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Ask HN: Skills that give you the edge?

3 points by NukedOne ↗ HN
Hey HN,

I'm trying to think of some skills that give you the edge over others, either in a professional setting, or everyday life. In my eyes, those would be multilingualism, FACS, and having a thorough understanding of cognitive biases and logical fallacies.

6 comments

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lifeplusplus
Ability to speak in articulate, convincing, friendly manner and with different styles under different situations
sghill
Breaking down work so it can be delivered incrementally is an underrated skill.

Simplifies communication about progress, builds confidence in ability to deliver, and makes it easier to avoid getting lost in rabbit holes. Especially in situations where there are lots of unknowns - unknown programming language, multiple tools to choose from, etc.

mindcrime
FACS? "Fluorescence-activated cell sorting"? "Formal Aspects of Component Software"? "Fast and Accurate Classification of Sequences"? "Facial Action Coding System"?
NukedOne
Facial Action Coding System.
mindcrime
Thanks. Will have to read up more on that.
NukedOne
If you want to go deeper into this, there is the Manual that describes the action units and how to measure them, but you'll also want to read about how specific emotions manifest in humans. For that, some other Ekman's books are useful, in no particular order:

- Unmasking the Social Engineer: The Human Element of Security by Christopher Hadnagy, Paul Kelly F. & Paul Ekman (2014)

- Unmasking the Face: A Guide to Recognizing Emotions From Facial Expressions by Paul Ekman & Wallace V. Friesen (2003)

- Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life by Paul Ekman (2003)

- Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage by Paul Ekman (1992)

- Emotion in the Human Face: Guidelines for Research and an Integration of Findings by Paul Ekman, Wallace V. Friesen, Phoebe Ellsworth, Arnold P. Goldstein & Leonard Krasner (1972)

- What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (2nd Edition) by Paul Ekman, Erika L. Rosenberg (2005)

- Why Kids Lie by Paul Ekman (1989)