On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:01:51 +0000, Invisible wrote:

>> 	Cheap way: Read the news (while trying to gain the skill of what 
news
>> to read and what not to).
> 
> I never do this. The news is far too damn depressing.

That's why the skill of learning what to read and what not to is so 
important to develop.  Learning to filter is an important skill.

At the same time, I agree that the news is too depressing most of the 
time - I don't watch news on TV, because usually it's a body count 
followed by some human interest story about someone's dog.  If I watch it 
at all, it's to see what the weather's going to be like, but usually I'll 
just read the forecasts online.

>> 	Expensive way: Travel.
> 
> I never did understand how travel is supposed to teach you anything.
> (Other than how to feel lost and afraid - which I already know how to
> do.)

Going places and interacting with people teaches you about how people 
behave.  To avoid the feeling of being lost, get a GPS (when I would 
travel to teach, I'd always get a GPS in the rental car - that way, I 
could find places to go eat and not worry about being able to find my way 
back to the hotel).

Depending on where you travel to, of course, you need to do some research 
ahead of time to know where it's safe to go and where it's not safe to 
go.  Even when driving around some small towns, I'd pick places to go eat 
and I'd drive past them before stopping to see if the area looked safe.  
If it didn't (which happened on more than one occasion), I wouldn't stop.

"Travel" doesn't always have to be to faraway places, either.  It's about 
getting out and observing people, and then interacting with them.

Jim

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