet technology developed on that board. The scribbling on that board could not be done on some program, brain to pen is where its at.

That’s what I have said about all these companies going to cubicles … the cleaning people wipe out all this thought provoking info bcs the meeting rooms are up for grabs …

 

[nickaluch]

Getting my MBA at UMass Amherst and went to dental school at UConn. I'm a big fan of public university systems! My oldest was trying to keep the "affordable" higher education theme going and ended up at the University of New Hampshire but there's one big problem there - it's not our state school...lol.

Oh the pain what our kids do to us . She got it half right

 

[Dave Hess]

Well tell that to all these school admins who are spending millions on giving students computers and demanding everything is online.

I have a friend who commissions very complex industrial equipment. For each startup job, which can take weeks or even months he starts with a new hard cover grid paper book and makes all his notes throughout the process. He said on countless times the customer has offered to buy that book from him.

How much would he see a book for ?

 

[SC Maintenance]

How much would he see a book for ?

He kept them he said. He said he had all the books for every machine he commissioned.

 

[PWMDMD]

Many people are pretty happy in the state I know and apparently it ranks across many polls that way. It’s in top 5.

Not everyone can be happy of course there and 49 other states to pick!

I live in central MA and I love it! My wife loves it! My kids love it! I have lived in IL, OH, PA, NY, CT, and traveled to most states in this country. I love sports and I have season tickets to the Bruins, I just went to a Celtics game last week with the family, I've been in a box several times for Patriots games. I see 5-8 concerts per year within an hour of where I live. Worcester has a decent restaurant scene and we have season tickets to The Woo Sox. I have Boston/NYC/Providence anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours from me. I have a decent ski mountain 13 mins away from me. I make a great living and to be honest, compared to where I used to live in SW CT, central MA is reasonably affordable and taxes aren't that bad either. My friends in town range from blue-collar workers to MDs, PhD, and lawyers and everything in between - we all check our egos at the town line. I have very few gripes with MA - the weather can suck and we have buffalo gnats this time of year which makes going outside almost impossible until the end of May.