# What is the most useful skill you could learn in two hours? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620 "2021-01-15T19:13:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/21 "2021-01-15T23:38:31Z")
You’re just trying to stir up entropy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/22 "2021-01-16T00:04:44Z")
Basic household electrical repair (light switches, lamp fixtures, extension cords, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/23 "2021-01-16T00:50:57Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > How to make bread. How to sew on a sewing machine. How to milk a cow. How to butcher, pluck, and clean a chicken. If you learn any of those things in two hours, you will suck at them. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/24 "2021-01-16T01:44:37Z")
This is an example of something where you need to have some aptitude. These are things I couldn’t learn in two decades, much less two hours. I’d burn the house down if I tried. That’s why the trades, while a great option for many, aren’t for some. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/25 "2021-01-16T04:29:39Z")
Change the oil in your car. [I accidentally typed “cat.” Couldn’t do that in 2 hours.] ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/26 "2021-01-16T04:38:18Z")
It’s tough to spatchcock a chicken, milk a cow, sew and make bread at the same time. But a bread machine helps a lot, and the latest generation are wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/27 "2021-01-16T05:22:19Z")
Riding a bicycle? Can that be taught in two hours or less? ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/28 "2021-01-16T05:27:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [I accidentally typed “cat.” Couldn’t do that in 2 hours.] I have performed all recommended oil changes for all the cats in my life, and the total time required has been well under 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/29 "2021-01-16T05:36:06Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > I have performed all recommended oil changes for all the cats in my life, and the total time required has been well under 2 hours. How long does it take to learn first aid for the person who changed the oil in their cat? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/30 "2021-01-16T05:45:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How long does it take to learn first aid for the person who changed the oil in their cat? Depends on just how bad a shape the cat leaves you in. It might take more than two hours just to _perform_ the first aid. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/31 "2021-01-16T06:01:58Z")
Machigning. And spelling ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/32 "2021-01-16T06:05:46Z")
How to file a simple tax return. If you go to H&R for a 1040ez you are a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/33 "2021-01-16T10:47:11Z")
In reality there are no skills one can learn perfectly in two hours that don’t rely on building on other skills previously mastered. The things I mentioned, for example, one could learn how to do them in that time, from a good teacher, to the point that you could go on with them alone and really master them. I have found that there is an optimal way to do virtually everything, and the only method for getting to that point, at least for me, is to make mistakes and correct them. Do something enough times and you will be able to make almost every possible mistake. That’s the essence of becoming an adept. Much of developing a skill is learning how to solve the problems inherent in it as they arise. Since those arise over repetition, you can’t really put it on a schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/34 "2021-01-16T12:52:39Z")
“Skill learned” is a distant prize on the horizon for most if not all of the two-hour suggestions here. But the parameters are extremely vague. To take an example, I have butchered a large number of game animals, and I’m pretty skilled at it. When I first started, I _could_ gut, skin and dismember game, but was I useful? No - it took me ages to do a crappy job. No-one would’ve paid me to do it. Two hours was spent just in preparation to do that slow and crappy job, and to actually start practicing to acquire a skill. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/35 "2021-01-16T14:23:53Z")
Excellent advice. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/36 "2021-01-16T18:19:13Z")
I have performed all recommended oil changes for all the cats in my life, and the total time required has been well under 2 hours. Better give me the instructions QUICK, as I have neglected to change the oil in my furry tigers. Other fluids, yes, but not oil. Meowtigrade, I assume? (Opps, the pun section is down the corridor.) ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/37 "2021-01-16T18:20:37Z")
Some very basic First Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/38 "2021-01-16T18:21:21Z")
Seems to me both your suggestions could be easily combined. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/39 "2021-01-16T18:24:54Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Some very basic First Aid. Basic First Aid? **A B C**. **A** do they have an airway? **B** are they breathing? **C** is blood circulating? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620/40 "2021-01-16T21:03:55Z")
Barenaked intro to Microsoft Access. I have an advantage in having experience with other Databases. Thing is, I need one-on-one tutoring. I need someone in the room with me, watching me mess up. So far, Access has pretty much kicked my butt… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-useful-skill-you-could-learn-in-two-hours/930620.md?page=3)