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.