What skill do you accept you don't have but still admire in others?

[FAST6191]

Go hopefully descriptive titles.

Start with a quote, who it might be attributed to is debated ( https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/06/fish-climb/ ) but serves here.
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
Others might ponder the equally debated types of intelligence. https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/9-types-intelligence

Anyway most people find a skill that despite willingness (and preferably some effort) that they are not good at, or despite serious efforts barely rank as mediocre. If you are good you will find workarounds if it is essential or just not let it bother you, others will stew on things for many years or, worse still, allow others to judge them by it (see also the generations of "could have gone pro but for" sports thing).

In my case. Music. The ability to read some sheet music and strum something out on the guitar or piano or whatever I think would be nice to have. Tried for a very long time and it is not something I have any real aptitude for, and my rhythm is even worse/basically nonexistent. Maths, abstraction, my knife skills and find handwork skills are great... music playing ability does not however seem to flow from that, music theory makes more sense but that is theory in the same way you can predict the actions of the stock market (there are rules of thumb but go in too hard with such things and you will lose).

Some people reckon they can't draw. Sometimes I wonder if this is a lack of technique being taught -- all the techniques I learned for engineering drawing helped massively with a lot of others where you might be tempted to let your hand and basic mental heuristics try to guide you (find suitable reference points, set those, fill in the rest doing wonders for most people).

What is your skill you would like to have but biology say no and you still admire?

 

[The Catboy]

I am not an artist and nerve damage has made it a near impossibly for me to become an artist. But I have a deep appreciation for artists because I have a lot of ideas and no means of making them happen myself.

 

[hippy dave]

Pixel art, I wish I could be good at it.

 

[FAST6191]

Pixel art, I wish I could be good at it.

Choice video
https://gdcvault.com/play/1023586/8-Bit-8-Bitish-Graphics


Also the description of/pondering beta lemmings walk cycle vs final did wonders for what I wanted to learn there.

 

[hippy dave]

Choice video
https://gdcvault.com/play/1023586/8-Bit-8-Bitish-Graphics


Also the description of/pondering beta lemmings walk cycle vs final did wonders for what I wanted to learn there.
View attachment 301361

Mark Ferrari is a bit of a leg end. Will watch the video out of interest, but I'm not holding out any hope of it turning me into an artist

 

[DarkCoffe64]

Being able to figure how this effing messed up world works.
So guess you can say, how to be "normal".

 

[FAST6191]

Being able to figure how this effing messed up world works.
So guess you can say, how to be "normal".

Nobody has that ability.

There are however many billion humans now and in the past (many of which did not leave written manifestos and documentation of their efforts, though chaos theory means their effects are still with us), all with different understandings of how the world works (physics on down, and it is not like we have the unified theory of physics), all forming greater organisms/organisations, all with different incentives (some of which may be completely alien to others, and sometimes even irrational even within their own framework), all with different desires (maslow's hierarchy is a reasonable start https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html ), all dancing at some level (though some more than others) to that which biology gives us (not so many tigers behind bushes in the urban jungle, and food is mostly plentiful. See also heuristics but more on that shortly), morphing all the time and having to share limited resources (which simple economics and different desires means you can only figure out a price experimentally really)...
That is an unknowable problem, especially to the human mind, even one augmented by a modern computer.

You can ride the wave, or you can crash through it. The latter takes energy and will hurt, possibly even kill, but can yield some interesting results.
Heuristics are somewhat akin to rules of thumb. Get a few of those. By definition they can not be flawless but help with both wave riding and not being torn up if you go against it. Test them if you can and don't be afraid to disregard that which does not work. Part of this is also learn to estimate probability and play to it, something many people fail horrifically at, rarely then will you lose out or if you do then presumably the cost of playing was not too high for the potential outcome.
People respond to incentives, carrot and the stick if you prefer popular phrases instead. Figure out what they are for given scenarios (Maslow's hierarchy provides a reasonable starting point as it is based on biology). You can get more granular than that -- most would start with male and female psychology and differences thereof (simple start - what does each value in a mate? It is actually very different).
Do also bear in people lie like a timesheet filled in by a politician wearing a cheap watch so you may want to consider what economics calls a revealed preference or more day to day speech "watch what they do, not what they say". That said speech patterns can still tell you many things (someone lying to you is going to be doing a job to convince you where someone that does not care/is not lying tends not to).
Your incentives don't have to match those of others ( http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/john-hodge.html ), though do be aware many will not understand if you are different to them; that is their heuristic and meeting deviants to that is threatening to them (can't teach an old dog new tricks either). Related to that is learn your strengths, learn what you suck at and cover that weakness where you can.
Learn to recognise some dangerous situations and people; desperate people and people with nothing to lose are just as dangerous, if not more, than sociopaths, narcissists and such that you might otherwise be told to watch out for (though be aware of those too -- they often have very different incentives and do a very different cost-benefit analysis on things, some which can be useful to you).

Feelings of alienation are common enough (we are savannah dwelling apes, not evolved for population of billions with phones and skyscrapers) but in this case you may also want to look up microexpressions -- if you can't naturally read emotions, or want a leg up if you can, then make it an active skill instead.

If others look like they know what they are doing then chances are they are either too stupid to realise how much they don't know (see also Dunning-Kruger), are faking it (how many are in debt up to their eyeballs), or are riding that wave/happy with the results of crashing through it.

Anyway bit philosophical for random thread on the forums but I go it anyway.

 

[Flame]

reverse engineer like yifan lu or yellows8 level

 

[FAST6191]

reverse engineer like yifan lu or yellows8 level

Not sure what I can particularly say on this (as best as I can tell the entire male line that makes up me all have/had considerable practical/technical skills, and I was given a full tool kit at 5 years old) but I should say maybe don't pigeonhole yourself into code/electronics.
Plenty of things you can do with more traditional skills and an appreciation for how things work/come together and might be something that clicks more for you

Not a reverse engineering video but if you think that guy did not know why things were done the way they were done you would be wrong.

Or if you have a schooling background in electronics/IT then such things are atrocious if you expect your students to have hacking skills at the end of it.

There are longer and shorter forms of that video/talk/discussion.

if you wanted another such discussion, not my favourite but has some interesting ideas.

 

[subcon959]

Drumming. Something in my physiology is completely wrong for this particular skill. I can mimic it for a short period and then all of a sudden I have what feels like an involuntary compulsion to change tempo.

 

[Veho]

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

The mudskipper says it's absolute bullshit to claim everyone is a genius, and that those other fish are right to feel stupid, ooooooo snap.



Anyway.
Things I harbor no illusion of being good at:
Color theory and coordination. It's just... colors to me.
Minimalist/graphic design that makes sense. I could never design a logotype anyone would seriously consider. My idea of clarification is adding more details.
Music theory. I could play an instrument but understanding some higher meaning of harmonies eludes me.
Composing music, too. I would never be capable of producing anything in that field.
Interior design and decoration.
Decoration in general? Flower arrangement? Stuff like that.
Acrobatics, anything that involves spinning a lot and I get quite literally turned around.
I guess it would be the same for flying? One loop-de-loop and I'm lost.
(Not to mention all the vomit.)
I will never be light on my feet and my balance is less than stellar. Anything that hinges on those things, I will never be good at.

I don't think I'm anti-talented in any other field really, there's nothing inherently preventing me from reaching "enthusiastic amateur" level in other areas, given enough time to practice.

 

[Creamu]

Courage

 

[Chary]

Knowing how to orient yourself, or just directional sense. I'm horrendous when it comes to being able to navigate. If Google Maps can't give me a line to it, I'll never get there. This is exacerbated in games, where I've had people crack jokes at my inability to find my way without a quest marker, making fun, and thinking I was kidding, only to be shocked that I genuinely lack any sense of direction.

 

[bazamuffin]

Any form of soldering. I'm fucking shite at it

 

[Takokeshi]

Knowing how to orient yourself, or just directional sense. I'm horrendous when it comes to being able to navigate. If Google Maps can't give me a line to it, I'll never get there. This is exacerbated in games, where I've had people crack jokes at my inability to find my way without a quest marker, making fun, and thinking I was kidding, only to be shocked that I genuinely lack any sense of direction.

Leon is that you?

 

[solomosh]

I am always surprised by the development of medicine. I am very happy to realize that medicine is developing and more and more people are getting the right to health and life.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Country music singers of the past. Now, modern Country are more like Pop singers so it makes me appreciate them more.

I don't dislike Pop (love it too), but if I want to listen to a specific genre then it matters.

 

[banjojohn]

Give birth

 

[FAST6191]

Country music singers of the past. Now, modern Country are more like Pop singers so it makes me appreciate them more.

I don't dislike Pop (love it too), but if I want to listen to a specific genre then it matters.

I don't know that it is quite the topic at hand.
That said there is still some country that is not pop music with cowboy boots and videos that might as well be rap videos but for the lifted pick up.
Quite like Corb Lund myself



Plus anybody he collaborated with (and there have been a few)

Any form of soldering. I'm fucking shite at it

Have you tried with decent gear? I am good at soldering but once got lumped with a bunch of cheap junk gear and it was like I was trying to use a rusty 10 penny nail and blowtorch. Good stuff does not have to be expensive hakko and whatnot either -- I have used mercury fire starter irons (as in plug in and go, though I see they do soldering stations these days as well) for years and they are cheap and wonderful. Do also get nice leaded solder.

 

[VinsCool]

Graphic art. Toddlers are more talented than I could ever be and I am okay with that.