Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

kk.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 286 posts

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#61

Post by keiferski »

GuB-42 wrote: post #56

> Don’t be the best. Be the only. No, if you are "the only" you are going to do that for the rest of your life. Also, it is at odds with the second previous point "Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself". You can't have people smarter than yourself if you are the only. And it is at odds with all the other points promoting sharing and generosity too. If you are the only, it means you didn't share y…

What is the purpose of a pedantic comment like this? The meaning is clearly supposed to be something like, “don’t directly compete with other people, but be the best as something new/different.”

Scott Adams and Peter Thiel have echoed similar sentiments.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#62

Post by apk-d »

GuB-42 wrote: post #56

> Don’t be the best. Be the only. No, if you are "the only" you are going to do that for the rest of your life. Also, it is at odds with the second previous point "Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself". You can't have people smarter than yourself if you are the only. And it is at odds with all the other points promoting sharing and generosity too. If you are the only, it means you didn't share y…

I still think it's very good advice. Barely anyone bothers to share their knowledge, and even less people manage to communicate it effectively. In this context, if you put any amount of effort into sharing, you're probably already "the only" among your close peers.

Just because you're "the only" doesn't mean you're the smartest person in the room. You might, however, have the knowledge in the right areas that makes you indispensable. For example, I often find myself to be the only person around with enough knowledge in the areas of graphics, design and programming to combine them effectively. I might not even be particularly talented in any of them, but very often I'll be the only person capable of knowing how to complete certain tasks.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#64

Post by tangent-man »

GuB-42 wrote: post #56

> Don’t be the best. Be the only. No, if you are "the only" you are going to do that for the rest of your life. Also, it is at odds with the second previous point "Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself". You can't have people smarter than yourself if you are the only. And it is at odds with all the other points promoting sharing and generosity too. If you are the only, it means you didn't share y…

Sm3gin hell geezer, he's not saying he's a Buddha - he aint going to be speaking the ultimate truth at yah.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#65

Post by tpxl »

splatzone wrote: post #12

This page really is a goldmine. In the spirit of not being afraid to ask stupid questions, I don't understand a couple of them - anyone care to explain? > When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation. Is this saying that your reputation dies with you? I don't get this, surely people will remember how you acted when you were alive. I'm probably taking it too literally. > Don’t ever respond…

>> Don’t ever respond to a solicitation or a proposal on the phone. The urgency is a disguise.

>A disguise for what? I'm not sure I get what they mean by this. I'm guessing the author is advising that you don't let yourself be rushed into agreeing to something over the phone, think about it and take your time, don't be pressured

Most of the time when someone pressures you into making a decision quickly, it's for their benefit not yours. Think "if you make this decision now, you'll get a 10% discount!". You don't have the time to decide whether you really need this or not, but that discount sure sounds nice.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#66

Post by gspr »

MaxBarraclough wrote: post #48

> Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with. That's just not true. I will never be an Alan Turing or a John von Neumann, and I dare say neither will you, dear reader. The reason isn't that we're just too lazy. See also the legend (myth?) of Antonio Salieri's jealousy of Mozart's natural talent: When confronted with the limitations of his own mediocre talent, A…

> > Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with.

> That's just not true. I will never be an Alan Turing or a John von Neumann, and I dare say neither will you, dear reader.

The author doesn't claim this either. I believe he means that you shouldn't discount how much you can improve yourself.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#67

Post by hyperpallium »

keiferski wrote: post #61
GuB-42 wrote: post #56

> Don’t be the best. Be the only. No, if you are "the only" you are going to do that for the rest of your life. Also, it is at odds with the second previous point "Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself". You can't have people smarter than yourself if you are the only. And it is at odds with all the other points promoting sharing and generosity too. If you are the only, it means you didn't share y…

What is the purpose of a pedantic comment like this? The meaning is clearly supposed to be something like, “don’t directly compete with other people, but be the best as something new/different.” Scott Adams and Peter Thiel have echoed similar sentiments.

But if it works, soon you're not the only, just have a headstart.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#68

Post by eitland »

fergonco wrote: post #32
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #7

> Learn how to take a 20-minute power nap without embarrassment I've found the lockdown great for trying this - a run, lunch then 15 minutes on the sofa. It's like rebooting the day.

Another unsolicited advice, from a 40yo this time: do not use alarm clocks to wake up. The pressure shifts to the evening because you have to go to sleep early if you want to wake up early. And then it magically happens that you sleep as much as you need. Being a long time supporter of naps I find myself not doing them at all. Of course this applies only if you have flexible hours to work, don't have appointments, et…

40 y.o. here as well.

My life has improved after I started getting up extremely early (0400) four or so years ago. And that doesn't happen without an alarm clock.

My point is not to say that you are wrong but that we might be better off trying different solution for ourselves instead of believing in authorities here or elsewhere.

(I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to normal advice like getting good sleep etc, but don't think that getting up at 0400 will solve your problems because eitland says so and don't think that waking up naturally will solve all your problems. Instead try one, then the other if the first didn't work.)

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#69

Post by shark_laser »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #59
shark_laser wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation. I look at it slightly differently. I interpret it as, you take your reputation with you to the grave because when you die, your reputation as it stands, is as dead as you are. How you act while you're around will be interpreted in one way, but when you're gone, you are no longer around to defend your reputation, or to act in a way that reflec…

It doesn't take a superhuman effort to do better than the society you're in. It just takes recognising the issue , and then a small amount of introspection every now and then; that's beyond most people, but it's still possible. The amount we can (unhypocritically) criticise these people for not doing better than their times is proportional to the likelihood that they would've noticed the systematic issues in their so…

I think you just proved my interpretation of the quote.

When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.

People will judge you based on the values and trends of the day, and chastise you for not being or doing X or Y better.

In other words, you took your reputation with you when you died.

I bet these filthy men also contributed to the spread of disease, there's no way they washed their hands for 20 seconds every time. I bet these immoral citizens compromised the health of their children by painting their walls with leaded paint too.

;)

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#70

Post by MaxBarraclough »

gspr wrote: post #66
MaxBarraclough wrote: post #48

> Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with. That's just not true. I will never be an Alan Turing or a John von Neumann, and I dare say neither will you, dear reader. The reason isn't that we're just too lazy. See also the legend (myth?) of Antonio Salieri's jealousy of Mozart's natural talent: When confronted with the limitations of his own mediocre talent, A…

> > Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with. > That's just not true. I will never be an Alan Turing or a John von Neumann, and I dare say neither will you, dear reader. The author doesn't claim this either. I believe he means that you shouldn't discount how much you can improve yourself.

Which would be solid advice, but he put there is no limit. That's the part I'm questioning.

You'll never get anywhere without self-improvement, of course, but there's no sense pretending we can all be a prodigy like von Neumann - whose natural intelligence was shocking even to the top professors of his day - if we just work hard enough.

There very much is a limit, but one need not be deluded to be motivated or successful.

edit Perhaps the point is meant to be read as 'you can always improve yourself further', rather than 'there is no ceiling on your abilities'. Which seems far more reasonable.

Post reply on HN