Just Plain Ruff Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) Couldn't really think of a topic title that fit the post without it being really really long. I'm looking to branch out my knowledge base completely away from both ER consulting/EHR consulting and EMS. I'm looking for something that will broaden my horizons so to speak. I don't want to learn about the most recent fad science or hokey pokey stuff. I'm wanting something that is interesting. If you say Civil rights history I'll say not interested. If you say Human resources and how it affects the rights and benefits of every facet of society then I'm not going to be interested. Something that will make me a little bit smarter for reading it, or something that will make me say "Shazaam, I need to learn more about this" So hit me with your best suggestions. OH yeah, no religious studies, I get enough of those at home with my comparitive religions book that I got for free at my last client. So far I'm finishing up hinduism and soon to start Islam. I have monday nights, tuesday nights and wednesday nights to either go to a movie, sit in a hotel room and watch tv or chat in emtcity OR I can be productive and learn something new. Edited November 15, 2011 by Ruffems
Eydawn Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 Well, I was going to say you should read some creative nonfiction to just broaden your reading horizons a little, but the book I was going to suggest was The Help. As it has directly to do with civil rights in that contextual era, no dice... Sounds like you have no idea what you want, and want us to give it to you, but only if you're already interested ;-) What about some biomedical ethics stuff? --Wendy
ERDoc Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 Try anything by Neil Degrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku or A Short History of Everything by Bill Bryson.
akflightmedic Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 I recommend "Lies My Teacher Told Me". It is a fascinating book and I think there are other volumes out now, but it delves into the history of things we think we know...not religious stuff but all the things from school. The factual accounts of Columbus for example with independent verification from many approved historical resources...peer reviewed and approved things. History simply did not go down the way we are taught in many different areas. As with any country, our history is what we write it to be...this book shows you the various slants and spins we put on many different topics and stories and how we continue to tell the same story over and over. Eventually if you tell a story long enough, it will and has become 'fact", that is until one digs deeper than the surface. No conspiracy stuff here either, just the true history of many significant events from our nation's past.
speedygodzilla Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) For me it is my hobby in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is my outlet from EMS as it is totally different, challenges the mind, and is really never ending. I recommend Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML.</a> I don't write web sites or anything, yet. I find it fun to learn and maybe someday I'll put it to real use. Edited November 15, 2011 by speedygodzilla
paramedicmike Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 I'll second ERDoc's recommendation of Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. AK's suggestion has been on my reading list for a while. Otherwise, I'd say pick up anything that sounds good as I think Wendy's right in that you're not giving us much to go on. Otherwise, my reading list has consisted of medical texts recently. I can't help you much more than that. Although, I'm interested to see some of the suggestions as I'll have some time to read for fun over the holiday.
Just Plain Ruff Posted November 15, 2011 Author Posted November 15, 2011 I put this topic out not just for me but for everyone really. We seem to anymore put ourselves in a silo and we only learn what we have to learn at the current time. Consider EMS, you only learn or read when you are either being tested or you have to do some CEU's to relicense. I'm wanting to get out of my comfort zone. I have placed each suggestion on a list of things to read. I have already read and seen "the Help" so that's a non-starter. My first choice I knew would be the one AK suggested as my respect for his perspective is pretty big. I will next tackle the one doc mentioned. All others will be read in turn. I can usually read a full novel in less than 2 weeks worth of airplane flights, in about 10 hours or so. So I read quite quickly. Thanks guys and gals. Well, I was going to say you should read some creative nonfiction to just broaden your reading horizons a little, but the book I was going to suggest was The Help. As it has directly to do with civil rights in that contextual era, no dice... Sounds like you have no idea what you want, and want us to give it to you, but only if you're already interested ;-) What about some biomedical ethics stuff? --Wendy Wendy, I'm game for the topic of Biomedical ethics, what do you have in mind. I'll second ERDoc's recommendation of Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. AK's suggestion has been on my reading list for a while. Otherwise, I'd say pick up anything that sounds good as I think Wendy's right in that you're not giving us much to go on. Otherwise, my reading list has consisted of medical texts recently. I can't help you much more than that. Although, I'm interested to see some of the suggestions as I'll have some time to read for fun over the holiday. I'm not really wanting you guys to give me the answers, god forbid that were to happen here, since we don't give the answers to the newbies when they come here. I am just interested in what you guys find would be good reading to broaden horizons. I can go to barnes and noble anytime and just pick up something off the shelf, and I do that a lot, I mean a lot, but I'm looking for personal recommendations as to what some of the members, you included find educational and worth your while. I mean I wouldn't grab a book on underwater basket weaving or how to tie a bow tie and other knots, but I do respect the minds of this diverse group and was hoping for suggestions.
paramedicmike Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 Following Wendy's suggestion, there's a book called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. It's a good read with a lot of ethical considerations to be made over the course of the book.
ERDoc Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 A good read that has some relation to medicine, but only tangentially, is Biohazard by Ken Alibek.
DFIB Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 Couldn't really think of a topic title that fit the post without it being really really long. I'm looking to branch out my knowledge base completely away from both ER consulting/EHR consulting and EMS. It is a short read but an kinda general overall interesting book for me has been Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Prince"
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