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

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41–50 of 173 posts

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

#41
Learn how to do things you would normally pay somebody else to do.

For example learn to service your car, repair your home, etc.

Your things may last longer, you can save a bunch of money, your better half will be impressed, you learn how basic stuff in the real world works and you’ll get some time off the screen.

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

#42
This is not a skill but something I do everyday, that I found to be rewarding.

While I'm in bed and before sleeping, I take two minutes to be thankful for the day. I would go from the beginning of the day and be thankful for things I have. In this world where everyone seems to be so focused on achieving new things, creating and being more productive. I believe we all should take some time to be just thankful for what we have.

Have a fridge? be thankful for that. Got you uber to go to places? be thankful. Got money to eat for the day? be thankful. Made a contribution to make life better for other people? be thankful.

Once per day for 2mins, hit the pause button, stop thinking about productivity and being a better version of yourself. Accept who you are and be thankful for it.

The other benefits of this for me personally, is that I train my brain to remember things I did during the day.

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

#44
post #18
post #15

Learn a handful of knots. You don't need to know the entire boy scout manual, but solid understanding of 4-5 knots - be it a trucker's hitch (adjustable), improved clinch (fishing/permanent), half hitch, etc - will be the right tool for the moment. When we go camping, we end up bringing a handful of tarps and paracord. Always fun to see the monstrosities people come up with as we try to string up a sun/rain shelter.

Learning the bowline, trucker's hitch, and double half-hitches will get you the most value for your time in my opinion. They're all I've ever needed for moving or camping.

Taut-line hitch or Tarbuck is my go-to. Use it half the time, the double half-hitch the other half.

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

#45
post #38
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…

What maybe surprised me most about learning to dance is how much you learn about signaling and how important signaling is to get two individuals work as one. Giving and reading signals was never my strong side, but it have improved a lot after learning to use signals in dance. The way I hold my hand or some light pressure on the back tells the one I'm dancing with what I plan for us to do and it often even works when…

Martial arts and partner dancing are two sides of the same coin: in the former, one maintains distance and predicts movement so one can break synch with an opponent by surprising, taking advantage of and increasing brief errors. In the latter, one maintains distance and predicts movement so one can synch with a partner by signalling, covering up for and decreasing brief errors.

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

#47
post #40

Economics. Many people have no idea what economists actually work on. Economics is not only Macroeconomics. It is a consistent theory of human behaviour. It tries to understand social behaviour and human interactions using a very small number of hypothesis. It genuinely gives a new light on how you understand social phenomena.

Partner that with Statistics. There's little about statistics that's in line with our expectations. From simple things like the Monty Hall problem, to Markov chains or complex sampling.

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

#48
post #5

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…

Definitely a good, broad list that can apply to everyone. I feel like the last two are especially relevant today in a world where the internet dominates my generation and we're in a culture that replaces instead of repairs. I am definitely guilty of failing on your second to last bullet, and I should work on that.

Re: replace instead of repair, one issue is that replacement parts for e.g. electronics can end up being more expensive than a new and updated replacement (with factory warranty).

I've tried to fix a deep fryer I got for free, the switch was broken but it was a pretty generic flip switch with a light in it, the local electronics shop had a replacement for like €2 or so. That didn't fix it though, I suspect there's a temperature safety somewhere inside that isn't working right anymore. So far I've had it filled, warmed up, tried out, turned off, cleaned, opened up, etc four or five times already without having fixed it.

It'll be €40 to buy a new one. It's probably fixable, or I could probably replace only the heating unit, but just the heating unit (that is compatible with this one) is likely impossible to get and no cheaper than a new one.

But that's just one example. I for one am interested in seeing products that cost more but that are of provable higher quality and repairability.

There's some youtube channels that disassemble electric tools and point out at all the small or big things that make it good or bad / cheap, things like the kind of plastic used, bushings vs bearings, open vs closed bearings, etc.

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

#50

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 up with a way to use that in a different meal. Repeat every day, and soon you will be a master.

I can almost always improvise a good meal for a group with no recipes, using only ingredients at hand.

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