Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#131

Post by Dumblydorr » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:06 PM UTC

p0d wrote: post #76

Praying to God at a party 30 years ago changed my life. I guess I felt like I was broken on the inside and the idea that some higher power could help led me to pray while sleeping on someone's sofa. I was so into the idea I went on to work for a missionary organisation with no salary at 19. After 25 years in IT I am on an accelerator programme now and feel like I am 19 again... doing something out there with no money…

What about praying to God changed your life? Were you religious before then? What led to the transformational moment?

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#132

Post by jczhang » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:06 PM UTC

mettamage wrote: post #121

The Wim Hof Method. I never had any issue with: - snow - rain (being soaked was in rare cases still an issue) - anything cold really Before that I was unhappy with whatever was cold. Now I'm neutral at worst and super exhilarated and hyped like I'm taking drugs (but legally) at best. The adrenaline rush is very strong and very real, and a lot of fun :) How I would pitch this to my younger 18 year old self: want insta…

I have a headache right now and am wondering if you have seen success with wim hof for that.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#133

Post by ilikepi » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:06 PM UTC

daledavies wrote: post #103

"Starting the work is two thirds of it." I wish I knew the source of this but my parents used to say it was a Welsh proverb.

Often I feel like finishing is the other four thirds.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#134

Post by ilamont » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:07 PM UTC

"No one on his deathbed ever said, I wish I had spent more time at the office." - Paul Tsongas

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#135

Post by DavidPeiffer » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:07 PM UTC

Dumblydorr wrote: post #120

Ctrl + right arrow moves to the end of a word. Game. Changer.

And paired with this:

* Ctrl+backspace/delete to delete an entire word at a time.

* Ctrl+shift+left/right arrow selects entire words at a time.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#136

Post by tvanantwerp » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:08 PM UTC

dorkwood wrote: post #6

Nick Cave, on writer's block: "My advice to you is to change your basic relationship to songwriting. You are not the ‘Great Creator’ of your songs, you are simply their servant, and the songs will come to you when you have adequately prepared yourself to receive them. They are not inside you, unable to get out; rather, they are outside of you, unable to get in." https://www.theredhandfiles.com/do-u-have-any-spare-lyr…

This reminds me of Sam Harris's guided meditation app. One of the common questions raised in the guided meditations is whether or not you can observe the part of your mind that is generating your thoughts. His suggestion is that you can't--the thoughts come into consciousness on their own; you can observe the thoughts as they come and go, but you can't observe where thoughts come from. Like the sensation of breathing, of temperature, or of pressure, thoughts enter consciousness as if they were an external stimulus.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#137

Post by abetusk » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:08 PM UTC

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil"

More and more, I'm realizing this applies more broadly than just for code. Abstraction is a form of optimization and shouldn't be done before the space has been properly explored to know what abstractions should be built. Standardization is a form of optimization and shouldn't be proposed until there's a body of evidence to support what's being standardized.

Failure to validate a product before building it? Premature optimization.

Build infrastructure without understanding the use case? Premature optimization.

Build tools before using them for your end product/project? Premature optimization.

This advice comes in different forms: "Progress over perfection", "Iteration quickly", "Move fast and break things", "Don't let perfection be the enemy of good enough", etc. but I find the umbrella statement of not prematurely optimizing to encompass them all.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#138

Post by Dumblydorr » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:08 PM UTC

fredsir wrote: post #88

saadalem wrote: post #59

“You live in a mechanical universe. It’s time to start understanding that.” I was disillusioned with myself. I was performing badly in highschool(even dropped out) I couldn’t understand why. I wanted so badly to do something epic. I feared being an average guy and living an ordinary life. I didn’t understand this advice at first. However, I decided that I couldn’t take the life I was living, so I decided to change. I…

> Elon Obviously, it's also a good advice to be born with wealth from the blood of an emerald empire. Hyper-rational, being born wealthy. Great advice! Kidding aside. I'm just sick of people putting people like Elon up on a pedestal. Look at all the rich, successful people out there. How many come from wealth, and how many come from dirt poor conditions and just worked themself up? Working hard is good advice, but it…

Would you deny Elon has a knack for finding great opportunities and executing? He's at the head of two of the most innovative companies, you make it seem like hes totally lucky and there's nothing to his approach.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#139

Post by starpilot » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:11 PM UTC

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #129

mettamage wrote: post #121

The Wim Hof Method. I never had any issue with: - snow - rain (being soaked was in rare cases still an issue) - anything cold really Before that I was unhappy with whatever was cold. Now I'm neutral at worst and super exhilarated and hyped like I'm taking drugs (but legally) at best. The adrenaline rush is very strong and very real, and a lot of fun :) How I would pitch this to my younger 18 year old self: want insta…

Can you explain the method simply? I Googled and all the websites seem to be full of marketing BS.

Take cold showers and do the breathing exercise. The first part was easy when I lived in LA, in Seattle it has been a struggle.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#140

Post by Dumblydorr » Wed, May 06, 2020, 9:11 PM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #43

Language is thought. But like the chicken and egg paradox, how can one come before the other? I was incapable (I think) of formulating even the concept of "Gestalt" until I had heard the word for it, had it explained to me. Now I see the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts everywhere.

Thought exists without language, does it not? How can dogs dream of sticks and walks and chasing squirrels? Can't cats see a high place and think about how to reach it, those aren't thoughts?

The word Language comes from the word for tongue, language therefore is grounded in human ability to make complex thoughts borne out in simplistic squishy tongue air sounds.

We could extend language beyond tongues though, if we think of binary or rust or gobbledygook made up languages impossible to speak. Those still Express thoughts, though they be divorced from tongues.

So, IMO, thoughts are broader than language, which can come close to thought but can not adequately encapsulate the color red, a beautiful piece of music, or a cat's devilish designs.