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Life is Short

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life is Short

#401

Post by ibejoeb »

m0nty wrote: post #378
egroat wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when I was 20 or so Ok. "20 or so" describes me. And things aren't going so well. Out of uni, and life feels pretty empty. Family has fallen apart, friends are friends of convenience, work is very intense - perhaps too much - and everything is going into keeping going. The brave face, making sure I eat, making sure I run, cycle, climb. The dreams I had even six months ago, feeling ever more impossible. The lure of…

I'm a bit reluctant to post this, because nobody here is going to be able to fix your situation for you, but a few thoughts. As someone pushing 50 this year, if I had your freedom to just do anything, I'd be off in a heartbeat. Off to another part of the country or a different country entirely. Making that 5,000-mile bike-trip or just walking off somewhere with a back-pack and some camping gear. You might say "it's n…

>Don't worry that you'll mess up your career or anything else by taking some time to do something adventurous

If I could go back and tell myself something, or if I had kids to advise, this is the essence of it.

Once you've got your basic needs met, anything you do to enrich your character is going to make you a more compelling person. Don't squander your 20s and 30s. Take advantage of opportunities that present themselves, because it's a lot harder to cultivate new opportunities from scratch.

GP, if you can actually afford to pick up and try something new, you really ought to do it. It's so easy nowadays: pick a city and spend two weeks at an Airbnb. If you like it, stay longer, and if not, go back or go somewhere else.

Re: Life is Short

#402

Post by ThomPete »

jacquesm wrote: post #396
ThomPete wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have two kids, I have had two melanomas so far. I understand what it means when people say life is to short. But is life is too short to use your wealth and power to help solve the problem you acknowledge there is? That sounds like a weird idea. Most of PGs essays aren't controversial they are more informative. Why is life too short for that? If anything PG is a thinker and a good one at it. He doesn't get everythi…

> I have two kids, I have had two melanomas so far. Ouch. > I understand what it means when people say life is to short. I'll bet, that's the kind of thing that will make this a background feeling almost continuously. > But is life is too short to use your wealth and power to help solve the problem you acknowledge there is? Well, PG is - in his own way - doing just that. He made quite a few people quite wealthy and h…

But what does that mean. He is going to state his opinion and not give a damn what people think? It just doesn't make sense at least not to me. But sure. Each to their own.

Re: Life is Short

#403

Post by jacquesm »

ThomPete wrote: post #402
jacquesm wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have two kids, I have had two melanomas so far. Ouch. > I understand what it means when people say life is to short. I'll bet, that's the kind of thing that will make this a background feeling almost continuously. > But is life is too short to use your wealth and power to help solve the problem you acknowledge there is? Well, PG is - in his own way - doing just that. He made quite a few people quite wealthy and h…

But what does that mean. He is going to state his opinion and not give a damn what people think? It just doesn't make sense at least not to me. But sure. Each to their own.

No, I interpret it as that he's going to definitely give a damn but he won't engage each and every person that is mis-interpreting things by accident or design.

Hence the 'bullshit' line.

Re: Life is Short

#404

Post by pcote »

jmorrow977 wrote: post #302
pcote wrote: post #172

The downside to "don't wait to do the things that matter" is what to do when you empty that bucket list early. I've covered the geeky bucket list stuff. (making video games, blogging, open source contribution, IT jobs, BS in CS, ect.) I've covered the more stereotypical bucket list stuff too. (Skydiving, performing onstage, time with friends, writing the novel, marrying the right girl, ect.) At this point in my life,…

For starters, have you visited every major city in Europe, including historically famous cities, sites of historical battles, capitals of smaller countries? Sampled the local cuisine in each? Tried the local hobbies? Danced in a local club? Walked the Via Appia in Rome, visited the site of the "300 Spartans" battle against the Persians? For closer to home, assuming you don't want to travel the world or you've already…

As I said, "things that interest me". Social clubs, traveling, and world historical landmarks are great if that's what interests you and I'm happy for people who enjoy those sorts of things. Learning new things is one thing we can both agree on as always being worthwhile.

All that being said, the best "new thing" I can think of is finding creative ways to serve others using what I know about. My blog is one such way though there are no doubt others as well. Giving to the world is a pretty good way to beat back boredom.

Re: Life is Short

#405

Post by m0nty »

jacquesm wrote: post #392
m0nty wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wow that imagery is powerfully sad I didn't mean it to be ;) I'm an optimist at heart, honestly, and I'm not sitting here feeling I've wasted my life or anything. But there are some things I wouldn't do again if I had my time again, and working hard for unappreciative, self-centred people is one of them.

> working hard for unappreciative, self-centred people is one of them. That's a bit of a luxury, you don't always have that choice but on the whole I agree with the idea. I'd re-phrase it to don't work for assholes if you can avoid it. I'm fortunate enough now that this is a rare occurrence but even now every now and then a deal goes by that is financially too sweet to let go and I still take them. Last year this hap…

It's interesting you say this, I currently have four weeks to run on a very well-paying contract which I chose to terminate. The money's been nice, and so are the people I work with, but I have enough in the bank now where I can take a chance on doing something different without risking financial hardship. Let's just say that, after two heart surgeries last year, I don't mind taking the risk that my plans fall over and I end up going back to an IT gig sometime in the indeterminate future :) In the meantime, I'm just enjoying the sense of possibility and freedom.

Re: Life is Short

#407

Post by jacquesm »

m0nty wrote: post #405
jacquesm wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> working hard for unappreciative, self-centred people is one of them. That's a bit of a luxury, you don't always have that choice but on the whole I agree with the idea. I'd re-phrase it to don't work for assholes if you can avoid it. I'm fortunate enough now that this is a rare occurrence but even now every now and then a deal goes by that is financially too sweet to let go and I still take them. Last year this hap…

It's interesting you say this, I currently have four weeks to run on a very well-paying contract which I chose to terminate. The money's been nice, and so are the people I work with, but I have enough in the bank now where I can take a chance on doing something different without risking financial hardship. Let's just say that, after two heart surgeries last year, I don't mind taking the risk that my plans fall over a…

That's a reasonable middle ground. But it does show clearly that those 'annoying but high paying jobs' have a place in the armory.

Good to see you on this side of the line after two heart surgeries.

Re: Life is Short

#408

Post by Ensorceled »

sigmaml wrote: post #218
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa whoa slow down. Parent sounded like they simply don't have time to build computers anymore and that buying a Mac is just far easier (less driver issues due to the vertical stack, etc). This seems perfectly justified and fine to me; I don't get why you're so upset by it.

> I don't get why you're so upset by it. Because harsh expressions are usually gratuitous. Because blanket assertions are usually wrong. And, because combining both is rude. (This applies to parts of PG's essay as well!) For instance, did you really need to say `Whoa whoa slow down' when you began your reply? Did that add value?

I wasn't going to reply to this because, well, bullshit. But ...

You took the worst possible interpretation of the original comment and then took it, out of context, as a personal attack. Then you posted a very nasty reply. Then, when you got called on it, you claim rudeness on the other parties.

Think about that. Re-read the entire thread. Because you not only missed the point of the OC, you missed the point of the original essay.

Re: Life is Short

#409

Post by ThomPete »

jacquesm wrote: post #403
ThomPete wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what does that mean. He is going to state his opinion and not give a damn what people think? It just doesn't make sense at least not to me. But sure. Each to their own.

No, I interpret it as that he's going to definitely give a damn but he won't engage each and every person that is mis-interpreting things by accident or design. Hence the 'bullshit' line.

No one was misinterpreting his inequality essays. He just hadn't thought it through enough and was putting a straw man forward.

Other than that what other controversial essays have he written? Maybe one other?

Re: Life is Short

#410

Post by dang »

palish wrote: post #340
dang wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed—so hostile that it can only be deliberate. It's an example of why we will probably add the Principle of Charity to the HN guidelines: http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html . The problem isn't merely the dishonesty of trying to make a person and/or their argument sound much worse than they are. It's the degrading effect it has on the rest of a discussion. Once bystanders see that it's ok to throw c…

It's worth trying, but it probably won't work. The bitterness in this thread can't be countered with social pressure, and you can't ban people for appearing disingenuous. They believe what they're writing. These comments aren't coming from people in a mindset to observe their own actions from a distance, which is what the Principle of Charity requires. When a commenter is convinced that a topic is very important, and…

> it probably won't work

You could as easily have said the same thing about HN at every point in its history, yet for all its weaknesses it has managed to survive as a semi-ok place for online discussion far longer than human nature, statistics, and every internet law would have predicted.

That didn't just happen by accident. To stave off inevitable decline has been the main intent behind the design of the site and all the work on it. So, bad as things sometimes appear and critical as everyone sometimes sounds, it's worth remembering that HN has a track record of finding new things that work—for a while—at slowing decay.

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