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Life is Short

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life is Short

#351

Post by babuskov »

mahranch wrote: post #333
babuskov wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When time is scarce, you start to prioritize things that are really important to you. If your main life goal is to ship great software, then building your own PC is just taking away precious time. As DHH said in Twist interview: "If you're not working on your best idea right now, you're doing it wrong"

> When time is scarce, you start to prioritize things that are really important to you. It takes me ~10 minutes to shop online and buy the parts I need to put together my own PC. When I receive it, it takes me an additional 15 minutes to unbox it, and put it all together. Then another 30 installing the OS and all the programs I will need. That's less than an hour. Given the price difference between a Mac and a PC wit…

Unless you do this all day, there's no way it would take 10 minutes to research all the components that go into a PC and put it all together. Heck, even researching which model of Mac to buy took me more than two hours.

15 minutes to unbox probably doesn't include taking out the trash. :)

I'm a power user, so I need a lot of programs and setting them up properly usually takes 4-6 hours if not more. Just finding and installing proper driver for stuff like my Wacom tablet takes 30 minutes or so. Again, if you do this every day, then yes, it could be much faster. But I buy a new computer once in 4-5 years and really cannot bother to automate.

Last two times I got a new computer, it took me 2-3 days before I could work on them at full speed. It sure is worth more than $550. Not calculating the cost of stress if something does not work properly.

I have been using Linux for 7+ years and Mac for just over one year. The difference: Mac is mostly Plug and Play. Linux is often Plug and Pray. Hell, doing something simple like copy/paste on Linux still feels like a game of chance.

I love open-source and freedom, but as I got kids I became more pragmatic. The time is limited and I'd rather spend it on building stuff than figuring out some quirks in the operating system.

Re: Life is Short

#352

Post by hownottowrite »

Last two sentence contain all that's important here.

"Relentlessly prune bullshit, don't wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That's what you do when life is short."

Re: Life is Short

#353

Post by forgetsusername »

bittercynic wrote: post #235
ubernostrum wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally as a matter of rhetoric one does not pick out a single attribute to predicate of a class of people, unless one wishes to imply that other classes do not possess the attribute, or that the attribute is a sufficient condition for membership in the class. What makes it a dirty rhetorical trick is, of course, that one can then reply to one's critics "ah, but I didn't explicitly say what you read into that".

Commenters stating that the essay blames poverty on the poor really are reading something into the essay that wasn't there (at least for me). The topic of economic desparity has become such a hot and emotional one that it seems impossible to have an honest conversation about what it really looks like, what are the causes and effects, etc. It seems very important to me that we drop the tribalism and fighting so that w…

>Commenters stating that the essay blames poverty on the poor really are reading something into the essay that wasn't there (at least for me).

He did call those who disagree with Zuckerberg's letter envious losers, so how can you read something like the Inequality essay without that colouring it?

https://medium.com/@girlziplocked/paul-graham-is-still-askin...

Re: Life is Short

#354

Post by vasilipupkin »

fantastic essay. I would just add that life is too short but it is also in a sense very very long. Lots of new chapters and new windows open even as old ones close or narrow. It seems like two entirely contradictory ideas, but I think they are both true at the same time.

Re: Life is Short

#355

Post by pbz »

moultano wrote: post #345
enraged_camel wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>How is the idea that variation in productivity leads to a variation in income a "breathtaking misunderstanding of poverty"? It's absolutely true that variation in productivity leads to a variation in income... No. Productivity has nothing to do with income. You can be the most productive widget-maker in the factory. That doesn't mean you will make a lot of money. Income inequality exists and has been growing becaus…

> You can be the most productive widget-maker in the factory. You are using a non economic definition of productivity, and he is using the economic one. In Economics, productivity is the value of what is produced, not the quantity.

That still applies if you don't/can't benefit from that increased value - i.e. it benefits those above instead.

Re: Life is Short

#357

Post by meterplech »

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…

I don't know what you mean by bubbling. The overall essay produces a quite useful heuristic. Perhaps the specific example is inspired by recent experience... But it has power for me.

It's amazing to watch how many young people get caught up in various online outrage missions. Hours spent browsing Twitter or Reddit to dive incredibly deep into some current news outrage is bull shit wasted time.

Get back to work and try to build something (if that's what you want). Or be with your family (if that's what you want). Or do whatever. But this stuff (including my post right now) is addicting.

Re: Life is Short

#358

Post by dantheman »

I really liked this essay. I've been spending a lot of my time dealing with bullshit, and it's exhausting. Essays like this provide me a reminder to step back and re-evaluate -- is what I think true, has the situation changed, have I changed. What should I do next.

There's a lot written on how to live a great life, but in the end more and more I think, you live great stages in life. At any stage, you optimize for it and with an eye for being prepared for future stages.

Re: Life is Short

#359

Post by toni »

ZoF wrote: post #344
jacquesm wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the sarcasm was a bit too subtle, at the same time maybe this isn't the time for it?

Yep, probably isn't the time or place; well warranted downvotes. Oh well, live and learn :)

Well don't lose your faith on HN's sense of humor, there are some of us who do get the joke :) maybe next time add a /sarcasm tag or such? I admit that it will water-down the effect, but it is better than nothing!
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