Here is a smart one : Being wise is better than being smart.
Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
241–250 of 839 posts
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#242The idea that your mind is not you . That "thinking", as a process, is just a tool of your body, just like eyesight, for example. Listening to meditation and mindfulness practitioners like Jon Kobat-Zinn and Eckhart Tolle, I found it absolutely groundbreaking, for myself, to realize that the mind is an instrument that needs training and tuning, and sometimes can lead you astray, and can't be trusted unconditionally.…
The other more Daoist end of this spectrum is that your mind and body are you. Through the power of will you control both of these.
As a long time meditator the "I am not my body, I am not my mind" mantra has always bothered me. I am both of those and will shape both of those in my image. Dissociative practices will not bring me closer to my goals.
The comparison to eyesight is strange too. If your eyesight is poor you can not really train it to be better. Through regular meditation practice, and practice in other areas (self-discipline) you can absolute shape your mind and change your thought patterns.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#243This might be super basic, but... assume positive intent. Your parent is not your enemy. Your teacher is not your enemy. Your boss is not your enemy. The other team at work is not your enemy. The corporation is not your enemy. The other political party is not your enemy. Or, more accurately, YOU are not THEIR enemy. At best, you're an NPC in their game. Many of them probably even want to help you, because you are ano…
> assume positive intent.
I feel like this is somewhat related to Hanlon's Razor:
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
Maybe the guy driving like an asshole and making a sudden lane change is actually unfamiliar with the area and noticed a bit late that their lane ends or is becoming an exit/turn-only lane.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#244Effectuation: https://innovationenglish.sites.ku.dk/model/sarasvathy-effec...
Entrepreneurship is a process. Effectuation helps to explain how opportunities are not just discovered but made.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#245News == entertainment. Originally by Aaron Swartz http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews Although I have slightly different takes from his and the level of avoiding the news might be different too, but the core idea that I follow these days is there. I used to think following the news was a mix of my duty as a citizen and important for my life, personal and professional. Now I believe it's quite the opposite, I be…
Rolf Dobelli [0] wrote a few columns on Avoiding News Consumption and will publish a book later this year with the title Stop Reading the News: How to cope with the information overload and think more clearly.
In 2011 he wrote an essay Quit the News in Dutch NRC Next newspaper[1]. The next day the withdrawals poured in :-)
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Dobelli#Avoid_News_Cons...
[1] https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/09/01/weg-met-het-nieuws-1203...
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#246You don't have to believe your thoughts.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#247Don't sweat the small stuff. And it's almost all small stuff. If you're finding yourself stressed out about something, ask yourself...will it have a significant impact on your life within the next month? Will you even remember it in a year? If you can truly adopt this mentality, it cures road rage. Okay, so some asshole cut you off in traffic. Why lose your mind over it? It won't even have an impact on your day, let…
Life always goes on. Until you're dead. But then you won't care. (Flippant advice given to me a long time ago, but with a lot of truth buried in it)
It's just important to remember that most of us care how life goes on. And so "the small stuff" suddenly spirals into big stuff, because you didn't pay attention. So, be careful to label things "small stuff" unless you can't influence them.
You can't fix idiotic driving, so the idiot driver? Small stuff. The fact that every driver on the road is potentially an idiot, or, worse, actively out to get you? A really important reminder.
Focus on what you can control, dismiss the rest.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#248This might be super basic, but... assume positive intent. Your parent is not your enemy. Your teacher is not your enemy. Your boss is not your enemy. The other team at work is not your enemy. The corporation is not your enemy. The other political party is not your enemy. Or, more accurately, YOU are not THEIR enemy. At best, you're an NPC in their game. Many of them probably even want to help you, because you are ano…
I think that's bad advice. Enemy is too strong of a word, but there are conflicts of interest between you and your teacher, your boss, your team members and even your parents.
What's best for you is not necessarily what is best for them. They may help you to achieve what's best for both of you, but not what's best for you alone. Those are often not the same things. Assume people are acting in their best interest, not yours.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#249The idea that your mind is not you . That "thinking", as a process, is just a tool of your body, just like eyesight, for example. Listening to meditation and mindfulness practitioners like Jon Kobat-Zinn and Eckhart Tolle, I found it absolutely groundbreaking, for myself, to realize that the mind is an instrument that needs training and tuning, and sometimes can lead you astray, and can't be trusted unconditionally.…
This is especially useful for those of us who have grown up thinking of ourselves as smart and becoming very identified with intelligence as personality. It can lead to anxiety disorders because sometimes rumination and thinking harder just can't help explain things. Listening to nature and letting it happen to us is such a sweeter ride than trying to carry around a simulation of everything.
Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have to accept the world doesn't revolve around you. and that's hard for people.
I have a twist on that: "You are the center of the universe, and so is everybody else"
How's the water today, boys?