Life is Short • Hacker News Board

Re: Life is Short

#241

Post by ionforce » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:48 AM UTC

mildbow wrote: post #11

anunumoose wrote: post #3

Mr Graham, I respect you and you've accomplished more that I will in my life, but I sincerely hope that this essay against "bullshit" and "arguing online" isn't you declaring that you'll be "bubbling" yourself after your last essay was met with wide disagreement. It's possible that sometimes, no matter how smart you are, your experiences have been limited in a way and you're missing a part of something everyone else…

Lots of people will pick fights with people who have an audience (like pg) just so they can borrow that audience for a short while. I'm not convinced that most of the aforementioned responses weren't motivated by that. So, given that almost anything pg will write/has written will get the same treatment, why would he play their game by bothering to defend himself? In fact, there is a pureness to insulating yourself fr…

Bubbling is when you cast a defensive spell on an ally to prevent them from incurring physical or magical damage.

Re: Life is Short

#242

Post by orthoganol » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:48 AM UTC

This could be a strong argument for and against doing a startup: For - act today on your dream, which uses a startup as its vehicle; Against - sacrifice years, maybe a decade+, of your short life, because you thought it would make you rich or is considered prestigious in your circles.

Re: Life is Short

#243

Post by nostrademons » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:49 AM UTC

giantqqq wrote: post #224

His mention of 'arguing on the internet' as one of the few specific examples of time-wasting behavior makes it hard not to read it as a reaction. I absolutely believe he values time. But I also absolutely believe that he is using this as a public excuse as to why he's running away from the criticism of his previous essay; a previous essay which was quite possibly the most flawed piece of writing he's ever let loose o…

Why not accept that reality is different for different people? It's different for all different people, not just rich vs. poor.

It's your call whether someone else's reality is at all relevant to your own experience. But that doesn't stop it from being reality for them. You don't like it when someone invalidates your own lived experience. Why then turn around and invalidate theirs?

Re: Life is Short

#244

Post by wfo » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:51 AM UTC

asuffield wrote: post #236

wfo wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't really about red vs. blue -- the "red" side acknowledges massive wealth inequality as a genuinely bad thing as much as the blue does (recall the president most known for trust busting, and recall the 'R' next to his name -- Republicans like markets, not wealth inequality). The two sides just have different explanations for what causes it and what will resolve it. This is about understanding an issue. The e…

Funny story: not being american, my red and blue are the other way around. I'd recommend not interpreting this in terms of US politics. I'd even more strongly recommend not making claims about the beliefs of the side which you don't support. If you want examples of why this isn't a good idea, just read any politics thread on social media, and look for the point at which they inevitably degenerate into "no, that's not…

If you aren't interpreting this in terms of US politics you are completely missing the context, so it makes sense how you could have misunderstood the essay/issues. PG lives in the US, works in the US, every word of what he says is in that essay is about US economics/culture. His essay is a response to the US movement to recognize and deal with income inequality, one of the primary issues US politicans are handling in preparation for the US presidential election.

And you used two paragraphs to state a rhetoric 101 textbook's definition of "straw man" -- that's not what I'm doing.

Re: Life is Short

#245

Post by nulltype » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:53 AM UTC

sigmaml wrote: post #154

xenadu02 wrote: post #6

I'm a more productive engineer now that I have small kids than I ever was before. I don't have time for bullshit. I don't build my own PCs, I buy Macs. I don't waste time building some over-architected nonsense on a side project, I ship the MVP. When I do take time away from my kids I maximize it by learning three or four new technologies, patterns, or libraries at once. When you realize how short time really is you…

> I don't have time for bullshit. I don't build my own PCs, I buy Macs. It is sad - and disgusting - to see this degree of arrogance in bluntly categorising those who use (or build) PCs (and not Macs) as indulging in bullshit! I am happy that you have found a useful computer in Mac. At the same time, though, please realise that hundreds of millions of computer users choose otherwise too. And, please do not conclude t…

I'm pretty sure bullshit is relative. I think cooking and driving are both bullshit, but there are tons of people who love both of those.

Re: Life is Short

#246

Post by crimsonalucard » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:56 AM UTC

cryoshon wrote: post #214

crimsonalucard wrote: post #184

You as pg's wife have vested interest in pg's reputation as your well-being is intrinsically tied with his reputation and well-being through marriage. Your words are not totally empty though as it is still supporting evidence, it is just not solid evidence and it is not something I will totally accept, unlike the op. The probability for this essay to pop-up right after PG started a fire with his economic essay is jus…

Bruh, his wife probably has a much better idea of his mindset than we do.

Bruh, his wife could be lying. I mean, it's his wife, so it's a valid possibility.

Re: Life is Short

#247

Post by SturgeonsLaw » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:57 AM UTC

dack wrote: post #24

evgg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is your reasoning behind labeling building one's own PCs as bullshit, as opposed to buying Macs?

I just took it to mean he doesn't really value spending his time building a PC when a Mac fulfills his needs. If you truly enjoy building PCs, then it's not bullshit.

I'm surprised I had to scroll so far down to see this response. It's all subjective! Personally, I love the quiet, "zen" feeling of distraction free focus on technical work. For me, that's my anti-bullshit. I wish I could spend more time doing things like building PCs!

Of course, with all of us being different humans with different experiences and different mindsets, YMMV.

Re: Life is Short

#248

Post by giantqqq » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 6:58 AM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #240

giantqqq wrote: post #224

His mention of 'arguing on the internet' as one of the few specific examples of time-wasting behavior makes it hard not to read it as a reaction. I absolutely believe he values time. But I also absolutely believe that he is using this as a public excuse as to why he's running away from the criticism of his previous essay; a previous essay which was quite possibly the most flawed piece of writing he's ever let loose o…

I haven't formed opinion on whether pg is right or not but if I were him, I would do the same. Honestly, what good does defending your opinion serve? except it being a huge time sink and a total "mind fuck". Whenever someone disagrees with me, I politely accept it, instead of defending my case because I know it will rapidly turn into an ego war. The much better feeling than winning an argument is overcoming the urge…

pg's best essays are those on topics he knows well. Topics where he has unusual experience and expertise. A lot of his essays around new ventures and how new ideas work are worth reading because even if they're imperfect personal experiences, they come from a place of knowledge.

His worst essay was one where he has no real knowledge. The notion that entrepreneurship is valuable is not a terribly novel stand, and it's one that only a few extremists would argue with. But he doesn't have depth in the social sciences or politics; he doesn't have unique experiences and knowledge that bring an interesting new angle on the subject.

Instead he just created a silly straw man, burned it down, said good, and now said 'f the haters'.

Honestly... my hope is that at some point he'll realize that when he writes about subjects he knows well, that things are quiet and positive for him. And that when he writes on subjects where he's ignorant, that he gets a lot of bullshit. And maybe a way to avoid that bullshit is to stop writing on shit where he's ignorant.

I mean, I know that his ego is now bloated to a level where this notion won't occur to him. The notion that being rich isn't a qualification for all things won't go through his head... but hey... maybe he'll want to avoid the bullshit that comes with writing shallow social darwinistic bullshit.

Re: Life is Short

#249

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 7:11 AM UTC

prostoalex wrote: post #225

drhayes9 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From PG's essay "Economic Inequality": "Most people who get rich tend to be fairly driven. Whatever their other flaws, laziness is usually not one of them... Variation in productivity is far from the only source of economic inequality, but it is the irreducible core of it, in the sense that you'll have that left when you eliminate all other sources." This feels like the heart of that particular essay and displays a r…

I read it differently. He suggests that social mobility is highly correlated with non-laziness (whether expressed through hard work, not hard but smart work, natural curiosity, drive to tinker with stuff, or ability to deliver on a project started without letting the inertia set in). That does not mean that poverty is correlated with laziness. The only logical conclusion that follows is that laziness is not highly co…

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Re: Life is Short

#250

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 17, 2016, 7:11 AM UTC

geofft wrote: post #106

anunumoose wrote: post #3

Mr Graham, I respect you and you've accomplished more that I will in my life, but I sincerely hope that this essay against "bullshit" and "arguing online" isn't you declaring that you'll be "bubbling" yourself after your last essay was met with wide disagreement. It's possible that sometimes, no matter how smart you are, your experiences have been limited in a way and you're missing a part of something everyone else…

Yeah, I'm curious why this essay was written. A week after having finished spending (evidently) quite a while writing two essays about economic inequality and your personal role in increasing society-wide inequality, why the sudden change to caring about spending time with your kids? And why the need to say this out loud? This essay strongly feels like rationalizing to oneself an unwillingness to engage with reasoned…

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