What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#221

Post by greymalik » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:02 PM UTC

ethanbond wrote: post #14

Taking this also as a bit of an Ask HN: Easily the Tiny Habits habit formation regime created by Stanford researcher BJ Fogg. A lot of the addictive design patterns you see in apps like Snapchat, Instagram, etc. are built off his research. Quite nefarious use of psychology for advertising/“engagement”, but the plus side is you can use the same strategies to build habits you want to build. Step 1: Consider the habit y…

> I spent a month of the year just flossing 1 tooth each night (ridiculous, I know!), then 5 months just flossing 1 row (better!)

Was this because you hated it so much that you couldn't bring yourself to do more than one at a time, or is it important to effective habit building that you intentionall hold yourself back? (I can't imagine getting as far as remembering to do it, getting out the floss, tearing off a piece, flossing one tooth and then not saying, eh, I'm already here, might as well do more.)

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#222

Post by chasd00 » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:08 PM UTC

katzgrau wrote: post #82

Gratitude. Look around you and consider all of the things that are going well for your. Your nice remote gig, your fridge full of your favorite beer, the sunny day outside, your healthy family. Do that at the start of every day and really meditate on awesome it is that you have those things. Sincerely and quietly thank whoever you feel is responsible for them. You'd be amazed how that 3 minute exercise changes your p…

I read a quote last night that went "don't complain about growing old, it's a privilege denied to many". That really stuck with me.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#223

Post by ethanbond » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

greymalik wrote: post #221

ethanbond wrote: post #14

Taking this also as a bit of an Ask HN: Easily the Tiny Habits habit formation regime created by Stanford researcher BJ Fogg. A lot of the addictive design patterns you see in apps like Snapchat, Instagram, etc. are built off his research. Quite nefarious use of psychology for advertising/“engagement”, but the plus side is you can use the same strategies to build habits you want to build. Step 1: Consider the habit y…

> I spent a month of the year just flossing 1 tooth each night (ridiculous, I know!), then 5 months just flossing 1 row (better!) Was this because you hated it so much that you couldn't bring yourself to do more than one at a time, or is it important to effective habit building that you intentionall hold yourself back? (I can't imagine getting as far as remembering to do it, getting out the floss, tearing off a piece…

Yes I hated it and yes I’m exceptionally stubborn :)

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#224

Post by csharp » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

greymalik wrote: post #221

ethanbond wrote: post #14

Taking this also as a bit of an Ask HN: Easily the Tiny Habits habit formation regime created by Stanford researcher BJ Fogg. A lot of the addictive design patterns you see in apps like Snapchat, Instagram, etc. are built off his research. Quite nefarious use of psychology for advertising/“engagement”, but the plus side is you can use the same strategies to build habits you want to build. Step 1: Consider the habit y…

> I spent a month of the year just flossing 1 tooth each night (ridiculous, I know!), then 5 months just flossing 1 row (better!) Was this because you hated it so much that you couldn't bring yourself to do more than one at a time, or is it important to effective habit building that you intentionall hold yourself back? (I can't imagine getting as far as remembering to do it, getting out the floss, tearing off a piece…

It isn't a "practical" thing, it is a mental thing. "flossing my whole mouth feels overwhelming, so I'm not going to do any of it", vs "I just need to floss a single tooth, that is easy". Sure "just grow up and do it" sounds nice, but learning to build habits that generally feel unrewarding when starting out (e.g. working out, learning instrument), is extremely difficult for some people (e.g. me).

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#225

Post by AnimalMuppet » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:12 PM UTC

ohyes wrote: post #83

cgufus wrote: post #36

One thing i‘m missing is a bit a generic one, but here goes: What are the principles that make a democracy? (e.g. freedom of opinion, freedom of press, separation of powers a.k.a. checks and balances, Rule of Law etc.)

You can get a PhD in that subject.

Sure. But if you live in a democracy (or want to), it wouldn't hurt to know the basics.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#226

Post by mrgordon » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

bsanr2 wrote: post #90

tempsy wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a difference if you’re sitting on $100K in cash earning nothing or a few thousand to use for living costs. If the latter then investing in stocks is actually not very prudent.

Confirming. In college, I received what I thought was a decent windfall for a young adult (and what was roughly what people say should be enough to "get started" investing). I invested it. This was just after the rally post-recession had hit its apex. Fast-forward 3 years later, when I've been laid off. Well, now I need that money, but the stock is worth less than when I bought it. I don't make enough to itemize taxe…

You don’t need to itemize to claim a capital loss

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#227

Post by froindt » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:16 PM UTC

mathieutd wrote: post #188

slowhand09 wrote: post #174

Learn how to get out of debt!!! Step 1: List your debts from smallest to largest regardless of interest rate. Step 2: Make minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest. Step 3: Pay as much as possible on your smallest debt. Step 4: Repeat until each debt is paid in full

I disagree with this. You should pay your higher interest rate debt first.

I've looked at the difference with a few people. It depends on the balances and interest rates, but the difference is smaller than I would have guessed. With tens of thousands of dollars of debt, I've seen the difference be just a couple hundred dollars.

Smallest to largest balance frees up cash flow faster, making it more likely the person won't go into additional debt (and hopefully won't get discouraged and quit the program all together).

For anyone wanting to explore, here's a handy calculator: https://www.magnifymoney.com/calculator/snowball-avalanche-c...

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#228

Post by nordsieck » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:17 PM UTC

defertoreptar wrote: post #219

nordsieck wrote: post #149

IMO, the single most important thing I've ever learned is: try to be effective when you're communicating. I used to feel an obligation to correct other people if they had false beliefs. This was not an endearing trait, and even worse, I was never particularly successful at convincing the other people. One day, I read a passage from "How to make friends and influence people". It said something along the lines of: "The…

> And the little I do speak is designed to appeal, as much as possible, to my audience. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" really helped me understand where I was running into problems when interacting with people. It was written mainly for those who are in sales and need to learn how to persuade, but I've found it overall helpful in my career (not sales). It's one of the three books I would recommend for thos…

> I like it when I disagree with people. I like to dig down into it with them to uncover the truth. I like to share the truth that I know with others, and I really like it when someone helps me discover a truth I didn't know before, changing the way I see things.

I like this too.

But I've found that it's basically a disaster in real life. Very few people are educated, and even those who are have enough sacred goats that real serious conversations about difficult topics are near impossible.

I find that, instead, consuming the best books and videos is far more rewarding. You can expose yourself to the best version of ideas with less effort than trying to squeeze it out of people you meet.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#229

Post by tunesmith » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:18 PM UTC

_se wrote: post #31

tempsy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always hear this but the theory of compound interest has little to do with stock investing. Not all stocks pay dividends. Most actually do not. And betting on a general YoY rise in stock prices into retirement is not the same thing as compound interest.

Historically speaking, you're very wrong. There's no better place you could've put your money than the s&p.

A few tidbits to balance in:

On average, S&P performance over 40 years is very good. However, if you look at every possible 40-year period so far, some are really good and some are lousy. If you instead ask "What performance would I have gotten in 90% of those cases?" the performance is not as high.

Performance over 30 years is naturally worse than over 40 years, and so on.

Due to volatility, you generally score better (in terms of percentage of x-year periods) if you do 70/30 stocks/bonds rather than 100% in stocks. Meaning, you can leverage it to either aim for the same performance with less volatility, or same volatility with greater return.

Finally, people tend to put more money in the market when times are good at stocks are high, and less when times are bad and stocks are low. This has a dragging effect on what performance a person can expect.

For example, I keep pretty good records and have a list of every date/amount of each retirement contribution I've made. I'm able to simulate what my current balance would be if I have immediately put each sum into S&P (by using the adjusted close for that period). It's not as good as the reported S&P average over that period.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#230

Post by ghaff » Tue, Dec 31, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

shantly wrote: post #198

esotericn wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are caps for contributing to tax-advantaged savings and pension accounts in the UK too. I wouldn't say that that 'disadvantages the poor and middle class'. It's the other way around - it disadvantages the upper-middle and wealthy because they hit the limit and have to find other ways to accumulate wealth.

The way 401k retirement accounts are set up in the US, you can't get anywhere near the contribution limit on your own, you have to have huge amounts of employer contribution, beyond simple matching, even. It's like (cough) it's designed to mainly benefit top-tier professional class folks and non-owning-class upper managers while chaining people to traditional employment or complex personal tax arrangements. The other…

>you can't get anywhere near the contribution limit on your own,

That really seems like an overstatement. 401k contribution limits (without catch-up) are about $20K/year. That's no doubt more than most people save in a year but it's not that far out on the fringes of what mid-career professionals are/should be saving for retirement.

I don't completely disagree with your broader point. 401ks (especially with significant contribution match) and IRAs (and ESPPs such as they still are) do tend to most benefit workers who are fairly well-compensated. But they're actually less of a big deal for top execs etc. for whom the dollar amounts are relatively small.