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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?

#131

Post by nirse »

euroderf wrote: post #62

Don't quit your day job - ya gotta pay the rent. And in the meantime, if you gain satisfaction from satisfying your curiosity about myriad things, go with that. It doesn't have to have an end or a greater purpose. Everybody you know has a head filled with things they'll never "usefully apply" to the greater world around them: it's a fact of life. So if you end up on your deathbed with nothing having really clicked fo…

I'd add to that that you might want to find yourself a part-time job, or work as a contractor, which would free up time to explore your other interests. You don't need to get all your life's fulfilment from your day job (ideally some, of course but to expect all from your day job seems a fallacy to me).

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

#132

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

Find an easy job that involves daily routine. After a couple of months you'll find it easy, after a couple of years you'll be able to squeeze all your duties into one hour if you're smart. Then you can spend the remaining hours increasing your knowledge of chosen areas.

One thing that turned out to be particularly useful for me was testing my knowledge by participating in discussions with advanced learners and experts in the field. By just formulating your question or view in writing something changes in your brain. Very often trying to put my question in writing made me realize the answer.

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

#133

Post by sshine »

> What does one do with an intellectual life other than swimming through intellectual content?

I study one thing in my spare time until that thing can become another revenue path.

Before it can on its own, I'm combining it with my software skills.

First as a hobby, next as a way to make a small side income.

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

#134

Post by icc97 »

Write and keep writing. Find the connections between the disparate fields.

You have to write your thoughts down because you'll have so many you'll forget them.

Buy a bunch of lovely notebooks and coloured pens and write all your thoughts. Your thoughts and how you write will change over time.

I did nothing but write in my note books under the heading 'Thoughts and Feelings' for 10 years or more based on some advice a therapist gave me a while back.

Also going to see a therapist is fun if you have lots of thoughts. They're like a 3rd party interested in psychology who is paid to listen to your thinking out loud. Sometimes they can listen to your random collection of words and thoughts that pour out of your mouth and find a kernel or thread that runs through it all.

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

#135

Post by spoonjim »

haveyoubeen wrote: post #80
warent wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very sad way of seeing the world and experiencing life imho. Sounds like some very traumatic past experiences that are the exception not the norm. things can definitely be much better

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".

What’s your source on that?

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

#136

Post by eimrine »

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

> From psychology to history of science to anthropology and sociology, to economics and politics, to philosophy and religious studies and cultural studies, etc.

You guys may consider my comment as begging for down-votes but why to chose so lowball content only? Among the disciplines the topicstarter has chosen there is only one which may be awarded with Noble prize (Economy) and at least one which is considered harmful quasi-science (Religion). There is no any STEM and the formulation of the question does not seems like, for example, topicstarter has learned Economy and discover Bitcoin, or has learned Philosophy and discover Stoicism, or has learned religions and discovered Atheism. That begs one question:

> I find it intrinsically motivating to move from ignorance slowly towards understanding.

How do you know you are really moving anywhere but not standing?

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

#138

Post by TimJRobinson »

I have a similar problem. I've found investing and working as a researcher at an investment firm (or VC firm) is a good fit as you get to learn a lot about different industries and companies without having to spend months on the same thing or get too deep into the weeds.

If you do MBTI you'll probably find you're an ENTP or INTP, and learning more about that can help guide you as well.

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

#139

Post by hansbo »

themacguffinman wrote: post #121
hansbo wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Divorce doesn't mean regret though. You can have a wonderful time with a partner and then decide the you want something else later, at a different point in life.

The website lists a breakdown of common reasons given for divorce: - Lack of commitment 73% - Argue too much 56% - Infidelity 55% - Married too young 46% - Unrealistic expectations 45% - Lack of equality in the relationship 44% - Lack of preparation for marriage 41% - Domestic Violence or Abuse 25% (Respondents often cited more that one reason, therefore the percentages add up to much more than 100 percent) All of th…

Yes and no. You can have plenty of commitment for 5 years, and then you feel like doing something else and your commitment decreases. Infidelity doesn't mean the whole relationship has been bad.

My point is, there is an expectation that a happy marriage lasts your whole life, and while there is nothing wrong with a marriage like that, it is not the only happy solution. You can have a relationship end without regretting ever going into it.

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

#140

Post by eimrine »

abainbridge wrote: post #108
sideshowb wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 feel that you can assign a separate IQ-like score to many different components of human intelligence. I score badly on book comprehension relative to other components. I find it easier to concentrate for an hour or two on a video than a book. I'm probably slightly dyslexic or something. At university I made sure I never missed a lecture but hardly ever read a book. I did above averagely well. This is a disadvantage…

> I find it easier to concentrate for an hour or two on a video than a book.

That is because video does not requires you to concentrate. Imagine a book which is required to be read in 1x or 1.25x or 1.5x or 2x only. Pretty impossible to read, isn't it? You know, some paragraphs may require several hours to be read. Video just doesn't support to be consumed at different speeds per paragraph.

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