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Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

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Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#61

Post by rramadass »

p0d wrote: post #9

You don't know what other people are thinking, and they don't know what you are thinking. If you make yourself fat and then lose weight you will have excess skin. Walking 3 miles a day is life changing. Paying your mortgage off can leave a sense of emptiness, like what next? If you have 3 people in your life actively looking out for your interests you are very fortunate It rains more in the afternoon When you ask peo…

>You don't know what other people are thinking, and they don't know what you are thinking.

This is not absolute and you have to be careful with the interpretation.

"Intuition/Gut Feeling" (which is a successful evolutionary trait and part of our "Animal Brains") comes into play here and should never be disregarded, particularly when it comes to a sense of uneasiness/danger with other people/environment.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#62

Post by blackboxlogic »

Ekaros wrote: post #14

From other side in language where there is no bell pepper. That paprika or bell pepper is well a pepper. Like a chili pepper. That then are technically paprikas at some level. To continue the weird world of peppers or peppercorns. Sichuan peppercorn is different thing. But that the black, white, green and red are from same fruit(also fact that peppercorn is a fruit) differently prepared and not different cultivars fo…

That fruit salad is called salsa.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#63

Post by edmundo »

I grew up around peanuts. My grandparents had a big peanut plantation at their country house, so they always had tons of peanuts at home.

The first time I took my wife (then girlfriend) to visit them, they were having peanuts in the shell — by cracking the shell open and eating them.

My wife, looking very puzzled and intrigued, asked my grandfather. “What is that?”, to which he replied “Uh… peanuts?”. Oh how we laughed.

She was 20 years old at the time and didn’t know peanuts came from the shell, she’d have only seen them without it.

I still remember my grandfathers smile, he had never met anyone that didn’t “know peanuts”. He found it so funny. I miss him.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#64

Post by Jcowell »

SillyUsername wrote: post #15

Average intelligence is actually low intelligence - if it wasn't, we wouldn't have idiots needlessly starting wars, soldiers would recognise vanity or pride orders in the guise of nationalism instead of real threat and not risk their health (CF Russia, or passing out at Queen's funeral) advertising and the herd effect would be less effective, as would politicians' lies. Politicians seem to be generally worse for this…

I think my issue with this is that the main idea is that intelligence is the determiner on where or not any of these those can happen when it’s far from the truth. Intelligent people (whatever that means) can also fall victim to any of these. Having a PhD in Quantum Physics doesn’t mean you’re immune to radicalization.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#66

Post by trogdor »

comprev wrote: post #37

Only after breaking my right arm (for the second time) - the humerus bone - did I connect the dots as to why it's called "the funny bone". I was in my mid-20s :-)

The funny bone is the actually the ulnar nerve. I think it’s more-likely called the “funny bone” because when you hit your elbow just right (/just wrong), the ulnar nerve is directly stimulated, resulting in a weird tingling / burning / electricity sensation across the entire forearm. Which feels funny.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#67

Post by ulizzle »

ggm wrote: post #3

It's surprisingly hard to change other people's minds, and probably easier to have your own certainties confronted and rebutted. Basically, belief in a given world view, religion, or even something apparently (mis)fact based like a belief against AGW is not grounded in facts but is something else: you venture into rocky waters thinking logic and proof will change that belief. People hang onto their beliefs remarkably…

People change their minds when they are alone. That's why it's better to be calm than to be aggro when arguing.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#69

Post by comprev »

trogdor wrote: post #66
comprev wrote: post #37

Only after breaking my right arm (for the second time) - the humerus bone - did I connect the dots as to why it's called "the funny bone". I was in my mid-20s :-)

The funny bone is the actually the ulnar nerve. I think it’s more-likely called the “funny bone” because when you hit your elbow just right (/just wrong), the ulnar nerve is directly stimulated, resulting in a weird tingling / burning / electricity sensation across the entire forearm. Which feels funny.

Yes, that is the alternative theory behind the name too. Both are equally valid.

Re: Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

#70

Post by tbrock »

account-5 wrote: post #26
p0d wrote: post #9

You don't know what other people are thinking, and they don't know what you are thinking. If you make yourself fat and then lose weight you will have excess skin. Walking 3 miles a day is life changing. Paying your mortgage off can leave a sense of emptiness, like what next? If you have 3 people in your life actively looking out for your interests you are very fortunate It rains more in the afternoon When you ask peo…

> Paying your mortgage off can leave a sense of emptiness, like what next? Months away from this. Obviously each to their own, but I think I'll have a sense of achievement, security, and relief once it's gone. Due to sacrifices I've made we've managed to pay off a 25y mortgage in a little under 12y. I can't wait to be debt free and not at the mercy of bank interest rates and economic disasters. I can then start putti…

Why though? It would make more sense to keep lending at 2-ish% and making 8 in the market just throwing it in the S&P. The spread is 6 pts or more on average.
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