Ask HN: How do you choose what's worth learning?

It will depend on your goals, background knowledge and interests. It's very easy to fall off track if you are going it alone and there is no balance of these elements and how much personal time you have to dedicate to your learning.

boils down to some risk theory under uncertainty + how to know your own desires:

- uncertainties have uncertainties, recursively

- now, if something has a chance p(success) = 0.99 and p(ruin) = 0.01, and reward(success) is on the order of, say, five or even ten years's worth of happiness, whereas reward(ruin) = -inf.. avoid avoid avoid!!!

- 90% boring in-demand skills + 10% god-tier hobbying is a good mix for both stamina and creativity (aka anti-burnout)

Einstein never had to use much of his brain while he was at work so he could devote all his creativity when off work. Can you even imagine how differently our whole of science might have turned out had he become something more intellectually demanding than a patent clerk? :P

Maybe instead you should invert the question: how can you make that which is worth learning from, choose you? :P Because, listen, you don't need a syllabus. A syllabus ends up tossed in a trashcan.

You need to find someone who is so gifted it makes you leap to your feet and dash to your IDE after they casually drop a brilliant one-liner. Now I'm not talking about those bullshit rockstars developers who are in it for the vanity.. I'm talking about someone whose presence makes you re-estimate your former 100% effort could have been a mere 40%, with the right nudge.

And if it's a school thing? Take a few practice tests per test. Each makes the next easier, that's the nudge in the helpful direction.

I have a list of things. On that list, I weight all those things to learn with 3 categories. Relevancy, practicality, and excitement. If something hits all 3 categories, I learn it now. 2 categories, it's up next. 1, I may never learn it. None, absolutely never.

First it has to be interesting to me, Second is it going to bring me money (job, side project) or just joy (hobbies): Few examples:

1) my job systems/security and my side project: stock trading robots

2) fishing, sailing, Cuban cigars, old scotch, wine, reading, sports, etc...

And one in between: Art collecting....

You are living only one life and not very long at that (so far), so don't spend it on boring stuff...

i follow my gut. If i see something and it really tickles my brain, I am right on it

If it will help me automate more, give me access to a new domain or framework for thinking to help me solve problems faster and more efficiently- I'd go for it.