What subjects do you know a lot about, but don't help you earn a living, at all?

In My Humble Opinion
1

As I write this, I am at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with my wife who’s just had surgery. As I walk through the part of the hospital where we are, I notice the art on the walls. Walking along, I notice:

That’s an Ellsworth Kelly.

That’s a Ron Davis.

Another Ron Davis.

(Understand, I’m recognizing this from my knowledge of 1960s era abstract painting. I’m not looking at the labels.)

There’s a Diebenkorn.
There’s a Frieda Kahlo. No wait, it’s not by Kahlo, it’s a portrait of her by someone else.

Is that a Jaspar Johns over there by the elevators? Yes, it turns out to be just that.

By profession I’m in software, currently out of work but spending a lot of time upgrading my skills. But sometimes I feel that I know art better than I know my profession.

What’s your non-financially-rewarding avocation that you know more about than your profession?

2

Herpetology. I can identify and work with most species of reptiles better than most people actually IN the field. Without a degree in it, or zoology though, it’s pretty much useless.

3

Make-up.

4

Land mines, their use, design and removal. Hand grenades too. Not much call for that.

5

Yes, but weren’t you in the military at some point? At least it was your profession then.

6

Tudor England and knitting, and I know more about knitting than how to knit. I don’t expect to ever earn a dime over my knowledge of Tudor England, but I may be buying a yarn store.

7

BTW Dutch history is another one of mine. My surname is Dutch, and we’ve traced it back to about 1610 in the Utrecht area, and tentatively back to 1330.

8

Magic the Gathering artwork. Show me the picture from a card and I probably have something like a 75% chance of identifying the card by name. Sometimes I wonder what normal people keep in the brainpart that I tie up with stuff like that.

9

Back when I was playing M:tG regularly, I could do that, too. :slight_smile:

These days:
Meteorology (wanted to be a meteorologist as a kid, I wound up in market research)
Dungeons and Dragons rules
Star Wars trivia

10

I’m good at walking, but I earn a living by sitting.

[sub](sitting in a chair. Not sitting for babies)[/sub]

11

History and computer games - if I applied myself I could probably get the relevant qualifications and/or experience to teach history or be a games journalist but so far it has yet to happen.

12

Martial arts.

13

Didn’t see this part. I wouldn’t say I know more about the martial arts than I do the law, but I know a good bit.

14

Sewing/fabric stuff. It’s more a money sink than a money generator.

15

Guns.

16

Quilting. I do it all by hand so I could never earn enough to make a living at it.

17

Knitting and pregnancy/childbirth. Neither one comes in handy in chemical research.
The knitting because it’s my hobby of choice.
The pregnancy/childbirth, well, I became quite the birth junkie when pregnant with my two kids and read up on it so much that I find I can spout off all sorts of information that is only of use/interest to pregnant women and makes most other people uncomfortable. So I try not to.

18

Beer.

19

If anybody ever needs to hire a trivia expert you know where to find me.

20

Kitty scritchin…