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Aella
@Aella_Girl
one concept i use a lot for myself is what i call the "Kvothe Effect", because based on my very faint recollection of NotW the character goes through a lot of time learning skills that seem kinda incomplete and meaningless until later on when they all become important 1/
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
i *really* feel like this about my own life, like so many random skills and half-skills I picked up along the way that seemed to have no greater purpose until suddenly aha i have been called on stage and my half-skill is invaluable because of the context
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Like, I'm not really top-tier at anything, but I have a bizarre collection of unusual, mediocre skills that, when combined in my context, become powerful in a way I could never have predicted. Hence, I have a bunch of the Kvothe Effect!
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I'm sure this is smwht of an illusion - I'm not seein all the ways I could have a cooler life if I'd had a diff set of skills, and opportunities sometimes arise for me *in response* to skills, not my skills coincidentally fitting, but still, the illusion kinda *is* the point
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I think this privately whenever I see a friend of mine pursuing a random skill down an obscure path, or finding themselves in a situation where a past skill seems to suspiciously fit perfectly. They're setting themselves up for, or experiencing, the Kvothe Effect
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Emmett Shear
@eshear
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
My version of the Kvothe Effect is usually more like Chekhov's Fact: the seemingly useless bit of information I learned in Act 1 that has been sitting, waiting to be suddenly part of a crucial insight.
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Brandon Milam
@milambrandon
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
I often get asked how or why I have knowledge or skills that seem random. The main reason is my dad. He’d do things instead of hiring someone to save money. So as a result I have a weird skill set. I do the same thing. I learn as much as I can all the time.
Ryan Anderson
@pugmajere
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Some of it is that as you pick up skills, you suddenly have more ways to solve problems, and you start seeing these new solutions. They were there all along, you've just got more options now.
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zayenz 🐀
@zayenz
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
A reasonably similar concept is the idea of a “comb shaped developer” (killalldefects.com/2020/02/22/spe). T-shaped means a wide base and a deep specialization. Comb shaped is a wide base but several (smaller) specializations. Cross-disciplinary research requires something like this.
killalldefects.com
The Myth of the T-Shaped Developer - Kill All Defects
In this article I'll explore the pros of cons of generalizing, specializing, and being a T-shaped developer and introduce the term "Comb-shaped" developer.
onerá:ko
@ohnerako
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Vashet: “I will admit, I’ve never had a studen offer himself up for a vicious beating in order to prove he’s worth my time.” Kvothe: “That was nothing. Once I jumped off a roof.” from this book? i dont know this book / author
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Arthur Etchells
@asketch
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Agree. Always a pretty easy decision... There is no skill that I regret learning. Not woodworking, not beer brewing, not welding, not mountaineering, not bread baking, etc. When I ask myself if I should learn the thing, the answer is always: Yes, a million times over!