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Hm, perhaps my ADHD is behind this as it ensures my interest generally fades. There's a few things that have stuck, but I think my mind is always prioritising n

Hm, perhaps my ADHD is behind this as it ensures my interest generally fades. There's a few things that have stuck, but I think my mind is always prioritising novelty. There's been a few hobbies I'd really like to have kept on, but just can't. It can be a damn annoying condition! I'll rarely go to the same place for a holiday. Music and food changes too, but not as much. Staying in tech has been easier as so much within it is changing.

soylentcola 10y ago
I'm in a similar spot. On one hand, it can be annoying to have a relatively higher threshold for novelty, interest, and engagement. On the other hand, even while these tendencies have made me a bit of a dilettante or a dabbler, I also find that fiddling around on a lot of semi-related (or even unrelated) things can bring a different sort of experience and perspective compared to that which comes from deeper exploration of fewer fields/topics/skills/etc. I'm not saying there aren't definite drawbacks but when considered like "it just is what it is" I can at least see some of the benefits. There's something to be said for in-depth knowledge and exploration on a specific field or topic but there's also something to be said for having a breadth of experiences and skills. In many ways it can make you more adaptable and when you find yourself needing to draw on skills and experiences, it's a lot easier when you're at least familiar with them even if you're not an expert. Like I'm not a skilled electrical engineer but I've wired up a house and tied in a breaker panel as part of a job I held for a short time years ago. So when I need to replace a fixture or a garbage disposal, where friends might hire someone and pay several hundred dollars to have it done, I can do some quick research and leverage my limited experience to do it myself. For bigger jobs I still hire someone but that's just how it goes. Or the fact that I'm not a software developer or network engineer but when I need to set something up on my home network or troubleshoot something at work, I at least understand basic concepts just from screwing with computers for so long and I can usually sort things out with some research or assistance. Most other friends and acquaintances outside the field would just look at something like setting up a home subnetwork and file server for IP cam surveillance as beyond their abilities. My general familiarity means I can sort it out with a bit of trial and effort. Same goes for just about anything. If I've tinkered with something related as part of my neverending quest for novelty, I don't need to start from scratch every time I need to do something similar. And when a task or endeavor is outside of my abilities, those people who have dedicated themselves to a deeper exploration of a skill or field can come in and make use of their way of doing things. Can't run the economy on just tinkerers, obviously.

soylentcola 10y ago

I'm in a similar spot. On one hand, it can be annoying to have a relatively higher threshold for novelty, interest, and engagement. On the other hand, even while these tendencies have made me a bit of a dilettante or a dabbler, I also find that fiddling around on a lot of semi-related (or even unrelated) things can bring a different sort of experience and perspective compared to that which comes from deeper exploration of fewer fields/topics/skills/etc. I'm not saying there aren't definite drawbacks but when considered like "it just is what it is" I can at least see some of the benefits. There's something to be said for in-depth knowledge and exploration on a specific field or topic but there's also something to be said for having a breadth of experiences and skills. In many ways it can make you more adaptable and when you find yourself needing to draw on skills and experiences, it's a lot easier when you're at least familiar with them even if you're not an expert. Like I'm not a skilled electrical engineer but I've wired up a house and tied in a breaker panel as part of a job I held for a short time years ago. So when I need to replace a fixture or a garbage disposal, where friends might hire someone and pay several hundred dollars to have it done, I can do some quick research and leverage my limited experience to do it myself. For bigger jobs I still hire someone but that's just how it goes. Or the fact that I'm not a software developer or network engineer but when I need to set something up on my home network or troubleshoot something at work, I at least understand basic concepts just from screwing with computers for so long and I can usually sort things out with some research or assistance. Most other friends and acquaintances outside the field would just look at something like setting up a home subnetwork and file server for IP cam surveillance as beyond their abilities. My general familiarity means I can sort it out with a bit of trial and effort. Same goes for just about anything. If I've tinkered with something related as part of my neverending quest for novelty, I don't need to start from scratch every time I need to do something similar. And when a task or endeavor is outside of my abilities, those people who have dedicated themselves to a deeper exploration of a skill or field can come in and make use of their way of doing things. Can't run the economy on just tinkerers, obviously.