Things I Want to Learn
Some of these items are really general, others more specific. Usually, the more general something is, the less I know about it. Hopefully, as I tackle these various fields, I’ll be able to list more specific subfields that I find most interesting.
This is an open invitation to contact me if you have any advice or resources (e.g. books) you have regarding these subjects.
* = I really want to learn this.
** = I want to know this, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.
*** = If I have a lot of extra time someday, it would be cool to learn this.
Art
- * Visual art: I want a moderate understanding of how to draw or paint at a decent level. Just being able to quickly and accurately sketch people would be a great start.
Computer Science / Programming
- * C++: Seems like a must-know language, at least to a moderate level.
- * Functional programming: I’ve never dealt with a functional language before, and understanding how functional programming works seems like a worthy pursuit.
- * Neural Networks: I studied machine learning at university, but still don’t have much experience actually creating NN’s and using on problems I am personally interested in.
- ** Cryptography: I care less about the most precise mathematical formulations, and more about the practical applications. It’s use with security and now cryptocurrency make it seem like a good field to know something about.
- ** Related: How cryptocurrencies work, at a deeper level.
Games
- ** Chess: Whatever knowledge it takes to get to FIDE Master (I’ve been sitting around 1800-1900 or so for a long time.)
- *** Poker: A very vague goal, but poker is beautiful, and I’d love to get a fundamental understanding of higher-level play: constructing dedicated ranges and how to think deeply about spots, and feel like I generally know what to do at any point.
History
- * U.S. History: A deeper understanding of U.S. history would go a long way towards being able to understand how to navigate our current political and social climate.
- * World War II: Same as with US history.
Languages
- * Japanese (conversational): So I can have conversations with the other half of my family.
- ** Italian (conversational): it’s cool, easy enough for English speakers, and even easier if you know other Romance languages.
- ** Portuguese (conversational): also cool, easy enough for English speakers, and even easier if you know other Romance languages.
Math
- * Statistics: Somehow, even after taking a number of stats courses during university, I somehow still feel like I don’t know anything.
- ** Complex Analysis: I don’t know, complex numbers seem pretty fundamental, and I learned surprisingly little about how they work during university.
Music
- * Piano: For now, I can only poorly imitate my way through a couple moderately difficult pieces through rote memorization. It would be great to actually be able to play music with a solid foundation.
- ** Guitar: I’m slightly better here than piano right now, but again, little foundation besides some basic chords.
Natural Sciences
- *** Special Relativity: I feel like you need this to really understand how stuff works around here.
- *** General Relativity: I feel like you need this to really understand how stuff works around here, but this might be too hard.
Photography
- * Fundamentals of Photography: How to take decent photos in general. How to (somewhat) optimize composition, lighting, and all the 91483 camera settings.
- ** Photo Editing: How to use programs like Photoshop and Lightroom (or equivalent programs) to achieve what I want.
Political Science
- * Political Ideologies: For now, I have only a basic understanding of the most influential political ideologies and the history behind their development and usage.