title: getting started with org mode in emacs
body: <p>I am new to computer science - so far, I have written a kinetic monte carlo simulation in Python and my background is in physics.</p>
  
  <p>I am trying to learn org-mode in emacs, but it seems that I am lacking some very basic knowledge, and I don't know where to start obtaining it.</p>
  
  <p>For example, I don't know exactly what this tutorial is telling me to do from the very beginning: </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html</a></p>
  
  <p>How do I "point the Emacs load path to the lisp directory in the Org-mode distribution"</p>
  
  <p>It says: </p>
  
  <p>"Activation
  Add the following to your .emacs:"</p>
  
  <p>Where is my .emacs?</p>
  
  <p>I know these are very basic questions.</p>
  
  <p>I understand how to write code to some extent and have written programs in visual basic and java, but I am lacking in some fundamentals of CS. What is the knowledge base I am lacking, and what courses/resources can I use to obtain it?</p>