“If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick?”

I find this to be a problematic post to work on. I don’t think mastery in just one skill is a very good idea. It’s been my experience that when people elect to become a master of a skill that some other skill has to suffer to admit room for the extra material for the one you’ve selected. I think that in a life there is a kind of zero-sum-game going on with skills. I see this quite often, especially at work. I’ve seen many examples of PhD-level educated people unable to conduct themselves with common sense that other people take for granted. I’ve always used the example from when I was going to SUNY Buffalo. I attended a class where the professor, a doctorate professor, could not operate a basic rubber wedge doorstop. So I don’t think that mastery is something that people should necessarily pursue. I am far more fond of stretching yourself to familiarity with other skills and I’m a huge fan of “fake it until you make it”. As I grow older I discover that the only thing that can really buy you any level of familiarity (or mastery perhaps) is just experience and learning. My aversion to pursuing mastery doesn’t mean I am against learning, just the opposite. I think that when people stop pursuing new things, when they stop learning, that’s when we start to die. The death accumulates around us slowly, we know it will eventually claim us, but in cultures where people are very long lived, like Japan, people live for a very long time because they are important and valued and that helps keep someone fresh and running. When you stop running, you’ll be less apt to run and then you’ll slow down – eventually ripe for death to pluck. So, avoiding mastery for exploration is what I think leads to the happiest and longest life you can lead. Try something new, be something new. There is a great quote from Voltaire which illustrates what I’m saying:

If we do not find anything pleasant, at least we will find something new.