Life Goals
Originally published 2017-07-01 on docs.sweeting.me, updated sporadically.
Learn something about everything and everything about something… or 2 or 3 somethings.
Learn
- learn how to CAD/3d print
- [ <10hr mig, <10hr stick ] learn how to weld
- lathe
- mill
- CNC
- learn how to sew / alter clothes
- learn how to play piano or guitar
- learn more organic chemistry and molecular biology
- [<120hr ] study geology and understand basic rock chemistry, history, and structure
- metals & mining: be able to assess rock contents, pan for minerals, and refine metal
- get better at rigging and knots
- get better at climbing
- learn to lead trad/ice
- get actually good at climbing
- study neuroscience formally: the effects of psychedelic dissosciatives, do an fMRI modelling of a brain affected by methoxetamine + do long term anti-depression study and model supervised pschotherapy use
- study basic organic chemistry
- be able to synthesize aspirin, caffeine, and basic youtube experiments
- attempt n-back training on contact book / facebook friend names
- learn to lip-read
- visit a nuclear reactor and scoop up a bunch of pure neutrons with a spoon!
Personality
- be more disciplined and rigorous, set and stick to my routines more consistently
- listen intently, think slowly, and respond less impulsively
- be more deliberate and less flaky in all matters
- read more books (especially relevant ones, the classics can wait)
- write more journal entries/essays about non-technical things
- give more talks and teach more classes at all levels
- be a better and more patient teacher of things I learned earlier on
- learn how to control my sleep schedule more reliably
- don’t confuse generocity with integrity, in both myself and others
- force myself to work less during binges to avoid burnout
- force myself to work more during lulls to avoid stagnation
- avoiding re-prioritization while working, be able to stick to original plan the whole way through (even if it’s suboptimal) when necessary
- codify more of my moral framework in writing and keep the document updated as it evolves (i.e. relativist/absolutist, utilitarian, etc.)
- be impressively professional as a business person e.g. be more communicative, gracious, and timely in all customer support / networking / management channels
- always always use questions about the problem aiming to be solved when challenging people’s solutions, don’t directly acuse, never appeal to authority
- don’t reflexively offer any advice to someone who just wants to be listened to until at least a day later, only ask questions and listen initially
- always say “I found X worked well for me” instead of “you should do X”
Travel
- live out of a van
- south africa (cape town, jonhannesburg) (mountain bike here)
- finland/greenland
- kjerag: Western Norway
- denmark
- iran (go skiing!)
- italy (alps & coastline)
- germany (berlin, munich)
- morocco
- russia (st petersburg, moscow)
- live in shanghai for a few months again
- visit yangshuo
- switzerland visit nadine
- try mountaineering
- try mountaineering w/ splitboard & skins
- try ice climbing
- go to burning man * 3
- alaska
Programming
- give a technical talk at a conference
- finish implementing generic minimax (it’s an act of defiance)
- finish implementing backpropagation
- write a tensorflow program
- give a talk at bangbangcon
- work at an HTTP or lower level network-tech company
- run a BGP autonomous system with my own IP block
- solve zooko’s triangle + general-purpose mesh network routing protocol
- teach a programming class to middle or high schoolers who don’t like programming and aren’t excited about it (I think I can win them over)
- run a small/medium open source project
- help run a big open source project
- reduce turing completeness in as many projects as possible, spread the gospel of declarative, data-driven + event-sourced design powered by pure-functional transformations from one immutable state to the next
Fly
One of my primary life objectives is to fly, by any means necessary, preferrably using a jet-powered suit of some kind. I am convinced this will be technologically feasible, and hopefully it will even be affordable within my lifetype.
- paraglide
- skydive
- fly drone with VR headset
- hang glide
- kiteboard
- heliski/helisnowboard
- splitboard + skinning
- get paragliding/hang gliding license
- get private pilots license + instrument landing license
- design + make rocket boots (mini jet engines? liquid fueled rockets? anything!)
- wingsuit
- experience zero-G
Ride
I love anything with wheels.
- learn how to motorbike
- learn how to ride dirt / enduro
- bicycle 100 miles in one day
- bicycle 250 km in one day
- ride to casey air strip in Quebec
- ride around Gaspecie in Quebec
- ride to Radisson / the James Bay Project dam in nothern Quebec
- try a carbon-fiber disc road/cyclocross bike (trek domane slr, tcx advanced pro, etc.)
- bicycle (or motorcycle) on every continent (5/7)
- Alaska
- Patagonia
- mount rainier national park, washington, US
- Cabot trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scocia, Canada (Boreal Forest, Cape Clear, near Margaree)
- Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco
- italian dolimites mountains
- italian alps mountains (bolzano ❤️)
- glacier national park, montana, US
- Ocotillo Wells, California
- ride BC rockies
- https://www.narcity.com/ca/bc/vancouver/travel/this-map-will-take-you-on-the-most-epic-road-trip-through-bc-anyones-ever-been-on
- ride china & the himalayas
- ride around south america (1/3)
- all of the USA national parks: https://www.outsideonline.com/2244976/staff-picks-our-favorite-public-lands
- do an engine rebuild by hand
- try a >650cc 3-cylinder
- try an Africa Twin, GS 750, etc.
- try a 2-stroke
- try a 2-wheel drive dirt/enduro bike
- try an H2R / similar superbike
- try an R1
Give
- $1m / $1m / $1m to friends / charity / 529+401
- housing, childcare, and education money for kids + family
- support causes I care about: internet archiving, anti-censorship, information freedom, government accountability, mesh networking, recurse center
- be able to invest in friends’ companies
- build and share land/comunal house with my friends somewhere (maybe in nevada/sierras?)
- donate time / skill / code / money to Archive.org
- donate free time / skill to a school of some kind (maybe teach in high school / middle school / college?)
- donate free time / skill to a government structure of some kind (civil engineering / urban planning / public transit related?)
