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The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#461

Post by belorn »

satyrnein wrote: post #343
belorn wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are arguing against an imaginary argument. Parent and grand parent comment did not say anything about genetics. Darwin could go inside the study because his gender role was fulfilled by being rich. Had he been poor he might have said "I will be in the coal mine", and getting slowly and horrible killed. Very few know people in history had the privilege to freely obsess over things which is outside their gender rol…

This whole subthread is speculation about the role of gender in the choice of obsessive hobbies, or am I imagining that? I agree with you that most men over the course of history did not have the luxury that Darwin did.

The comment from Bostonian did that. That person speculated that gender influence how obsessive a person is.

zozbot234 comment below that said "I don't think this is the case.", arguing instead that low visibility over gender lines makes people think that gender has an impact how obsessive a person is.

rhlsthrm comment below that one said "This is exactly right".

This is why I said parent and grandparent, ie zozbot234 and rhlsthrm comments, did not include genetics in their arguments, and I interpreted your comment as arguing against them as if they had argued in favor of genetics. If I am wrong and you directed your argument against the grandgrandparent then I am sorry for that interpretation.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#462

Post by ptrenko »

NPMaxwell wrote: post #304
carapace wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did... did they not tell him it was a joke?

No. They meant to stop him from his compulsive interest in electronics. They wanted him to play with other kids, play sports, run around. He seemed weird and they thought he would seem weird when he grew up. And running shop that fixes radios didn't look like success to them. (Until recently, "nerd" was a very offensive insult.)

I feel like my life is going in this direction. I have a vague plan to get out of this through startups. Don't know if it'll work.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#465

Post by joncrane »

chairmanwow wrote: post #342
drongoking wrote: post #323

Two reactions to this. I almost believe these: 1. The difference between collecting bus tickets, working on mathematics, and figuring the crystallization patterns of snowflakes is virtually nothing. To the people obsessed with it, it is all-important; to outsiders, all three look indistinguishably pointless. Only in retrospect can anyone say whether the activity led to something society considers important. The truly…

A fantastic book by Vernon Vinge called “A Deepness in the Sky” toys around with this idea a lot actually. There is a virus that can release neurotoxins and it is flipped in very specific parts of the brain with a MRI-like device. This can elicit a state of “Focus” where the person (victim more like) becomes totally obsessed with a particular idea or subject. They devote all energy towards this subject and can make s…

Being obsessed with something is indeed a lot like slavery, or indentured servitude. But the difference is it was my idea.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#466

Post by carapace »

ptrenko wrote: post #462
NPMaxwell wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. They meant to stop him from his compulsive interest in electronics. They wanted him to play with other kids, play sports, run around. He seemed weird and they thought he would seem weird when he grew up. And running shop that fixes radios didn't look like success to them. (Until recently, "nerd" was a very offensive insult.)

I feel like my life is going in this direction. I have a vague plan to get out of this through startups. Don't know if it'll work.

Which direction?

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#469

Post by gist »

drongoking wrote: post #323

Two reactions to this. I almost believe these: 1. The difference between collecting bus tickets, working on mathematics, and figuring the crystallization patterns of snowflakes is virtually nothing. To the people obsessed with it, it is all-important; to outsiders, all three look indistinguishably pointless. Only in retrospect can anyone say whether the activity led to something society considers important. The truly…

> But for nearly every invention and idea, history shows that multiple people were working on it at the same time.

Agree and not to mention we don't have any data on people who loved and were obsessive and that did not lead to anything. I am actually surprised in how simplistic PG is when he writes some of what he does. For example he states that Darwin was obsessed (as he was) but ignores that just like the bus ticket collector he most likely did that simply because he was interested or curious for some reason. A hobby or a like is no better than anyone else's. Who is to say watching football matters (it doesn't) or collecting stamps matters (it doesn't) or by the same token if you obsess over mathematics (and it matters and leads to something) that that is why you even did it in the first place?

I would even say that often people are obsessive about what they do not even thinking it will lead to anything. I was an obsessive commenter on a site and most would say I was wasting my time. But that activity has led to over 7 figures of income. But I did it because I enjoyed it (and did it every day). Likewise the same happens here on HN. In one sense you might be wasting your time but if you enjoy it and it leads to something is not genuine to say you did it for another reason.

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