Arcane skills

I tend to keep a fair number of lists: "Songs to cover"; "places to visit"; "To Do -- When I Finish My Dissertation"; "Tools to buy for my woodshop"; "Movies to see (or rent)"; "Books to get"; "Albums to buy"...

I keep lists because I have a oddly wide range of interests, and I know I'd never remember all of the list items.


Today, I realized that I need to start another list -- one that I've been compiling in my head in a loose manner, but has become large enough that I ought to start writing it down. The list is of arcane skills that I'd like to know, "just in case." I'm not expecting to gain expertise, or even proficiency, in these. But I'd like to at least have a sense of the basics.

My reasoning is that you get your maximum payoff in terms of the amount of time invested in learning a skill, versus the increase in your knowledge and skill, at the beginning stages. When you go from "knowing absolutely nothing" to "knowing the basics", that's your biggest leap: everything else is just polishing and refining and extending -- for which you get diminishing returns on your time investment.


For example, I want to learn how to start a fire with flint and steel. You know, just because -- it may come in handy some day. Once I'm able to start a fire -- inefficiently, and with moderate fumbling -- that's all I need. Proof of concept achieved... and if I ever **do** need the skill (e.g. lost in the wilderness), I'll get better with practice.

Similarly, I'd like to know how to ride a motorcycle. Not well enough to get the "motorcycle" endorsement on my driver's licence -- but enough so that if I'm lost in the desert, and happen across a motorcycle that -- yeah -- actually runs and has fuel -- I'll know how to start it up, shift the gears, use the clutch, and all that. Just in case.


Conceptually, my interest in this list of skills is similar to the "Worst-Case Scenario" series of handbooks.


So, here's my list-in-progress of arcane skills I'd like to acquire. Again, not to the point of expertise, but just so I can perform them with at least low-level competency. Note that some are physical skills, some are cognitive or knowledge-based, and some are a combination. In no particular order.

1. Riding a motorcycle
2. Flying an airplane (esp. how to read the important parts of the instrument panel)
3. Flying a helicopter (esp. the controls, which are totally different from those on an airplane)
4. Rock climbing (just the basic techniques and tricks of the trade)
5. Parachuting (I don't want to actually do it -- but how long do I wait until I pull the cord)
6. Start a fire with flint and steel
7. Start a fire with a bow drill
8. Set a snare for small mammals
9. Catch a fish, starting with just a hook and some fishing line
10. One-armed chin-up
11. Do a backflip (jump up, do the flip in the air)
    
12. Do a back-handspring (arch your back, go backwards, hands touch the ground first)
13. Learn Morse code (sadly, no longer required for a ham radio license)
14. How to load, unload, and disassemble/assemble a gun (I've done this somewhat for a pistol; still need to do this for a rifle and a shotgun)
15. CPR
16. Basic first aid
17. Kick at head height
18. Competent swimming
19. Basic life-saving
20. Rappelling
21. How to get on to a horizontal rope from underneath it (i.e. if hanging by your hands from a horizontal rope, there's a trick to actually getting up on top of it, horizontally, to traverse it)
    
22. More knots (I know more than most people, but would like to know more)
23. Basic DOS commands
24. Basic command-line in Unix/Linux (bash shell)
25. C+ programming
26. Riding a unicycle
27. Juggling
28. Throwing with accuracy and power
29. Welding (gas; arc)
30. Australian sign language
31. Unassisted hand stand
32. Walking on my hands
33. Fighting with a short staff
34. Fighting with batons (e.g. kali/arnis/escrima)
35. Breakdancing (just the basic stuff; I took a five-session course once, but the instructor wasn't very good with "tricks of the trade" -- i.e. explaining the key to getting it right)
36. Rollerskating
37. Rollerblading
38. Tap dancing
    

The above list doesn't include stuff I already know, like

1. Splicing rope
2. American Sign Language (although I've forgotten a lot of it)
3. Soldering (for electrical circuits)
4. Writing scripts in Stata
5. Basic statistical analysis techniques
6. Competency(?) in a few musical instruments
7. Basic music recording techniques
8. Old-school video editing (with the shuttle wheel, defining edit points, etc.)
9. Hanging a spoon from my nose
10. A vague awareness of martial arts (although waaay out of practice)
    

I'm sure there's others... :)


--GG