Ask HN: Options for critical thinking and learning outside work?

Math, independent sw projects etc. I have done and still do to some extent as another type of excercise. But for me, the paid sw work - even if unfulfilling, or maybe because it was somehow unfulfilling, left me with little energy for added activity in areas too close in some essential way. If math is a passion, do it, but think if it's a passion, escape, or a release for you.

On the other hand, taking a walk, meditation, travel - a range of options for movement based decoupling has been helpful to me.

Woodworking, car repair, home projects, knitting, arts and crafts - physical hobbies that require planning & thinking in a different domain that forces different time spacing is also helpful for me.

What I like to do, but it sometime requires a lot of effort and/or time:

- I like to dig deeper into some controversial problem and try to build my own understanding and picture of the world. For example trying to understand why people hate new data centers which pops up in US like a flowers. What can be dome to sutisfy both sides. Same with some other hot topics.

- Try to build something without using AI to write a code. Still you can use AI but no more as a consultant or powerful search engine. Try to build something stupid and fun or maybe technical challenging. For example I always want to understand how Uber and delivery apps work with real-time GPS data and how to show and find nearest driver so I build my own thing, locally

- Try to find something what interesting to you outside your typical envrionment - try woodworking, understand how to stain and finish the wood. Try backpacking using only compass and physical map (definitely bring your phone with GPS just in case).

Here are the things I have done to enhance my own critical thinking:

1. I joined the military and became an officer. You are given business problems to solve in short time with many limitations and adverse conditions. Have fun with that.

2. I write my own software as low as the given language allows. Yes, this is reinventing a wheel, but I tend to get a much more portable solution that typically executes faster with low overhead for maintenance.

3. Become self-sufficient and then invention automation to make that self-sufficiency more automated. The way I think about this is that its not about making money, but instead reducing your expenses to almost 0 and simultaneously taking your time back.