An interesting thing occurred today, which made me think about the dangers of skipping class.  I was watching video lectures of the Harvard Computer Science 50 course.  I had just finished up watching Week 2′s Monday lecture and I sat down to watch Week 2′s Wednesday lecture.  But as I was watching it I become confused whenever I didn’t know what the lecture was talking about.  He was mentioning things that had yet been discussed in the course.  Then it dawned on me that I was actually watching week 3′s lecture.  Somehow I had skipped downloading week 2′s Wednesday lecture.  It made me realize that this is what I should feel like if I skip class, but it is not.  Watching the lectures I felt lost and confused, but if I miss a class (Yes, I have missed.) I usually don’t feel so confused.

I pondered on this for a while.  And I think the reason is that when you miss a class there is usually at least a full day until you go again, allowing your brain to blur your memory of the last class session you did attend; therefore, distorting your perception of what content you missed in between sessions.

So for you to realize how much content you are missing if you skip class, watch two video lectures back to back and skip one lecture in between.  To find a lecture check out Tuesday’s post, a list of places to find free online courses.