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Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

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Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#51

Post by jerf »

hodwik wrote: post #50
Terr_ wrote: post #4

This reminds me of a bit from "The Dilbert Future" (1997): > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are e…

Absolutely, people seem to find/get jobs for reasons that look very much like insane luck. I found my current job through a long chain of "crazy" coincidences. In reality, what looks like luck is very normal. Humans are prone to think coincidence is much less likely than it actually is. This is where most religious belief and conspiracy theory come from. Or, often, what seems like a coincidence is actually a predicta…

The probability of any given event happening is negligible. However, something is going to happen. When that something happens, its probability will have been negligible too, yet, here we are.

You can consider this concretely a bit by imagining a lottery in which every human being in the world is given one ticket. The probability of any given winner is negligible, but somebody is going to win, in what for them is an against-all-odds outcome.

The a priori probability of this particular string of words ever being combined together into a post on Hacker News was negligible. Yet, here we are.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#52

Post by NumberCruncher »

hodwik wrote: post #50
Terr_ wrote: post #4

This reminds me of a bit from "The Dilbert Future" (1997): > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are e…

Absolutely, people seem to find/get jobs for reasons that look very much like insane luck. I found my current job through a long chain of "crazy" coincidences. In reality, what looks like luck is very normal. Humans are prone to think coincidence is much less likely than it actually is. This is where most religious belief and conspiracy theory come from. Or, often, what seems like a coincidence is actually a predicta…

For the one it is luck, coincidence or divine intervention.

For the other an opportunity disguised as hard work and taking risks.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#53

Post by golergka »

meowface wrote: post #7
visakanv wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1. As a writer, literally all of my best work is completely unplanned. On hindsight there was preparation, background, context, etc, but still.

I've heard this sentiment expressed for the creation of music and art as well.

Yep.

You're just playing around with stuff, create a lot of drafts and play with them if you feel that they're fun. And then, suddenly, one of the drafts doesn't get dull; surprisingly, it gets more and more interesting the more things you add to it.

And then you realize that this one is actually done.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#55

Post by dec0dedab0de »

Terr_ wrote: post #4

This reminds me of a bit from "The Dilbert Future" (1997): > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are e…

I have been lucky quite a few times along my career path. However that "luck" was usually the result of identifying a good opportunity, and taking a risk. There are many people "stuck" in their current jobs because they don't see opportunities for what they are, or because they're too afraid to act on them. Fortune favors the bold.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#56

Post by graeme »

kbenson wrote: post #15
ktRolster wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Gives me chills" in that context is not a criticism, it means (roughly) that he really liked and related to it.

I believe "frisson" is the word you are looking for.

It's the same thing. Though "gives me chills" is more common in English. I only knew "frisson" because I speak French, I'm not sure I've ever heard an English speaker use it. (until now)

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#57

Post by S4M »

I find interesting the part where PG says that a startup either makes its founders rich either goes down, and basically discards the possibility that it ends up to be just enough to pay its founders a good salary. I think it can be a pretty nice outcome but then again YC must select founders who are very ambitious.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#58

Post by kbenson »

graeme wrote: post #56
kbenson wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe "frisson" is the word you are looking for.

It's the same thing. Though "gives me chills" is more common in English. I only knew "frisson" because I speak French, I'm not sure I've ever heard an English speaker use it. (until now)

Eh, reddit is responsible for some weird things. Popularizing[1] a rare word would hardly be the weirdest.

1: http://www.reddit.com/r/frisson

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#59

Post by Ma8ee »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #55
Terr_ wrote: post #4

This reminds me of a bit from "The Dilbert Future" (1997): > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are e…

I have been lucky quite a few times along my career path. However that "luck" was usually the result of identifying a good opportunity, and taking a risk. There are many people "stuck" in their current jobs because they don't see opportunities for what they are, or because they're too afraid to act on them. Fortune favors the bold.

And some bold people lose or never get the opportunities. I don't claim that character isn't an important factor, but what we normally would call pure luck is also an important one. That someone is stuck doesn't mean that they don't dare or don't see the opportunities. They might just be unlucky.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#60

Post by reitanqild »

Terr_ wrote: post #4

This reminds me of a bit from "The Dilbert Future" (1997): > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are e…

Then again: "The more I practice the luckier I seem to become".
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