Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#491

Post by hammock » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:24 AM UTC

tomhoward wrote: post #433

The power of the subconscious mind. Without actively seeking it, I happened to stumble on this idea about 8 years ago, at a time when I was struggling with some pretty big problems in my relationships, career and physical+mental health. Since then, I've been living "as-if" the biggest factors that influence my reactions, choices and outcomes are in my subconscious, and that by continually undertaking practices that i…

What are these "practices that identify and resolve subconscious fears, biases, resentments, attachments, etc"?

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#492

Post by mroche » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:27 AM UTC

Not sure where this originated, but I learned it from one of my martial arts teachers growing up:

You know what you know. You know what you don’t know. You don’t know what you know. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#493

Post by hombre_fatal » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:29 AM UTC

khazhoux wrote: post #367

paulcole wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste Like saying “How bout them Cowboys” at a club in Dallas. Everybody wants to think they have good taste and everybody wants to be told they have good taste. Of all the people who read that quote and nod along thinking, “yes this is me” how many are actually right?

I don't think you should be downvoted, because you speak truth. The comment/quote is factually wrong: not everyone who gets into creative work has "good taste", nor is Ira Glass correct that you just need to plow through it. Go peruse an end-of-senior-year art exhibit or dance recital at your local college. Bless 'em, they worked hard and gave it their best, but usually the raw creativity and talent isn't there.

You're really getting lost in the weeds.

Glass' is talking about good taste by your own standards, and standards that are higher than you can achieve as a beginner. Whether other people think you have good taste is irrelevant to the quote/advice.

The point is to not let this discourage you from putting in the work.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#494

Post by fredsir » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:30 AM UTC

Dumblydorr wrote: post #138

fredsir wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Elon Obviously, it's also a good advice to be born with wealth from the blood of an emerald empire. Hyper-rational, being born wealthy. Great advice! Kidding aside. I'm just sick of people putting people like Elon up on a pedestal. Look at all the rich, successful people out there. How many come from wealth, and how many come from dirt poor conditions and just worked themself up? Working hard is good advice, but it…

Would you deny Elon has a knack for finding great opportunities and executing? He's at the head of two of the most innovative companies, you make it seem like hes totally lucky and there's nothing to his approach.

Indeed. He has some great ideals, I think. And he is great at finding brilliant people to work for him, it seems. But is he anymore brilliant than what thousands or millions of other people would be were they giving his shoes? I don’t think so.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#495

Post by DeepYogurt » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:31 AM UTC

The concept of opportunity cost.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#496

Post by kevmo314 » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:32 AM UTC

daxfohl wrote: post #473

The recognition that the greatest success of modern marketing is having subconsciously convinced us that things are harder than they are, and there's a right way to do things. I can't run a server without AWS. I can't run an email server without O365. I can't clean a toilet without toxic blue stuff. Lots of things are actually pretty easy and cheap, and whatever makes you happy is the right way to do it.

I recently started a vanilla js project and I've gotta say I'm pretty happy with it.

Granted, it's sitting on top of an Electron + Webpack stack so I don't have to worry about compatibility, but hey, small victories, and both of those were to solve explicit problems I ran into in the project, not just a choice because I was comfortable with them.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#497

Post by sdegutis » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:33 AM UTC

The idea that maybe there really is a God after all, and that it's a cop out to assume that, just because it's unlikely for us to know for sure, therefore no breadcrumb trails about God or religion are really worth following.

I'm unable to describe the magnitude of the amazingness of the world I found, simply by wanting to believe that God is real, and then finding out that the Resurrection actually did happen. Anyone who does enough research on this topic and has a good and honest heart will eventually become Catholic.

God how I wish I had looked into this years earlier, but I didn't because I assumed it was just too unlikely to be worth investigating. What an awfully powerful fallacy.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#498

Post by wayne_skylar » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:35 AM UTC

endymi0n wrote: post #150

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot o…

I think the problem I have is that I don't understand how to get good at something that I have good taste in. Of everything that I've been able to learn I've always had some sort of pleasure in the doing. I enjoyed my C++ assignments in college. I've enjoyed learning the basics of woodworking.

I love art and would love to learn to paint or draw but I can't figure out how to enjoy the small victories there. It's not about being objectively good but about enjoying an "ah-ha" moment where you feel like you've gotten better. Any advice for me? I'm very open to anything but I just can't seem to enjoy learning a lot of the activities that I value more than anything.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#499

Post by fredsir » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:38 AM UTC

gfodor wrote: post #167

fredsir wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Elon Obviously, it's also a good advice to be born with wealth from the blood of an emerald empire. Hyper-rational, being born wealthy. Great advice! Kidding aside. I'm just sick of people putting people like Elon up on a pedestal. Look at all the rich, successful people out there. How many come from wealth, and how many come from dirt poor conditions and just worked themself up? Working hard is good advice, but it…

Being born into wealth helps, but it also hurts. If you have something to lose, its harder to take risks. Elon put all of his wealth on the line for SpaceX and almost lost it. Anyone, from him down to the person who scrapes together pennies to start a risky business to make a better life for themselves, deserves respect for taking risks to achieve their dreams.

Elon knows that money is something he can always get, because he has gotten them before. Also his family is rich. He knows that worst case is he goes to them and get some millions and back to work again.

Rich people aren’t taking any real risks by using their money. The people taking the real risks are those putting their lives and livelihood on the line every day, doing the dangerous, back breaking, mind numbing work for the rich people with the money, while the rich just look on from a far while their workers are doing the actual work for them using their resources and making them even more rich while the workers doing the actual job have nothing to gain in comparison themselves, often being far closer to personal and financial ruin everyday than the rich ever are.

Elon isn’t risking shit.

That those with money that invest them is taking the risks and thus also deserves the rewards is a myth, is a ruse, but it’s not hard to figure out who would stand to gain from such a myth.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#500

Post by p410n3 » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:41 AM UTC

darkerside wrote: post #393

afpx wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My life experiences don't match your mental model, sadly. Maybe it has to do with where and how one grows up? For example, I know with certainty that my parents, teachers, and first bosses were enemies. A lot of people on HN seem to have grown up in safe, nurturing, loving environments. But, remember that most of the world's people didn't. I don't mean to call you out - just saying that I would love to have had your…

Most people grew up with parents who love them. They might not know how to show it, and I'm sure there are exceptions, but love for offspring is about as close as it gets to universal human experience. Parents may not express that love all the time, and may even harm their children in spite of it. And they will probably hate themselves after the fact for it. I was oversimplifying, of course. You can certainly end up…

I know for a fact my mom loved me and only wanted my best when beating the crap out of me.

Intentions don't even matter in such cases. The end result does