Post-college philosophy-paper substitute
July 7, 2012 8:37 AM Subscribe
My current occupation, although very interesting and satisfying in some ways, doesn't fulfill a craving I seem to have to apply my brain to challenging analytical tasks. I need something to do in my spare time that does.
In college, it was philosophy papers and intense bullshit sessions with too-serious friends. Reading and writing on my own doesn't seem to fully scratch the itch; I think whatever I do has to involve some sort of exchange with others.
I have about three hours a day max that I can spend on this. I'm willing to devote up to two months (three hours a day) to working to develop a skill or body of knowledge before the payoff of applying it doing the "real thing."
My image of this is that (like with philosophy papers) I would be researching something, discussing it with people, and writing argumentatively about it -- but it could have some other form entirely.
I would love this to make a contribution of some kind in some domain if possible, but I am OK with it not making any contribution at all anywhere. Some things I care about (although in a passive sense) are prisoners' rights, freedom of expression, and access to education. I am open to trying to start caring about something totally new.
In case it's relevant, I am an American but am currently living in a foreign country.
In college, it was philosophy papers and intense bullshit sessions with too-serious friends. Reading and writing on my own doesn't seem to fully scratch the itch; I think whatever I do has to involve some sort of exchange with others.
I have about three hours a day max that I can spend on this. I'm willing to devote up to two months (three hours a day) to working to develop a skill or body of knowledge before the payoff of applying it doing the "real thing."
My image of this is that (like with philosophy papers) I would be researching something, discussing it with people, and writing argumentatively about it -- but it could have some other form entirely.
I would love this to make a contribution of some kind in some domain if possible, but I am OK with it not making any contribution at all anywhere. Some things I care about (although in a passive sense) are prisoners' rights, freedom of expression, and access to education. I am open to trying to start caring about something totally new.
In case it's relevant, I am an American but am currently living in a foreign country.
This might at first seem very different.
What about chess? Like, playing seriously. Studying theory, joining a club, playing online and in tournaments. I did phil undergrad and am starting grad in the fall and find that chess gives me a very similar itch-satisfying payoff.
posted by pdq at 10:10 AM on July 7, 2012
What about chess? Like, playing seriously. Studying theory, joining a club, playing online and in tournaments. I did phil undergrad and am starting grad in the fall and find that chess gives me a very similar itch-satisfying payoff.
posted by pdq at 10:10 AM on July 7, 2012
pdq, I came in to likewise suggest that board/card games might be a good outlet. If you aren't familiar already check out boardgamegeek.com. Or, niche games like Magic, and traditional games like Chess or Bridge may all give you plenty to sink your teeth into and have online communities for discussion, debate, etc.
posted by meinvt at 10:40 AM on July 7, 2012
posted by meinvt at 10:40 AM on July 7, 2012
Puzzles. I'm specifically thinking of game puzzles and puzzle hunts. Start by solving, then you can try your hand at creating. Take a look at these examples:
posted by expialidocious at 11:20 AM on July 7, 2012
- Shinteki puzzle of the month
- the Berkeley Mystery Hunt's introductory guide and archives of last year's hunt
- DASH (different area, same hunt)
- BANG (bay area night game)
posted by expialidocious at 11:20 AM on July 7, 2012
Free online classes like the Stanford Machine Learning class that was offered a short while back.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 12:09 PM on July 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 12:09 PM on July 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
I second puzzles. It would be good to find someone (preferably offline, but online would work too) to solve with at first - some of the basic solving techniques take a little getting used to, I feel (but I'm average at best at them). I'd be happy to email you a couple PDFs of puzzles I've found especially fun to start - memail for my email address.
posted by maryr at 12:21 PM on July 7, 2012
posted by maryr at 12:21 PM on July 7, 2012
Sounds like a good basis for a blog to me.
posted by Perodicticus potto at 5:26 PM on July 7, 2012
posted by Perodicticus potto at 5:26 PM on July 7, 2012
A group blog, at that. It sounds like OP wants to "make a contribution". Games and puzzles don't do that.
posted by yclipse at 5:34 PM on July 7, 2012
posted by yclipse at 5:34 PM on July 7, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Maybe if you don't have teh resources for your own research you could try to mine and extrapolate from others?
posted by krisak at 8:57 AM on July 7, 2012