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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?

#731

Post by harrisonjackson »

kasey_junk wrote: post #542
harrisonjackson wrote: post #16

CPR/Choking/First Aid course is probably close to an hour. How to change your own oil - probably lots of other money-saving home and auto DIY things... Speed reading and memory tricks can be a multiplier on learning other skills. How to use automation tools like Zapier and IFTTT - again, a force multiplier. You might be interested in this book https://www.amazon.com/First-20-Hours-Learn-Anything/dp/1591... - the auth…

I’m always amazed when the “change your own oil” option comes up in these discussions as it’s a very classic example where having specialized tools s and doing it a lot really speeds you up. And it’s a dirty job without a lot of intellectual interest. Further you can get it done for you in 10 minutes for approaching minimum wage. Unless you work on your car for fun and have things like a lift sitting around it seems…

You are right; I probably could have thought of a better example, but the oil-change seemed to apply to more people.

Personally, I'd say I've saved a lot of money learning to fix a sprinkler, replace a ceiling fan, unclog a drain, fix a leaking faucet/pipe, painting the interior of a house, etc - more of the homeowner DIY than the car owner. The equipment needed for these is usually less than the cost of hiring a professional to do them.

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

#732

Post by eswat »

dougweltman wrote: post #440

Learn how to use Google Search effectively. It's a "language" we use every day. Mastering its few features can make any search so much more effective and precise: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433

For those wanting more examples, some probably more nefarious, look into Google dorking.

Here’s an execellent presentation from Blackhat many years ago but is still relevant: https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-usa-05/bh-us-05-lo...

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

#733

Post by throw1234651234 »

Jeff_Brown wrote: post #703
throw1234651234 wrote: post #532

The truth is that you can't learn anything useful in an hour unless you don't know really, really basic things about life.

I disagree. I learned the basics of the Variant library (which provides open sum types) for Haskell yesterday in about 90 minutes. It was awesome.

Because you already knew Haskell and you knew what open sum types are. You learned some semantics.

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

#735

Post by JshWright »

ken wrote: post #394
harrisonjackson wrote: post #16

CPR/Choking/First Aid course is probably close to an hour. How to change your own oil - probably lots of other money-saving home and auto DIY things... Speed reading and memory tricks can be a multiplier on learning other skills. How to use automation tools like Zapier and IFTTT - again, a force multiplier. You might be interested in this book https://www.amazon.com/First-20-Hours-Learn-Anything/dp/1591... - the auth…

> CPR/Choking/First Aid course is probably close to an hour. What can you teach in only an hour? I work with some people who teach basic first aid, and the shortest course any of them does is 4.5 hours.

Step 0: Tell a specific person to call 911, or do it yourself if you're alone.

If the person isn't responding and doesn't appear to be breathing, move them to a hard, flat surface (if possible). Put your hands one on top of the other (both palms facing down) and interlock your fingers. Place your hands in the center of the chest (at approximately the level of the nipples) and push hard and fast, letting the chest recoil fully between each compression.

If you're pushing hard enough, you will feel popping and cracking as the bones and cartilage of the rib cage move/dislocate. If you're allowing the chest to recoil back up fully between each compression you really can't push too fast (going too slowly is the far more common failure mode).

There... those are the important bits of adult CPR (for the layperson).

The courses are hours long so that the Red Cross/AHA can justify the fees and sell textbooks.

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

#736

Post by dang »

rfc wrote: post #474
learnstats2 wrote: post #410

On the contrary, it has taken me years to unlearn compound interest. When you start with relatively little, compound interest is relatively very unhelpful - it compounds wealth and benefits people who have started with something more than you. Twice as good at nothing is still nothing.

Alright, I'll bite. This is such a victimhood mentality and a ridiculous statement. I wasn't wealthy when I started investing. Hell, the first dollar I put into my long term portfolio was when I was living in my car! I started with ~$200 that I made from doing a collection of odd jobs (mowing lawns, computer repair, moving dirt, etc.). Every extra penny I made went into investing into a moderate portfolio focusing on…

When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Your comment would be fine without the second sentence.

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

#737

Post by harrisonjackson »

wenc wrote: post #646
kasey_junk wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m always amazed when the “change your own oil” option comes up in these discussions as it’s a very classic example where having specialized tools s and doing it a lot really speeds you up. And it’s a dirty job without a lot of intellectual interest. Further you can get it done for you in 10 minutes for approaching minimum wage. Unless you work on your car for fun and have things like a lift sitting around it seems…

Agreed. Which brings me to something I learned in an hour (from Ricky Yean's insightful piece on "mindset inequality" [1]) and which I'm still learning recognize in myself -- i.e. the disadvantaging qualities of a poverty mindset. Quote from article: "Being poor makes you suck at using money as a resource. My time was always cheaper growing up, so I got used to opting to spend time rather than money. I had to fix thi…

I agree with you for most DIY home projects you maximize your own earnings more by paying someone. Mowing the lawn is a great example when I think about my parents refusing to pay someone else despite being able to afford it.

I still think as a landlord there are some things you come out ahead on though. You can learn to fix a sprinkler and do it in an hour (maybe 2 counting home depot run). You'd probably have to pay someone a few hundred dollars for even a basic fix. If you own 50 properties of course this wouldn't make sense, but if you are a first-time homeowner then I'd say do it at least once.

Everyone should have that moment of a broken sprinkler head spraying you straight in the face while you figure out where the water shutoff is.

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

#738

Post by dang »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #655
rfc wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright, I'll bite. This is such a victimhood mentality and a ridiculous statement. I wasn't wealthy when I started investing. Hell, the first dollar I put into my long term portfolio was when I was living in my car! I started with ~$200 that I made from doing a collection of odd jobs (mowing lawns, computer repair, moving dirt, etc.). Every extra penny I made went into investing into a moderate portfolio focusing on…

Calling someone being poor a "victimhood mentality" is possibly one of the most privileged, out of touch things I've seen on HN. Why don't you go tell all those families on welfare to just go make more money and change their mindset.

It's bad, but please don't respond to a bad comment by breaking the site guidelines yourself.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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