Does anyone know of any forums or something like that where I can talk about maths and the sciences?
Seriously? All that talk about wonder and curiosity, and you start with asking us to do the work for you, rather than hitting a search engine, starting with something like "math forum", and exploring the internet for yourself? That's a bit of a surprise.
Others have already covered the problem of coming off like a condescending know-it-all. All I'll add to that part is that you might try asking people "Was that a rhetorical question and just thinking aloud, or would you like to talk simple, quick-and-dirty physics for a few minutes?" It won't solve all your social problems, but it might help you learn their intent, and if they're going to get upset with you, at least you save a few minutes of time getting the nasty reaction out quickly.
A part of the problem that hasn't been addressed, as far as I've seen, is your age. In your profile you profess to be 17 years old; if this is the truth, that has a significant impact on biases -- both other people's biases about you, and yours about the world. You're all looking at each other through distorted lenses.
A well-known stereotype about your age group is that they know nothing of anything and think they know it all. Unfortunately, like many stereotypes, there
is a grain of truth there. People learn a lot of new things in their adolescence, even those who don't recognize it or try to hide it, and this massive influx of knowledge tends to lead them to believe they understand more than they really do. Furthermore, because many cultures shelter them from a lot of what adult life entails, they tend to be unprepared for and blind to a lot of what older people think of as the real world. Listening to a teenager tell you about how the world works is a lot like listening to a plumber advising you to sort out a brain tumour problem with a pipe wrench and some caulk, or a shoe salesman suggesting you fix a leak by bringing home many different sizes, shapes, and styles of pipe and see which feels the best. It's a crazy waste of breath, and an idiotic imposition on your time. On the rare occasion you
do encounter a plumber who is also a neurosurgeon, or trying to sell you shoes, you're unlikely to believe that's really the case.
A thing that you probably don't grok yet, because you haven't experienced much of it yet, is
tempus fugit -- time flees. You talk about people's lack of curiosity and wonder, but have you stopped to consider that they simply don't have the time nor the energy to fritter away on something that ranks very low on their priority list? People can be busier than then'y look, particularly when those people have many real responsibilities.
Here I had planned to give you an hour-by-hour breakdown of my typical week at 32 years old, but I've already spent too much precious time on this post. Let it suffice to say that in order to keep a roof over my head and my girl's, keep the utilities from being shut off, maintain my health, invest for retirement in a couple short decades, and make progress towards getting out of the dead-end job I hate and into genuine career, I need about 200 hours a week (there are 168 hours in a week). Most of the time, my head is buzzing like a hornet's nest, I have to think so hard on the hoof. I have always been the curious type, but I'm not going to appreciate it when I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange my schedule so I can work one more 10-hour shift this week, go put the fear of god into the mechanics that are ripping my girl off and fucking up her truck, find a reasonably-priced online college algebra course, examine and analyze the recent stock market movements so I can determine where to put my next investment, and schedule and practice for a road test so I can get a long-overdue driver's license, and somebody comes up and wants to play encyclopedia at me... even if it is a subject I do find interesting. I'd love to learn more about a type of spider web I've never seen before -- I find arachnids fascinating -- but it's not worth being kicked back out into the snow in winter because I missed a rent payment.
You find school boring and pointless. So do many people, for various reasons. I did, I'd already learned most of what was taught on my own time, ahead of time, and I rebelled. The whole system seemed like a screwed up waste of time. I don't have the time to go into details, but you seem like you have copious free time. Why don't you go read
this essay? I read it when I had far fewer responsibilities and I had the time to do that kind of thing, and I found it illuminating.
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Topic: Anti-Intellectualism (Read 7152 times)