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Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#91
I have been in just the same situation, I ended up studying two of those things (philosophy, film/art). I never gave up on the others (music, electronics, design, programming), now I work in electronics and programming.

My worry back then was that doing all these things was a sure way to be mediocre at all of them, and good at none. This was not how ot turned out.

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#92
post #2

I was going to suggest writing, and I'll go one further: Do write a blog, but don't just write a blog. Write a blog, and then create a video for each blog post, and upload it to YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are). Also do livestreams. Start interviewing anyone who will take you seriously. Set a goal for who your dream interviewee is. Do this for a couple years, putting out conte…

> YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are).

Whyyyyyyyyy?!

Seriously I'm curious, what happened? Do intellectuals (whatever that means) really not prefer reading any more?

A desire for Podcasts/audiobooks I can understand, as someone who occasionally has to drive places, but video?

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#94
I am trying to figure that out, too, working now on my PhD. For my work life it just means I can engage in interesting conversations. That's quite something, helps with networking a lot. For my PhD I can re-use a lot (not all) of the stuff, because the social sciences are much more eclectic nowadays. For sure I get criticized for showing extensively how the dots connect.

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to burst your bubble but marriage regret is the norm past age 35. One of the canned responses to going your own way is always "who hurt you".

Most marriages that are first marriages for both partners end in death. Doesn't sound like there's a lot of regret there. People want to stay married. Otherwise they wouldn't.

In the US, researchers estimate that 41% of all first marriages end in divorce [1]. I guess it's technically true that divorces are in the minority, but it does sound like there's a lot of regret there.

[1] https://www.wf-lawyers.com/divorce-statistics-and-facts/

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#96
post #2

I was going to suggest writing, and I'll go one further: Do write a blog, but don't just write a blog. Write a blog, and then create a video for each blog post, and upload it to YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are). Also do livestreams. Start interviewing anyone who will take you seriously. Set a goal for who your dream interviewee is. Do this for a couple years, putting out conte…

> YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are). Whyyyyyyyyy?! Seriously I'm curious, what happened? Do intellectuals (whatever that means) really not prefer reading any more? A desire for Podcasts/audiobooks I can understand, as someone who occasionally has to drive places, but video?

The problem with text as far as I see is discoverability. Google promotes YouTube videos, but the text sites I've seen ranked are just garbage like "7 ways to clean your sink".

And video is a more addictive medium.

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#97
post #2

I was going to suggest writing, and I'll go one further: Do write a blog, but don't just write a blog. Write a blog, and then create a video for each blog post, and upload it to YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are). Also do livestreams. Start interviewing anyone who will take you seriously. Set a goal for who your dream interviewee is. Do this for a couple years, putting out conte…

> YouTube (where the eyeballs willing to consume intellectual material are). Whyyyyyyyyy?! Seriously I'm curious, what happened? Do intellectuals (whatever that means) really not prefer reading any more? A desire for Podcasts/audiobooks I can understand, as someone who occasionally has to drive places, but video?

I think "intellectuals" are willing to read books.

I think videos are the best way to consume content in ~20 minutes.

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#98
There is a danger in casting a wide net. Many will mistake knowledge gained from a book as experience, but even experts are wrong (all the time).

My advice is to seek truth and be humble in accepting it, knowing that it could change at any moment. Don't try to be a teacher, try to be a humble student who is willing to share their knowledge.

Re: Ask HN: I'm interested in so many disciplines, but what can I do with that?

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to burst your bubble but marriage regret is the norm past age 35. One of the canned responses to going your own way is always "who hurt you".

Most marriages that are first marriages for both partners end in death. Doesn't sound like there's a lot of regret there. People want to stay married. Otherwise they wouldn't.

You're presuming that the small majority in that subset , are not just choosing to silently suffer until death , and this could be for a number of reasons - as it is more socially acceptable, one side has got stuck with kids, they co-own property, share bank accounts, renting in cities is too expensive without a partner. Divorce is expensive (its not called divorce rape for nothing) and marriage is an extremely difficult government contract to exit from cleanly.
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