Viewing profile — courtf

Great comment. As you say, denying the research outright is playing a similar tune to those who would abuse the research to support pre-existing notions about everyone's rightful p…

> The real moral issue is popularizing the idea that it is unfair or the gains ill-gotten if people are successful, that their earnings are like loot that should have been "divvied…

It only becomes a moral issue if someone who does not happen to stand out along one if the axes that is currently rewarded by society ends up suffering significantly as a result an…

Comparing Bezos to Galileo, what a joke. Back then an equivalent article would have targeted the church, and its author probably would have suffered greatly for doing so, sort of l…

It reads like a religious sermon intended to ease the fragile consciences of a rapidly dwindling elite, jumping at shadows while they barricade themselves ever further into self-re…

I like the take home tests myself. Whiteboarding and brain teasers are not outside my experience (I did mathletics stuff as a child) but doing them out loud in front of a hostile a…

It would be easier to listen to concerns about creeping wokeness if the alleged dangers were actually different and worse than the problems that already exist. In many states peopl…

It is tragic how we seem to be unable to enjoy peace and prosperity. Blame it on politics, or the media, or perhaps just the national character, but Americans are a restless bunch.…

Thanks for these names! I will have to look into them. Rebirth is a tricky one for me because it just seems too fantastical, but then many things about our world and our selves rem…

That seems reasonable to me, emphasis on "potential." Whether that potentiality can be realized here on earth, in this life, is where I would start to quibble.

It's always a bit fraught to bring up the upsides of irrationality and potentially dangerous/destructive emotions and impulses. Bukowski didn't win a lot of popularity contests. I …

> It's important not to judge the world by its effect on your internal state. The world isn't party to your internal state, although you walk around with an illusion of transparenc…

Counterpoint: enlightenment is overrated and life is meant to be taken personally. In some senses, it is a bit cowardly to run away from the current moment we live in by stepping b…

What is the most impressive programming feat PG ever accomplished? A Lisp dialect maybe? I sort of get the sense that he doesn't realize how many crazy talented (but not famous) pr…

I don't really think you or Terry knows what hard work even looks like. We hold this conversation about personal advancement from positions of extreme privilege while billions live…

Is this supposed to be a tale of overcoming adversity, almost failing some exam? The stakes are so low I can barely identify the conflict in the story. Actually failing something o…

I hear slavery is an even bigger competitive advantage. Moritz should chain himself to his desk if he really wants to succeed.

It's also a lot easier to work hard when you are handed access to every academic resource on the planet before you hit puberty. His life story is the most blatant counterexample to…

This is how I feel as well. I am a pessimist in the sense that without more progress on certain issues, I think life will get worse for future generations. This isn't ignoring the …

Appreciate this comment, thank you. For many years I had a sort of ruthless determination to get ahead and work hard. It mostly helped me back then, as many obstacles then were the…

Surprised this didn't get more notice on HN. I thought this could be a really huge advancement.

Appreciate this follow-up response, and I apologize for running with what I perceived as a hostility in your earlier response, it's a struggle for sure. 1) Completely agree, the hi…

Yes this sort of ironic seesaw across times and places is interesting to behold. Sort of reap what you sow kind of thing where old traumas replay themselves across boundaries betwe…

I was responding to a comment that implied these laws were an example of self-determination, and removing them would be an effort to control population growth. My comment makes the…