Full-of-himself !
Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
21–30 of 95 posts
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#22I stopped reading this "treatise" when in the first paragraph Aaron spoke highly of the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld.
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#23I stopped reading this "treatise" when in the first paragraph Aaron spoke highly of the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld.
Aaron specifically says you might not want to emulate Donald Rumsfeld. I'm really starting to think that conservatives might have a point that the 21st century left has a problem with name calling and ad hominem to shut down debate. It is possible to think that Donald Rumsfeld should be on trial and still be willing to learn from him.
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#24I stopped reading this "treatise" when in the first paragraph Aaron spoke highly of the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld.
Aaron specifically says you might not want to emulate Donald Rumsfeld. I'm really starting to think that conservatives might have a point that the 21st century left has a problem with name calling and ad hominem to shut down debate. It is possible to think that Donald Rumsfeld should be on trial and still be willing to learn from him.
> I'm really starting to think that conservatives might have a point that the 21st century left has a problem with name calling and ad hominem to shut down debate.
Most of that is movement conservatives complaining that their days of hijacking American culture seem to be in jeopardy (they think - I am not so optimistic).
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#25"Plus, then, I had given this talk about the Harvard Computer Society, and I said, “If you want to raise money, raise money from people who made the money doing startups. And then, they can give you advice, too.” And I suddenly noticed, they were all looking at me. And I had this horrifying vision of them all e-mailing me their business plans. Which is funny, because that’s what YC turned into." That gave me chills.…
Please, for the ignorant (no offense intended, as I am an entrenched member), can you more precisely/consisely explain your critiques? The reasons behind your "chills" are foreign to me. My intuition often betrays my experience.
I think "gives me chills" is pretty synonymous with "goosebumps" if that helps at all. I think creepy/makes-me-shudder for the negative usage and breathtaking/awe-inspiring for the positive usage.
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#26>>Paul : It is actually a trick for interviews. If someone asks you a boring question, just answer the interesting one they might have asked, and nobody complains. That's classic... An example of how to actually live "your" own life in this world...not paying a great deal of attention to uninteresting things that others bring up; rather molding those same things so that they become interesting, and illuminate parts o…
I generically agree with your sentiment, but there are often times where a simple question causes me to reconsider humanities' goals. These "boring" questions become stratified and ultimately challenge and provide friction to my strongly held beliefs, where that which was once uninteresting has become supremely relevant.
PG is a boss and has done more for startups than anyone I know, but he isn't beyond critique. Boring questions are ripe with depth outside the capacity of CS and tech entrepreneurs, and deal with the realities of everyday people.
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#27I stopped reading this "treatise" when in the first paragraph Aaron spoke highly of the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld.
Aaron specifically says you might not want to emulate Donald Rumsfeld. I'm really starting to think that conservatives might have a point that the 21st century left has a problem with name calling and ad hominem to shut down debate. It is possible to think that Donald Rumsfeld should be on trial and still be willing to learn from him.
You might be willing to learn from him if you want to be like him. And expressing how one feels about Rumsfeld because of extensive research done on the "subject", does not in anyway invalidate the purpose of argument. By saying "21st century left, ad hominem, etc,etc" proves you are no more than a provocateur
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#28Full-of-himself !
I guess I'm odd but I rather like it when the contents match the title. Best advice to you is 'avoid clicking that link when you have no interest in the subject'. Great interview!
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a composer as well as a software developer. There is no way in hell I could plan an interesting piece of music. You really just have to wait for it to come, however importantly it does mean you have to be ready to listen: i.e. put yourself in environments and states of mind that are most receptive and be extremely well-honed on your craft on a technical level so you can execute well.
I think this is a sentiment most people share, because most creative people only output—at most—a few masterworks in their lifetimes. I bet the people who are constantly pumping out works that, on their own, would be considered achievements—the Picassos and Frank Zappas and Stephen Kings of the world—have a pretty different view on how much of creating something good is inspiration vs. a schlepp.
Any famous writer I've ever read about has said that the amateur waits for inspiration, whereas the professional just sits down and gets to work.
12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping.
Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident
#30I love listening to (success) stories. You should make more of those.