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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?

#681

Post by saalweachter »

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

I use a similar knot derived from the "standard" (bunny) knot, rather than the two-loop knot. You just send the bunny around the tree twice, and you similarly never need to retie your shoes while wearing them.

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

#682

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

pawelk wrote: post #374
dwoozle wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking is great but you cannot learn it in an hour.

Cooking is a skill one can develop their entire life, like most skills. But in my opinion it's perfectly achievable to go from zero to one or even a few basic meals in an hour. Even more so if you have a slow cooker and follow a recipe.

Except you have to go to the store to buy ingredients, and then you have to have the right utensils (you mention slow cooker).

It's not really an hour and doesn't meet the criteria.

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

#683

Post by saalweachter »

seaish wrote: post #289
kqr wrote: post #56

I don't know if an adult can do it in an hour, but learning to ride a bike is very useful/freeing.

I have a friend who did learn to ride a bike in an hour. I was extremely surprised, but he is the fastest learner I know so I don't think it's typical.

Frankly it is easy as an adult, even if falling is probably worse.

You would not believe how uncoordinated children are, and how much better you are at using your body a few years after it finishes growing and you've had some time to get used to it.

(I mean, developing proper instincts about stopping and turning can take some time, but just mastering going slow and not falling down isn't too hard.)

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

#684

Post by Jeff_Brown »

kitd wrote: post #159

If you have to work with the linux or mac command line at all as part of your job, 'sed' and 'awk' are 2 commands that will boost your productivity hugely.

I use sed routinely for string replacement. Don't know how to use it for anything else. I also use grep, find, and wc routinely. For anything more complicated I reach for a full-featured programming language. I never feel like I'm missing anything.

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

#685

Post by eigenvalue »

auiya wrote: post #594
jumbopapa wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favorite Charlie Munger speeches seems relevant [1]. > I have a friend who carried a big stack of linen cards about this thick, and when somebody would make a comment that reflected self-pity, he would take out one of the cards, take the top one off the stack and hand it to the person, and the card said, “Your story has touched my heart. Never have I heard of anyone with as many misfortunes as you. Sure, yo…

That's quite a concerted way of displaying his complete lack of empathy. Imagine if he put the same effort into bettering humanity rather than chasing wealth and snubbing nose.

It's not about displaying empathy, it's about addressing what will actually help the person, and complaining almost certainly won't.

The quote continues: "Well, you can say that’s waggery, but I suggest that every time you find you’re drifting into self-pity—I don’t care what the cause, your child could be dying of cancer, self-pity is not going to improve the situation—just give yourself one of those cards. It’s a ridiculous way to behave and when you avoid it you get a great advantage over everybody else, almost everybody else, because self-pity is a standard condition and yet you can train yourself out of it."

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

#686

Post by Jeff_Brown »

ahmaman wrote: post #450

Learn how to make good coffee - Here is for example how to make a great cup of coffee using an Aeropress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmjPjZZRhNQ&t=252s Learn the basics of economics - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0 Learn how to journal. Learn the basics of meditation. Learn how to learn stuff using flash cards - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzCEJVtED0U - I used this method to learn Finnish ( http…

I wish I had learned -- in fact I wish everybody learned -- labor economics before going to college. That we expect kids to make such a financially momentous decision without having any idea what they're doing is absolutely nuts.

(Maybe read a microeconomics textbook first; labor economics is a specialization of that.)

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

#688

Post by saalweachter »

How to use a library. The organization of the books, how to look them up by subject or title, the different media available, how to request inter-library loan, and how to ask a librarian for help finding what you are looking for when you aren't sure.

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

#690

Post by lisper »

lawlorino wrote: post #468
lisper wrote: post #86

Basic social skills. How to make small talk, especially with non-technical people. It's easy to learn, but if you're a hacker then it probably doesn't come naturally and so it must be learned. But you will get enormous leverage out of learning it.

IMO if you're the kind of person who needs to improve on basic social skills, an hour of practice is probably not going to be enough. You also didn't describe how this could be practiced in an hour?

I would start here:

https://www.improveyoursocialskills.com/basic-social-skills-...

Like any other skill, you are not going to master it in an hour. But an hour of study and practice can produce dramatic results.

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