Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#131

Post by zyxzevn » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 3:13 AM UTC

Understanding Logical fallacies. In these days of bad news reporting, it is good to recognize logical fallacies in reports. Instead of getting someone's opinion, it helps to focus on the actual data that is mentioned in the report. If the writer is using logical fallacies, they are trying to manipulate me. If they have clear logic, they are trying to inform me.

Then as second step, you can evaluate the data yourself, or even question it. See where you can find the source, or see other data. This step is more checking if the statistical evaluations are correct, or if there is p-hacking or any other problem. It must also follow basic common science. And if not, this should be explained.

What I usually find (>90% of the articles that I find interesting) is that the reports are conflicting and even the data is conflicting. The evidence/science is often incomplete and filled in with unfounded theories. And knowing this, it reduces the amount of information that is important in the articles.

So technically logical thinking is a way to compress all the data, without loss of information.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#132

Post by pluto9 » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 3:20 AM UTC

Surprised no one has mentioned learning a second language yet. I'm currently learning Spanish (one of the easier ones for native English speakers like me to learn, especially being from the American Southwest) and finding myself suddenly understanding conversations between people I walk past at WalMart has been one of the more gratifying experiences I've had.

It's hard to say whether this skill will afford me new opportunities in the future, but it's immensely satisfying and I think it's useful because it has changed the way I think about language in general. It's hard to explain, but when I only knew English, words were the concepts that they symbolized. Of course I knew intellectually that "dog" is just a symbol for the animal, but I couldn't separate them subconsciously, if that makes sense. Now that "perro" is also a symbol for the animal, and it's ingrained in my mind enough that I don't have to translate it to English, it's as if words and things have been "decoupled". Unfortunately I'm finding it hard to articulate why that revelation matters. Basically, learning another language expands your mind in a unique way. It's just something you have to experience.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#133

Post by zjs » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 3:46 AM UTC

jck wrote: post #112

dcminter wrote: post #2

If you're a shy person who would like to do better in social situations - learn to dance. Becoming a dancer opened up all sorts of doors for me. It made me comfortable in social situations from small-talk in intimate groups to public speaking in front of large ones. I even ended up married and living in a foreign country. Currently I'm learning the language and making some progress. All of which I can trace fairly di…

How did you learn how to dance?

I'm not the person you're asking, but will share my thoughts anyways.

I learned when a friend dragged me to a "taster" class at a local social dance venue. It was fun, so I went the next week. At the beginning of the next month, I enrolled in a "progressive" series (lessons that built on one another, unlike the "taster" classes that start from scratch each time).

Under normal circumstances, I think that's be best way to learn: at a venue where people dance socially. It's really something that's best learned in person and a class at a social dance venue means you can immediately practice what you just learned, with other people who just learned it. (Versus, say, a class at a dance studio, where you may take a class and then just go home.) Unless you live in New Zealand, that's probably not an option right now though.

For many dances, there's good content online. I dance Lindy Hop, so that's what I'm most familiar with. If you enjoy (or, at least, don't hate) Jazz music, I think it's a great option to start with. ilindy.com has a free high-quality intro course, including (last I checked) material you can practice by yourself. I'm less familiar with it, but jaminjackson.com also has a free intro course that I've heard good things about.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#134

Post by mulmen » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:19 AM UTC

guidoism wrote: post #126

diehunde wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Some people cut their own hair or build their own furniture and would say everyone needs to know how to do that stuff instead of depending on and paying someone else. There's a reason cooking is also a profession, and there's nothing wrong with depending on them. People who like to cook don't seem to understand that others (like me) just hate cooking and have zero interest in learning since it wouldn't br…

I don’t think that those are good analogies. Cooking for yourself is more akin to bathing yourself or wiping your own butt. It’s super easy if you grow up assuming that you should be doing those things yourself and unbelievably expensive if you pay others to do it for you.

Do you have advice for someone that did not grow up assuming they should be cooking for them self?

I've been making an effort to improve myself and it has been rewarding but honestly cooking for myself has been one of the steepest learning curves in my life. It is starting to pay off after months of effort motivated by a once-a-century global disaster.

This is not an approachable skill, at all.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#135

Post by diehunde » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:20 AM UTC

cweagans wrote: post #123

diehunde wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Some people cut their own hair or build their own furniture and would say everyone needs to know how to do that stuff instead of depending on and paying someone else. There's a reason cooking is also a profession, and there's nothing wrong with depending on them. People who like to cook don't seem to understand that others (like me) just hate cooking and have zero interest in learning since it wouldn't br…

People don't _require_ furniture or a haircut (i.e. you can survive without them). Everyone _needs_ to eat. Opting out of knowing how to take care of your own basic needs just because you can currently pay someone else to do it seems very shortsighted.

Fair enough. So assuming you need a house to survive, do you need to know how to build one? If your toilet breaks, do you know how to fix it? Again, some people would argue that calling "the guy" is always shortsighted and wasteful because you can do it by yourself. Cooking is no different. Maybe a couple of decades ago, but not today.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#136

Post by diehunde » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:23 AM UTC

guidoism wrote: post #126

diehunde wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Some people cut their own hair or build their own furniture and would say everyone needs to know how to do that stuff instead of depending on and paying someone else. There's a reason cooking is also a profession, and there's nothing wrong with depending on them. People who like to cook don't seem to understand that others (like me) just hate cooking and have zero interest in learning since it wouldn't br…

I don’t think that those are good analogies. Cooking for yourself is more akin to bathing yourself or wiping your own butt. It’s super easy if you grow up assuming that you should be doing those things yourself and unbelievably expensive if you pay others to do it for you.

That would be true if by cooking you mean boiling some pasta for 10 minutes or eating some scrabble eggs. That's hardly cooking.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#137

Post by jasonv » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:42 AM UTC

born_on_sega wrote: post #86

kryogen1c wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> learning to cook and prepare your own food. > learn to budget money and manage expenses. if you've never done this before, i very, very strongly suggest you look at how much eating out is costing you. my wife and i are saving literally thousands of dollars a month.

How do you managed budget and food?

Mint from Intuit. The free level works quite well for me.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#138

Post by jasonv » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:45 AM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #50

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #3

Learn how to take care of yourself first. That includes: * learning to cook and prepare your own food. * learn proper sleeping habits and make a routine that feels comfortable. * learn to exercise - pick an activity and do it consistently with some goals in mind. * learn to budget money and manage expenses. * learn to groom yourself and maintain a regular cleanliness routine * learn to entertain yourself alone - with…

It's a bit bewildering how many people (mostly men) there are around that cannot cook properly. They have lived their entire life depending on others to eat something decent. Learning to cook is often cited as a way to impress and woo others, but the primary beneficiary is oneself. Being able to cook well is freeing. It's easy to practice because you have to eat anyway. When you end up with leftover ingredients, come…

Even if you don’t “cook”, you can learn to be a food assembler.

Meal prep IIFYM style can be super easy. I cook a lot of things in my pressure cooker for 4 servings at a time (oats, chickpeas). I often just get veggie soup and add chickpeas for lunch. It’s way more satisfying than most of the quick things you can get near an office.

A lot of the staples that are disappointing when bought are amazing when you cook from scratch (aforementioned steel cut oats and chickpeas). Don’t get instant anything... it’s just too sad.

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#139

Post by vmurthy » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:08 AM UTC

For me : It has been being mindful around my son. I realised that me being constantly distracted when he was playing was causing me a lot of stress and him to throw a lot of tantrums. Instead, I now consciously bring my attention back to him and I've noticed that I am a lot less stressed and so is he :) . The mind does drift off as it is wont to do but bringing it back is key. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: What are some skills you have that are worth learning?

#140

Post by superasn » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:23 AM UTC

Become proficient in CBT for yourself, especially the part that deals with cognitive distortions - even if you're not depressed.

I have now internalized things like all of nothing thinking, mental filters, personalization, etc that whenever my mind tries to pull a fast one on me I'm able to quickly rationalize the negative thought by seeing the cognitive distortions in it.

But like everything this requires a lot of practice to do mentally (I nearly did it for 1 year with pen and paper first - actually I made a web app for myself to do it but you have to write it down in the beginning)