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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

#61

Post by ThomPete »

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.

Which other people have also done and so you just ended up being the lucky one who got it.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#62

Post by hdctambien »

jerf wrote: post #51
hodwik wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

"You know, the most amazing thing happened to me tonight... I saw a car with the license plate ARW 357. Can you imagine? Of all the millions of license plates in the state, what was the chance that I would see that particular one tonight? Amazing!"

- Richard Feynman

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#63

Post by pc86 »

S4M wrote: post #57

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.

It has to do with what YC selects for in part, but no startup in the PG sense of the word (hyper growth, mass adoption/virality, high risk) would ever give the founder(s) a good job and nothing more. YC is not in the business of pulling off $30k a year in draws from a sustainable business.

You have the big exist or you shut it down and try something else. There's no middle ground, which is part of why "startup" has a very specific definition, and why YC doesn't invest in SMBs.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#64

Post by visakanv »

chris11 wrote: post #13
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.

So what is your writing process like? I'm personally really interested in how well designed things are created. It seems like there is a paradox, you can't force great things to happen with objectives and planning. But you can objectively tell that something is great. So are you personally concerned about whether a specific piece of writing is objectively great, or are you more interested in your ability to write wel…

>So what is your writing process like?

Thanks for asking! I have several different but interconnected processes:

1. I have a regular writing practice where I just open up something (Evernote, Byword, notepad, whatever) and start writing about whatever comes to mind. This is primarily just to develop the habit of writing. I mainly do this with my 1,000,000 word writing project [1].

2. I do content marketing for work, which is much more systematic and planned out– I work backwards from common queries and search terms. The most successful post I've ever written, though, was something that I had written out of curiosity [2].

3. Sometimes 'inspiration' hits: somebody asks the right question, or something happens and I feel a need to respond– and everything just comes right out of my subconscious, almost as if it were already written. But when I examine this, it's clear that I was already ruminating about it for a long time before.

> It seems like there is a paradox, you can't force great things to happen with objectives and planning.

Not exactly a paradox. The objectives and planning aren't about making great things happen; they're about creating a stable context in which great things happen. It's about putting in the hours of practice so that you can improvise freely when the moment calls for it.

> So are you personally concerned about whether a specific piece of writing is objectively great, or are you more interested in your ability to write well in general?

I think I cycle between the two, back and forth, depending on what I'm doing. If I'm working on something with a sense of purpose, I want it to be great. Otherwise I'm happy just working on my craft on a day to day basis.

_____

[1] http://www.visakanv.com/1000/

[2] http://www.referralcandy.com/blog/47/

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#65

Post by visakanv »

Outdoorsman wrote: post #6
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.

Congrats on being a Quora Top Writer! I agree...the best ideas "come in on little cat feet"...

Thanks! And to riff off of the cat feet analogy, you have to be comfortable enough to let the cat come to you. You can't scare it away by getting anxious. That sort of calm comes with lots of practice.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#66

Post by visakanv »

Swizec wrote: post #29
derefr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping.

I've been writing almost every day for probably about a decade now. The reality of it is a little more nuanced that that.

It's more like... 20% of the time you were inspired, you'll realize that what you produced was still crap.

Similarly, about 20% of the time you were schlepping, you'll realize it was actually pretty good.

And about maybe 20-30% of the time, you'll find yourself getting 'inspired' midway through a schlep. And as you do it more and more often, you start subconsciously preparing things in anticipation of the work.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#67

Post by Wildgoose »

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)

I use it, (e.g. phrases like "a frisson of doubt") and I certainly wouldn't consider it rare. Though I will grant that it is used less commonly than "gives me chills" and its variants.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#68

Post by MawNicker »

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.

Misfortune also favors the bold. Sustained boldness depends on the capacity to withstand misfortune. That is to have been fortunate.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#69

Post by atom-morgan »

Kenji wrote: post #46

I can't believe one of the founders was doing this alongside grad school and PG was like yeah you know, you have a lot of spare time there. And here I got so much work with full time studying that I can barely finish reading a single book alongside. How can people say university is enjoyable, fun, lots of spare time? For me it's just endless hard work and barely any breaks inbetween.

It was definitely true for me. College didn't take that much effort in terms of learning. Most of it was busy work using the term homework.

Re: Paul Graham on Doing Things Right by Accident

#70

Post by hodwik »

hdctambien wrote: post #62
jerf wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

"You know, the most amazing thing happened to me tonight... I saw a car with the license plate ARW 357. Can you imagine? Of all the millions of license plates in the state, what was the chance that I would see that particular one tonight? Amazing!" - Richard Feynman

Or, when two people meet, and find that incredibly they have multiple characteristics in common -- name, age, hometown, favorite book, childhood dog name, etc.

I like to imagine the two people are sitting, and rolling dice over and over again, squealing with wide eyes every time their dice rolls match.

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