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Most anything mathematical. Monads, kalman filters, algebra, calculus. Also, how people are able to practice and improve at something, like practicing guitar a
by eternityforest 5y ago
Most anything mathematical. Monads, kalman filters, algebra, calculus.
Also, how people are able to practice and improve at something, like practicing guitar and eventually being able to hit every note, or being able to never leave their wallet behind, or stopping at every stop sign and never forgetting which pedal is the gas.
The fact that people are capable of developing true "skills", where they can do every detail of something, every time, rather than just the vague familiarity a modern programmer needs to get by, just amazes me.
I don't think I've ever truly acquired a new skill in the sense people usually talk about. I can't draw, paint, carve, drive, juggle, dance, etc. I can't cook without a timer, unless I stay in the room and don't do anything else.
If something has a way to fake it with more tech, I'm pretty good at that. As long as I can hide behind the screen with my undo button, where my ability with my own hands is irrelevant, I'm fine.
But there's nothing I can just do without thinking.
I never know where I am. I run into tables all the time. It must be super cool to be able to just do stuff without planning every moment, and still succeed most of the time.
Practicing and actually getting better just by doing something, rather than through research and accumulating a library of patterns, is a totally foreign idea.
- Zababa 5y ago> Also, how people are able to practice and improve at something, like practicing guitar and eventually being able to hit every note, or being able to never leave their wallet behind, or stopping at every stop sign and never forgetting which pedal is the gas. That is something I can relate to. I do most things without really thinking and usually do pretty well, but this makes building skills in the long run very hard since I don't really think much. I don't really know why but I feel like thinking while doing things in the moment is hard for me.
- Wiseacre 5y agoAre you able to tell right from left without thinking?
- eternityforest 5y agoNope, I have essentially zero spatial abilities. I get left and right confused constantly, and frequently write letters backwards(In addition to writing totally unrelated letters if I don't stop and think about each one) I also can't really rotate something. When I spent a few hours with a driving simulator game to see if it was at all possible one big issue I had was not being able to figure out which side was the right side of the road, relative to the new perspective after a turn. So I turned straight into traffic more than once.
- Wiseacre 5y agoThat is rather fascinating. I wonder if there is some sort of treatment or inner ear procedure you could take to ground your spatial awareness.
- eternityforest 5y agoPretty sure I just have dyspraxia, which is one of those dyslexia/add/etc type conditions that doesn't have any drug or surgical treatment aside from occupational therapy and always having 100 different backup plans. But there's GPS apps now so aside from driving and math it's not that limiting. If they ever fix the public transit here I'd probably be fine...