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Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

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Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#571

Post by akeck »

Blaiz0r wrote: post #280
vekker wrote: post #96

Learn to dream again. Nightly dreaming that is, not the wishing-kind. Specifically, lucid dreaming, i.e. being conscious and awake while physically asleep in the REM state.

How do you get started?

In my personal experience, a good place to start is knowing your personal sleep length need (long, medium, short - note this may change over time). I found that I don't dream when I sleep under 7h or so. So to get substantial dreams I need 7.5-9+ hours. Also, bedroom air quality can be a factor. A HEPA filter next to your bed with a new filter can improve dreaming and sleep quality in general.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#572

Post by unnouinceput »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #46
unnouinceput wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you'll die within a month if modern society collapses. Just focus on making a difference on current society instead of becoming a fatalist.

Some will. Some of us already live relatively independent lives. Not a lot, to be sure. And it can hardly be done in a city.

Agree, some will. But none of HN crowd. We'll all die, me, you, him.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#573

Post by webdva »

smegma2 wrote: post #548
webdva wrote: post #527

Skills to acquire in 2020, ye Hacker News reader? A wee bit of abstract mathematics knowledge, so that you can better think in abstract terms when solving problems. The hardest of problems require the usage of and familiarity with advanced abstractions. Abstract mathematics knowledge provides that great—and profound!—capability.

What kind of abstract mathematics?

> What kind of abstract mathematics?

Ah, a curious intellect has approached! Know that every “What kind?” is the desire for a common ground of understanding. So the student must first ask themself which understanding would they like to pursue. What be your choice? A choice that only your heart’s love can ultimately know.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#574

Post by kerkeslager »

ubercow13 wrote: post #363
kerkeslager wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... the two common issues I see are: 1. Hunching your back. This can cause slipped discs and some muscle issues. 2. Trying to controlled-lower the bar to the ground. Contrary to the policies of a lot of gyms, you should get to the top of your deadlift and basically drop: you might keep your hands on it to keep it from rolling away after it reaches the ground, but you definitely don't want to try to slow it down a…

Any source for (2)? A quick google doesn't seem to support that assertion at all.

Interesting, I looked it up, and apparently there is more disagreement on this than I was aware of.

If you read in depth on the subject, most people are saying it can fall pretty fast: controlling the bar seems to be mostly directed at making sure it takes a straight line down and doesn't hit your knees.

However, some people are saying that they lower it slower to get more work per rep.

All I will say is that my personal experience is that trying to over-control the lower has caused issues for me, and a few other people I've known who deadlifted, and these were always fixed by the cue, "Just keep your hands on it and otherwise let it drop."

And the flipside is definitely clear: if you watch any high-level deadlift competitions, tons of competitors will just completely let go of the bar, and I'm not aware of any injuries caused by doing this.

That said, I'd love to see actual data, as the only information I have found here (including my own) is just appeals to authority.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#575

Post by big_t »

reaperducer wrote: post #466
chrissnell wrote: post #100

Some suggestions: - Build something. A new workbench for your office. Fix up an old car. Build a pull-up bar in your garage. Use your hands, cut some wood and metal, and treat yourself to a new tool or two. Do this with every project and you will have a nice tool collection before you know it. - Learn to take pictures on a manual camera. You can do this with a modern automatic camera if it has a manual mode. Learn ab…

Listen to classical music. This one didn't come to me until my 40s but I finally realized: there's a reason that this music has been popular for 300 years. I agree. It's funny how when I was young I would only listen to one type of music, like it was some kind of tribal loyalty. Now I listen to all kinds of things, and I've learned to hear the difference between really good music and stuff that's just manufactured fo…

Classical 101: WOSA/Grove City, OH

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#576

Post by mywittyname »

msluyter wrote: post #377
neuroticfish wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been trying to learn to cook off and on for years now and I get so discouraged all the time because I'm still either overcooking or undercooking something, still not getting the flavors right, not using the right amount of oil despite the recipe's prescription. I can't be alone in feeling that way.

I've learned the most and gotten the most bang for the buck from using Cook's Illustrated special edition magazines. For example, Skillet Dinners1[1], my copy of which is well worn. The writeups that go with the recipes really help train one's intuition about cooking. Over time, I've gotten much better at knowing when to adjust ingredients or cooking times for a given recipe. https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/spec…

ATK is great for beginners because they test their recipes and their recipe amounts are literally the same as they used in the tests.

A lot of recipes you find online are really guestimates on the amounts, so you never get the same result as the author. People are very bad about guestimating volumes, like "about 2 tablespoons of oil" when they really used half a cup.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#577

Post by ricg »

ryugarden wrote: post #418
ricg wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to elaborate on "learn agency" for a non-native English speaker?

I was referring to this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/george__mack/status/1068238562443841538

Thanks for the link! Glad I asked.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#578

Post by JoeAltmaier »

unnouinceput wrote: post #572
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some will. Some of us already live relatively independent lives. Not a lot, to be sure. And it can hardly be done in a city.

Agree, some will. But none of HN crowd. We'll all die, me, you, him.

Well, not me. That's my point. I live in a well-stocked rural setting with independent food, water, energy.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#580

Post by tyscorp »

billfruit wrote: post #138
chrissnell wrote: post #100

Some suggestions: - Build something. A new workbench for your office. Fix up an old car. Build a pull-up bar in your garage. Use your hands, cut some wood and metal, and treat yourself to a new tool or two. Do this with every project and you will have a nice tool collection before you know it. - Learn to take pictures on a manual camera. You can do this with a modern automatic camera if it has a manual mode. Learn ab…

Learn to enjoy poetry. There is so much of great poetry in English, but I think it is not being read and appreciated enough. It is a kind of mental challenge like doing a puzzle, to unlock the full vivid meaning. Also reading fiction, though how exactly it helps one is beyond me, but it offers glimpses into other worlds. For example I read recently 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', I doubt its richness of detail, and…

An easy way to get started is the YouTube channel Ours Poetica[1]. It's kinda like Audible but for poems (and free). Produced in collaboration with The Poetry Foundation.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv4-yypZ7srAlzk_MQCRaLQ

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