What Free Courses to Take?

I often get questions regarding what courses to take, or I suggest them to people, without being asked. Anyway, I find the following courses a must watch for all rational humans, regardless if you are a sport scientist or not.

Human Behavioral Biology by Robert Sapolsky

Robert Sapolsky is on of the best lecturers I have ever witnessed. He is funny, wit and engaging, besides having great personality and being amazingly good at transferring very complex knowledge. Human Behavioral Biology is a must listen, for anyone who deals with humans.
The course can be found HERE, or on iTunes. Do me a favor and start watching now!

A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior by Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely is funny as hell and I ended up laughing my ass of numerous times during this course. It is an amazing introduction to his research behind irrational behavior and decision making in general. It will explain how one can be manipulated (or should I say nudged) to the right/wrong direction and how your decision are affected, even if you believe you are completely rational.
Unfortunately, it seems that the course is not available anymore on the Coursera, so you will need to try and find it online. Here are the Vimeo videos, but I can’t seem to find the right order.

Model Thinking by Scott Page

This might be one of the most influential courses I’ve taken and the one I frequently reference and mention on Complementary Training. It is about realizing the difference between the Big World and Small World, or the Map and the Territory. It is about understanding the models, their pros and cons and using them when needed. It is about relying on multiple models rather than following only singe one. It is truly an amazing course. It is completely free on Coursera and the videos can also be found on YouTube.

Complexity Explorer (multiple courses)

Complexity Explorer is a project run by Santa Fe Institute aimed at bringing complexity sci-ence to the masses. The courses are completely free and are more than fascinating. Introduction to Complexity by Melanie Mitchel, as well as Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Chaos by David Feldman, are amazing introductions. I warn you: you will look at the world with different lenses after these.

Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley

I think this course is one of the most viewed courses in the history of MOOC. Rightly so. This is an amazing course that deals with how we learn things and how to structure our learning practice for the best retention of knowledge. Amazing course. Watch it HERE.

Here is Barbara’s TEDx talk:

Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson

I have discovered Jordan recently and I am about to start reading his book Maps of Meaning (meh, let’s be honest – I have said that 6 months ago). Jordan is a psychologist and a philosopher, as well as a professor at University of Toronto. The book is freely available online, as well as the videos of the lectures on YouTube. You can find everything HERE.

For Statistic Freaks #1: Introduction to Statis-tical Learning

The book Introduction to Statistical Learning is probably my favorite stats book and this is the course that follows it. The presenters are leaders in this field and are extremely fun to watch. Really enjoyed learning statistics following this course and the book

For Statistic Freaks #2: Statistical Rethinking

Statistical Rethinking book by Richard McElreath is a great introduction to Bayesian methods. Besides the book, there are great video lectures you can follow along. Everything could be found HERE.

The list will keep you busy for some time, but it will be worth it. I just started Finance for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision-Making. Apparently, it is very good. Besides, I plan re-watching some of the above. Some courses are worth watching more than once.