Live data from Hacker News

I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

secondbreakfast.co

121–130 of 217 posts

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#121

I have learned the same thing about myself: I am (relatively) successful not because my grit allowed me to keep doing something which I disliked but were rewarded, but because the things I enjoy doing are things which are valued by our society. I realized this after reading the following Warren Buffet quote[1]: "I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependen…

...and that's why he also said on Monday: "If you took someone and asked them, without them knowing whether they'd be born boy or girl, black or white, with or without any relevant talent, or to rich or poor parents, and asked them when and where they'd like to be born. They'd answer, 'The US, in modern times'. There is no place on Earth, and no time in history, that a person can make the most of their talents, as to…

Economic mobility is down in most wealthy nations, especially in the US. Not to mention the demonstrable differences in outcome people have based on familial wealth, race, location, etc.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#122

I have learned the same thing about myself: I am (relatively) successful not because my grit allowed me to keep doing something which I disliked but were rewarded, but because the things I enjoy doing are things which are valued by our society. I realized this after reading the following Warren Buffet quote[1]: "I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependen…

...and that's why he also said on Monday: "If you took someone and asked them, without them knowing whether they'd be born boy or girl, black or white, with or without any relevant talent, or to rich or poor parents, and asked them when and where they'd like to be born. They'd answer, 'The US, in modern times'. There is no place on Earth, and no time in history, that a person can make the most of their talents, as to…

Another classic: "I think that actually people in my situation should be paying more tax." - Warren Buffett

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#123
The concept the OP may be looking for is Aristotle's Techne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techne

In the things you do in your life, you are either a spectator or a participant, and if you are just a critic of something, you are a spectator. Really good seats don't make you a participant either. Physical competence is a different way of relating to the world.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#124
post #8

It is impossible to be really good at everything.... when I optimized for work, my fitness goals went through the window. When I optimized to get a project done, my reading (books) went down as well. When I optimized for fitness (working out and soccer), my work and side projects started progressing slower. It is very hard to work on your project at home, when you are in a intense bulking, or 'cutting' phase, and onc…

> It is very hard to work on your project at home, when you are in a intense bulking, or 'cutting' phase, and once you come home form the gym you just want to chill....

Zero excuse for this IMO. A work out of 1 hour is good enough and it’s only 4% of a day. Muscle growth happens when you sleep, so allocate 7 hours. Eating meals to bulk up isn’t hard.

Drink 30g protein shake with each meal, on top of the protein you get from your meals (another 30g or so) and you should be able to meet daily protein requirements (0.8-1g protein per day per pound of body weight). Then just make sure you’re getting the carbs and fats you require.

It’s easy, but there’s a catch. Your wrist size will be and indicator of how much muscle you can pack on your frame without steroids. If you don’t have big fat bones for your wrists then forget it your body’s bone structure does not provide enough surface area to attach as much muscle as you’d probably like. You will never be big naturally, so just focus on being lean.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#125
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you have a kid and realize just how much free time you actually had...

Hah, that actually works more than once, as in "Then you have a(nother) kid and realize just how much free time you actually had".

Every night I think "hey I ought to hack on that little side project" after the 2 year old goes to bed but then the 6 month old wants to be held and cuddled and there's no way I'm telling her no so I can go work on a Scrapy project. It can wait.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and that's why he also said on Monday: "If you took someone and asked them, without them knowing whether they'd be born boy or girl, black or white, with or without any relevant talent, or to rich or poor parents, and asked them when and where they'd like to be born. They'd answer, 'The US, in modern times'. There is no place on Earth, and no time in history, that a person can make the most of their talents, as to…

The problem with the that quote is that "it's better now than before" is used my large political movements to justify cancelling the effort that got us here, and letting us backslide.

Will Durant has an interesting quote that has stuck with me, something along the lines of: Out of every 100 new ideas, 99 of them will be bad, and inferior to what was replaced.

My impression is that "It's better now than before" is used to protect the effort that got us here, not cancel it. It's used to protect us against the 99 bad ideas.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#127

I have learned the same thing about myself: I am (relatively) successful not because my grit allowed me to keep doing something which I disliked but were rewarded, but because the things I enjoy doing are things which are valued by our society. I realized this after reading the following Warren Buffet quote[1]: "I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependen…

...and that's why he also said on Monday: "If you took someone and asked them, without them knowing whether they'd be born boy or girl, black or white, with or without any relevant talent, or to rich or poor parents, and asked them when and where they'd like to be born. They'd answer, 'The US, in modern times'. There is no place on Earth, and no time in history, that a person can make the most of their talents, as to…

I see how it could sound weird to the eyes of an American, but the only place where I think his statement would be incorrect is Western Europe. A part from that I'm confident that a majority of people around the world would very much like to either have been born in the US or give their children the opportunity to live there.

At least where I'm originally from, emigration to the US is seen as an an incredibly desirable outcome even more so than to europe. Though personally I'm glad I've ended up in canada! Funnily enough, my parents first choice was still the US and they only tried for Canada when they didn't get picked in the Us Visa lottery.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#128
post #79

I have learned the same thing about myself: I am (relatively) successful not because my grit allowed me to keep doing something which I disliked but were rewarded, but because the things I enjoy doing are things which are valued by our society. I realized this after reading the following Warren Buffet quote[1]: "I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependen…

Thanks for that. I have often thought that boy, I would really have suffered had I been born in medieval or Roman times because I don't know what I would've done if I didn't work in IT. I would describe the feeling as guilt, and it took me some time to just accept that things are the way they are.

I figure without tech, I'd be a monk or clerk.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#129
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's good advice, particularly if you're someone with a short attention span who's constantly jumping from project to project. Nowadays, it's so easy to see just how far the talent pool is across the globe. You see the awesome cello player on Instagram, the amazing 3D games artist on Twitter, the world class gymnast on TikTok. You get so excited and inspired, and naturally, you w…

Indeed. Also, nobody posts their failures online. You only see success, and the path to that success is hidden or even misrepresented (“I made this in an afternoon!” ... and 5 years working 8h/day on the necessary skills).

Definitely! It's understandable to want to hide the 99 crappy things you did before the 100th that came out looking good. What's more, a lot of us actively go back and scrub the failures from our history.

It's stupid, but I'm guilty of it too. I am trying to catch myself, though. It's easier to be more candid once you start having a bit of success.

Re: I was tricked into thinking I had “grit”

#130

The concept the OP may be looking for is Aristotle's Techne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techne In the things you do in your life, you are either a spectator or a participant, and if you are just a critic of something, you are a spectator. Really good seats don't make you a participant either. Physical competence is a different way of relating to the world.

"What I cannot create, I do not understand." —Feynman

Francis Bacon established the same idea as the foundation of the scientific method in "Novum Organum."

Post reply on HN