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Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

alexand.ro

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Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#81

Post by hateful »

arez wrote: post #44

One aspect nobody mentioned so far is, why do I have to focus so much on my dreams and "work on the next rocket to mars"? Why isn't it okay anymore to just do my job, have friends and watch movies? Why does everyone has to be an entrepreneur and do a successful side-project? Why can't I just have a hobby that doesn't pay off at all, like playing an instrument alone in my room, without any pursue to ever play a concer…

I think the point of the article was more that you didn't get to to do what you wanted to do, regardless of what that thing is. If you wanted to watch TV because you enjoy it, fine (the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time). But if you get caught up in things that you didn't want to do (responding to notifications every n amount of minutes) then you didn't do what you wanted to do and YOUR time was wasted. Unless of course you enjoy responding to those messages, but then you ARE doing what you wanted to do and it negates the whole thing!

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#82

Post by keyle »

claar wrote: post #6

I agree that focus is rare and critical, but I take issue with the closing paragraphs that suggest prioritizing focus over relationships. What good is it to gain the whole world but have no one to enjoy it with? Of course this is simply another form of focus - choose which relationships to focus on. But putting intellectual pursuits above relationships is a lonely and foolish path, even if you achieve your dreams. If…

I agree, it's scientifically proven that people who isolate themselves shorten their lifespan.

Also no man is an island. If you want to make that spaceship to Mars, you will not do it yourself. So that advice of cutting off ties in order to improve focus is terrible.

A better wording of that advice would be to re-focus on important and strategic relationships which benefits you and vice versa.

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#83

Post by gallegojaime »

A strategy that kept me pretty productive is to have a "primary task" for the day, scaled appropriately, and a secondary one. Just those two. Say:

Primary task: write outline on all areas of X presentation. Secondary task: replace light bulb of car.

It's just that simple. Two tasks that I'll struggle to finish in a day. From there some properties emerge beautifully.

It naturally forms chunks of focus. The "flow". Yet, it's flexible because the execution details are not agreed beforehand, they're made up as you go.

"2h on the main task at least, now that I've done some stuff and have enough free time for a chunk!"

I can still deal with any blow as it comes. Stuff happens. But at least one can be more mindful about priorities, having the easy to remember two tasks in mind.

loose systems (good ones) often work better and can handle failures without crashing down.

PS for the author: i live & study in Madrid as well! these kind of deliberations are an important part of my self-improvement. I really like trying things out, and bouncing ideas off another person in a good discussion. You can consider this an invitation, open at any time, about things that we both value :)

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#84

Post by barry-cotter »

1take wrote: post #63

No it hasn't. Focus isn't more valuable than the ability to improvise or memorize. People are just realizing what's been true all along: IQ is a bunk measurement that points to nothing of note in the brain.

IQ positively correlates with income, educational attainment, age of death and socioeconomic status, and negatively with criminality, STI infection rates and likelihood of having a child out of wedlock so bunk it is not.

Regarding IQ and the brain there are positive relations between brain volume, white matter volume and IQ and between hippocampal volume and verbal IQ so

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#85

Post by TeMPOraL »

bsanr wrote: post #78
asjw wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This! It's what I've been doing in the past few years, nobody noticed that I stay at work a lot less than the others and the quality of my work has improved

This would be nice, if most workplaces valued efficiency. They don't, especially at the low end. Instead, they'd rather have face-time, regardless of how productive that time is. It's literally in the nature of the pay structure.

Depending on the specifics of the work, in our industry, demand for butt-in-seat time + high focus = work done + a lot of time to do your own private stuff. Devil is in the details, but this is implicitly accepted in a lot of places as long as you complete your actual work on time, because part of the reason companies want your butt in your seat for fixed amount of time per day is availability - if something suddenly happens, they want you to be there to take care of it. They do derive value from just having you in the office.

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#86

Post by benologist »

edejong wrote: post #70
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #20

As someone that is "on the spectrum," I can report that focus can be pretty awesome. I generate vast amounts of code, in relatively short time, and am an insanely obsessive debugger. However, it don't come for free. If I get "roused" from my "fugue" (what I call "the zone"), I can be cranky. This has not always been helpful in my marriage. Also, I find that I can be "vocabularily challenged" for a few minutes after I…

I've noticed the same things! The same happens when I improvise piano. In addition, I cannot attach emotionally (empathy) to others for close to an hour.

I'm bilingual until I've been drowning in code all day, then I need a half-hour or my fluency is just gone and I struggle to understand my own family.

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#87

Post by save_ferris »

wiz21c wrote: post #66
save_ferris wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because our society has an unhealthy obsession with wealth and status, and we’ve convinced ourselves that the only way to be happy in life is to amass both. The irony is that some of the wealthiest people I’ve met seem the least happy and settled. It’s so strange. The concept of having “enough” is fundamentally incompatible with the hyper-growth startup, social-media driven society that we’re creating. Because having…

At my age, for me, >>> giving up on the rat race means I end up in a tough position. Either I leave the race, knowing that I'll have hard time to finance another race (kids, etc.); either I stay in, but then it means doing things I don't like. middle class man's dilemma.

I completely agree. Instead of pointing out and criticizing the leaders of our society for their role in widening wealth inequality, we’ve happily created this fiction where we can all hop on the gravy train and become millionaires too.

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#88

Post by rzzzt »

chaboud wrote: post #57
coldtea wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid.

That depends on your definition of "works". In a team environment something that is stupid and is barely coughing blood is a tar pit of wasted effort that will ensnare team member after team member, like a repeating land mine. Odd dependencies, bad repeated patterns, and strange process/architectural workarounds will leave a team inefficient, entrenched, and broken. It's why I'd rather have lazy stupid people than en…

"I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones are stupid and lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always only cause damage."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#89

Post by redis_mlc »

edejong wrote: post #68
redis_mlc wrote: post #31

"Focus is the new IQ" is the best expression I've seen of this. I'm lucky to have the gift of focus, and to know other people who also have it. I know I'm on the right track when I'm asked: * "You did that yourself?" * "How did you do that?" * "How is that possible?" One person with deep focus can change everything. Nikolai Tesla is the ultimate example of this - he made the modern world. My secrets? My only social m…

Funny thing is that Tesla made a lot of interesting inventions and discoveries, but was barely able to keep the focus to bring them to fruition. He had his lab busy with widely different experiments, oftentimes conflicting, leading to huge setbacks. Tesla is the prime example of a great mind with bad social skills and too many things juggling at the same time.

That's not even wrong.

He got to do exactly what he wanted for most of his career, which was research, live in the Waldorf, and his patents were the foundation of Westinghouse.

Ever look at a power substation and see all those Buck Rogers-looking transformers? Those are his original designs.

Besides AC electricity generation and transmission, he also patented wireless remote control and was one of the earliest pioneers in radio. Niagara Falls hydro generation was his idea, and nobody understood what he was doing until the on switch was thrown.

Had he wanted to be a businessman, he could have done that at any time. I'm glad he chose the inventor path.

Re: Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018)

#90

Post by sscarduzio »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #20

As someone that is "on the spectrum," I can report that focus can be pretty awesome. I generate vast amounts of code, in relatively short time, and am an insanely obsessive debugger. However, it don't come for free. If I get "roused" from my "fugue" (what I call "the zone"), I can be cranky. This has not always been helpful in my marriage. Also, I find that I can be "vocabularily challenged" for a few minutes after I…

I have been experiencing exactly this in the last 10 years without being aware it was a side effect of high focus.

10 years ago I was really bad at studying, then I had a peak of low self esteem, believing I was not intelligent. Ready to give up uni, my GF suggested I'd give myself only one more opportunity.

So I started studying like it was the very last time I'd do it. Like, in an angry state, like I was demonstrating to myself no matter how hard, it was useless.

This is how I discovered my brain only had a "fast gear", and the "slow gear" that normal people used was basically not working for my brain.

I breezed through all my exams, got a series of cool jobs and promotions, now I own my company and sell my own software to Fortune 50 companies.

The side effect of operating at peak concentration levels is becoming socially impaired, and verbally inept exactly like Chris Marshall above described. This has non trivial social consequences.

The amazing thing here is that I just thought I was getting older and grumpier. But now I understand it's in fact tied to the focus. Thanks Chris, now I know what it is, and maybe I can try to tune it down for a period to see what happens.

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