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

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

#101

Post by Shared404 »

Shared404 wrote: post #22
Shared404 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say start small. Find a hiking trail - a real hiking trail - withing 10-30 minutes drive, and walk it weekly or so. Once you're comfortable with that trail, broaden your horizons for where you want to hike. Eventually, you may want to do more/go on a hike further out then is a reasonable drive. At that point, find a campground near where you want to hike. If they offer rentals of some sort, great! If not, you…

Here's a couple links. I glossed over them, and they seem like decent resources. https://www.tripsavvy.com/setting-up-a-campsite-498429 - Setting up camp 101. Doesn't go over how to pitch a tent, but that'll get covered with the tents documentation. https://veggievagabonds.com/camping-for-beginners/ - Camping 102, bit more in depth. https://thebackpackinghiker.com/hiking-and-wild-camping-in-s... - Assumes experience,…

The answers from 082349872349872 and BoiledCabbage are better then mine. Go with their suggestions.

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

#103

Post by anoncake »

thepete2 wrote: post #98
sethammons wrote: post #4

I'm reminded of: “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” ~…

Hmm, I can design a wall, analyze a diaper and butcher a sonnet.

Analyzing is the last thing I'd want to do with a diaper...

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

#104

Post by thecleaner »

kryogen1c wrote: post #73
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…

> 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.

My experience is the same. Also when two people cook it is far easier and quicker. Learning to cook also gives you freedom. You can vary the taste for the same dish. One thing to note - its safer to cook veggies than meat if you are still learning. But one tends to get better in this art.

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

#105

Post by kevstev »

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #94
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.

Looking at my monthly eat-out cost is a real wake up for me. If I don’t have prepared food or a snack it’s very easy to be tempted to grab something quick and overeat.

Quarantining made me realize just how much I spend on food and alcohol. And while don't get me wrong, I love a good meal and a night out with friends, we will definitely be reeling that in a bit even after all restrictions are lifted. And a night in cooking a great meal and opening up a nice bottle of wine (that is much cheaper than anything we could buy at a restaurant) can be very satisfying too.

One thing that is a bit hard to get around is that we live in a city, and some friends are single, and that going "out" to a public place like a bar or restaurant gives them the feeling that they haven't "given up" on meeting someone for the night, but going to someone's house means its orders of magnitude less likely that someone will just pop up. Even amongst married friends, the spontaneity of having someone just happen to be at the same place you are is a big thrill that just isn't going to happen if they are sitting in my living room. I live in a neighborhood where there is a main drag where most bars/restaurants are, so this happens fairly often.

But taking a step back, my discretionary spending has dropped by 95% and my bank account has swelled at a rate that I could have never imagined without much drop in my overall happiness at all and this is likely to lead to changes in spending patterns for years to come.

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

#106

Post by sunstone »

Basic therapeutic massage is a skill that will last a life time. Most people (but not all) can pick this up easily and use it to ease sore shoulders, arms, backs and lower back pain (stay away from the neck). It mostly involves prodding around the muscles to find the tense/tight area that needs some direct pressure applied by the thumb. This causes pain at first but after 10 minutes the muscles relax and the original pain is reduced.

The mildly irritating thing about this skill is that once you learn it you can keep your friends and family up and running but, likely, no one will be able to do the same for you.

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

#107

Post by bluewalt »

If I'd need to pick only one, I would say: "learn to learn". In the era of internet, where every piece of knowledge is available, I'm so surprised to meet so many people that are unable to learn things by themselves, relying on other non-remote people.

Sometimes you can sound like an asshole when a friend asks you something very specific and you answer: "why don't you Google it?", but IMHO you're doing him a favor.

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

#108

Post by sethammons »

MarxOk wrote: post #35
sethammons wrote: post #4

I'm reminded of: “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” ~…

All useful except butchering a hog - a human being does not need to eat hogs to survive and thrive.

Maybe living in the inner city. I know a great many people who feed their family through hunting. In my area, if there were to be a supply chain issue and food was hard to come by, knowing how to turn an animal to food is an important thing to know. I'd say that is likely more important that conn'ing a ship. Anyway, let's not get to pedantic. "A human should be able to feed themselves and their family."

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

#110

Post by lowestprimate »

muzani wrote: post #62

If I had to pick one, it would be engineering. Learn how to break down a large problem into parts, and then tackle it. But everyone here likely knows that. So my pick is sales. When I was presenting my thesis to the assessor, he was unimpressed. It was a bachelor's thesis, technically simple, but it attacked the problem from a different angle and had better progress than some PhD students working on the same project.…

Learning the art of influence/story telling is a super power. It doesn't even have to be better as it could just be more confidence in that it is good enough.
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