List of past and future studies

published 2023-03-07
last updated 2023-03-07

I've been doing some reflecting since I finished my degree last year. I've compiled some lists.

What I've studied:
(These were all university classes I took.)

• computing science
• calculus (derivative, integral)
• linear algebra (foundational)
• statistics (foundational)
• propositional logic, proofs, discrete math
• algorithms (search algorithms, graph algorithms, pathfinding algorithms, decision algorithms), proofing, complexity, and analysis
• C, C++, pointers & addresses, memory allocation
• version control
• software engineering, software processes and product management
• software testing techniques and software quality metrics
• file & database management
• web applications & web architecture
• computer network security
• human-computer interaction (UI/UX)
• computer architecture (withdrew)
• machine learning basics (withdrew)
• computational cryptography
• game theory
• game development
• game design principles
• artificial intelligence in games
• game studies
• games across cultures worldwide
• comic studies, comics theory, science comics, nonfiction comics
• introduction to educational theory
• educational technology
• basic psychology processes and concepts
• ancient Roman, Greek, and Norse myth and legends
• ancient Roman literature and culture
• stoic philosophy
• norse/"viking" history and culture
• ancient magic, witchcraft, and supernatural phenomena
• ancient science, technology, and medicine
• historiography and its relation to historical games
• indigenous digital property/identity/sovereignty

"Start with the things that you know and the things that are unknown will be revealed to you." Rembrandt

Skills I've acquired:

• computer programming (web, games, systems)
• "software engineering" (ie. how to architect systems in the simplest way possible... or the most complex way possible, depending on your perspective)
• how to research
• how to write
• how to take notes
• how to learn a new concept or skill
• how to work in a group with diverse skills, backgrounds, and personalities
• how to resolve interpersonal conflicts
• lots of soft skills, life lessons, self discovery, and growth
• (I don't even know relatively much about any of these; I've merely crested the iceberg.)

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another." John Dewey

Subjects I want to learn more about:

• 3D games, shaders, engine architecture, tools programming?
• multithreading, parallel processing, operating systems
  • I didn't learn enough about comp architecture, computer engineering, computer networks
• functional programming, and whatever is going on in LISP
• advanced algorithms knowledge
• more comic studies? (maybe not)
  • visual communication (games, comics, etc, have similarities in psychology?)
• technical writing?
• information science / library science (how information can be organized and presented; related to visual communication above?)
• animation
• arts & design
• art history
• storytelling. Comparative mythology. Epics, epic poetry, skaldic poetry. Comparative epic. How to write epics? How to write myths? How to write stories?
• Arthurian Legends, "Fae", fairy tales, folklore
• Shamanism, animism
• music theory
• permaculture, horticulture, hydroponics

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Cicero

Knowledge isn't just for knowledge's sake--
Skills I want to acquire:

• 3D gameplay programming
• multithreading, parallel processing, async JS
• more low level C/C++ type programming, perhaps systems
• more driving
• more cooking, meal planning
• lifting
• cartooning
• animation
• storytelling, poetry
• more singing
• gardening

"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him." Viktor Frankl

Experiences I should acquire:
(Green eggs and ham.)

• travelling
• long-term relationships
• mastering living alone
• becoming more in tune with my body

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." Aristotle

Every pie-in-the-sky ambition...
(Wouldn't it be cool if I did even a couple of these though?)

• release a commercial game
• work at a AAA game studio
• found a company/studio
• travel to multiple international places
• write a book
• run a webcomic
• do a lifting competition
• start a family
• sing an opera
• drive a miata
• be an underwear model

"Not to assume it's impossible because you find it hard. But to recognise that if it's humanly possible, you can do it too." Meditations book 6

Plans are fun, but words are wind. The end list of more realistic goals may look like this:

• keep doing and making things that satisfy my curiosity
• do good work
• see new places, do new things
• nurture fulfilling relationships
• be healthy
• be an underwear model

"Songs, like trees, only bear fruit in their own time and their own way." Treebeard