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Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#881

Post by hnick »

saalweachter wrote: post #725

Spend an hour learning whether you can safely attempt something. There are two complimentary problems: some people don't realize that they can do something, and will never attempt it because they assume it requires training and skills and materials and time beyond their reach; other people don't realize that they shouldn't do something, because it is dangerous, because it is illegal, because it would require far more…

This is underrated. Of course I knew most plumbing probably isn't too hard but I never gave it a try until I complained about fixing a leaking tap and a friend showed me how. I bought my own simple tools and have fixed a bunch more in our house by myself (it's just getting to that ~10 year age right now). Here a plumber will charge $150 just to show up.

That really opened things up for me and now I often check things like repairing drywall or replacing a door handle on YouTube. It's a really good way to gauge if you think it's something you can handle.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#882

Post by tempestn »

bionsystem wrote: post #336
tempestn wrote: post #144

How, and why, to invest in a simple portfolio of index funds. Split between equity and fixed income based on your risk tolerance, and diversify equities globally. This will give you a low-cost, set-and-forget investment portfolio that you can add to over time without ever having to worry about what you should buy or what the market might do. Just add to it regularly over time, and end up with solid retirement savings…

I would be very careful with financial advice in general and "set and forget" strategies are definitely among them. There is some controversy with ETF based allocation strategies (see Michael Burry's recent claims) that may or may not be valid, but in general I don't think there is any shortcut for financial education such as "just buy diversified ETFs" (and this applies to many other fields as well).

I agree; one should educate oneself. That's why my advice was to "learn how and why" rather than to simply do it. The danger with the financial sector is that there is a ton of biased, bad advice out there. So you need to take some care and critically evaluate what you're learning. Having done that myself, I'm a strong believer in low-cost, diversified investing. (Which usually means passive indexes, but the important things are low cost and diversification; occasionally that's not incompatible with active funds.) For most people who don't want personal finance as a hobby, an hour should be enough time to learn why a simple portfolio of low-cost index funds is a solid choice, and then they can confidently stay the course, rather than trying to time the market or pick winners and ending up worse off for it, as many do.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#883

Post by hnick »

I don't think it's been said which surprises me, but basic programming of course. Programming properly requires a mindset where you are thinking about 'what will happen if this happens?'. A lot of people don't seem to naturally think like that. It can be helpful.

For a more practical example, you can easily start a blog and learn the basics of Wordpress in an hour. A lot of small business owners in particular can really benefit from this.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#884

Post by JshWright »

hnick wrote: post #876
JshWright wrote: post #735

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step 0: Tell a specific person to call 911, or do it yourself if you're alone. If the person isn't responding and doesn't appear to be breathing, move them to a hard, flat surface (if possible). Put your hands one on top of the other (both palms facing down) and interlock your fingers. Place your hands in the center of the chest (at approximately the level of the nipples) and push hard and fast, letting the chest rec…

All accurate but you missed the real step 1, which is arguably the most important - Check for danger. It was drilled into us repeatedly in our course because it's extremely obvious but always easy to forget during a situation. Our first aid teacher told us a lovely story of a child on his bike who got zapped by a downed power line. The next two family members trying to help him also died because they just rushed in.…

There are certainly special considerations, but in the vast majority of situations where CPR is necessary, there is no external hazard to worry about, it's just Uncle Jim's diet and lifestyle catching up with him.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#885

Post by Bnshsysjab »

derpherpsson wrote: post #192
Waterluvian wrote: post #43

Learn NATO phonetic alphabet while in traffic. Keep a reference card in your car's visor and then read out loud every license plate you see.

WHY

honestly me reading credentials over phones would probably end up making this a positive roi investment within months. ymmv though.

And no, the credentials don’t warrant a ‘eavesdropping’ threat model, they barely matter at all.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#886

Post by jgwil2 »

ZoomZoomZoom wrote: post #243
Symbiote wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half of Cyrillic is learned by the average HN reader if you tell them to think Greek rather than Latin. "P" is an "r" sound (rho), "П" is a "p" (pi), etc.

I always wondered why in English the constant and the letter π pronounced as /paɪ/ when the Greek letter is obviously /pi/. It really grinds my gears, there's no pie in π! Does Enlgish routinely localize foreign alphabet names? If so, it's bad practice. I believe no one in the world learns English alphabet pronouncing it arbitrary, and not as /ˈeɪ/ /ˈbiː/ /ˈsiː/.

The comments about the Great Vowel Shift are correct, but I would also like to add that in English we already pronounce the Latin letter "P" /pi/, and it would hardly do to have the two pronounced the same way given the importance of ratio in math. So even if we wanted to adopt the Greek pronunciation, we probably wouldn't because of the confusion it would generate.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#887

Post by nazgulnarsil »

vajrapani666 wrote: post #715

Holotropic breathing. Someone in my town offers workshops on Conscious Connected Breathing. I would have never thought that just breathing for an hour would fundamentally change my life, yet here I am. My relationship with deep seated trauma has been completely transformed. Technically the breathing was 2 hours, but it felt like 45 minutes. It feels like I now have access to a powerful drug, and an accessible way of…

inducing euphoria via mild hypoxia is not a good idea. The people touting this in the west mostly don't have the qualifications for doing this practice safely.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#888

Post by jgwil2 »

nxpnsv wrote: post #70

I would suggest learning juggling a basic 3 ball cascade. It’s great for training concentration and coordination, and also quite addictive.

For most people this will take more than an hour to master, but once you get to around five tosses and catches you've figured out the pattern and the rest is just practice.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#889

Post by jgwil2 »

ajot wrote: post #590

I've seen it in a subcomment, but here it goes anyway: to tie your shoes properly. At least avoiding the granny knot [0], and I would suggest using Ian's secure knot [1], too. It's been a life changer for me not to stop all thr time to re-tie my shoes. [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm [1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

This is a great and very useful site.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#890

Post by CyberMacGyver »

eterps wrote: post #314
coltnz wrote: post #89

Logical fallacies - how not to think. Kelly criterion - what can you afford to invest. Polya's problem solving method. Salary negotiation skills. Rich Hickey's Hammock driven development (for non programmers too). No Limit Holdem Poker flop and turn odds calculation.

> Logical fallacies - how not to think. Does anyone know a good app or website that drills you in recognizing logical fallacies from realistic examples/scenarios?

The best resource I have found is a fantastic old book - Straight and Crooked Thinking[1]

[1] http://www.neglectedbooks.com/Straight_and_Crooked_Thinking....

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