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Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

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

#731

Post by kgin »

soneca wrote: post #18

News == entertainment. Originally by Aaron Swartz http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews Although I have slightly different takes from his and the level of avoiding the news might be different too, but the core idea that I follow these days is there. I used to think following the news was a mix of my duty as a citizen and important for my life, personal and professional. Now I believe it's quite the opposite, I be…

There is a paradox here that while it's not important for you to know about 99.99% of the things that happen and are reported in the news, the fact that people are paying attention disincentivizes people in government from doing bad things in the extreme.

So it's not the news that you consume that improves your life, it's the news you never have to consume that improves your life.

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

#733

Post by jimnotgym »

mam2 wrote: post #624
groby_b wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assume good intent until proven otherwise . Because there are plenty of people who'll repeatedly treat you like shit, and then continue to demand you assume good intent. To which I say, pardon my french, fuck that noise. People are entitled to the benefit of doubt only as long as there can be doubt. Once that is gone, act accordingly.

where was the french in this ?

It is an English expression to say "pardon my French", before using expletives or crude language.

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

#735

Post by kaybe »

colourgarden wrote: post #646
nstart wrote: post #575

From my father: No matter how correct you are, you won't get anywhere by making the other person feel stupid. He gave me this after we went together to a conference on communication and I found the presenter to be making some rather doubtful statements. I asked questions and tried to break the presenter in the QnA session and when I didn't get what I wanted, I left. I was 15 at the time. So, I forgive myself but stil…

It's been a few years since I read it but one of the early topics in How To Win Friends And Influence People is on a similar track to this: You can't make people do something. They have to want to do it (unless you're the big boss ruling through fear). I've found it's much more productive to present information or an argument so that the other party is not made to feel stupid and is willing to accept it.

Even then it helps not to expect people to change their mind right there. Especially in the case of relatives with weird ideas, it can be helpful to not go into a discussion with the explicit aim of them seeing the problems right now but to just plant a few seeds.

I've seen it quite a few times that after a few days we talked about it again and they had shifted their opinion to be more in line with the presented evidence without ever really acknowledging it.

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

#737

Post by kaybe »

roystonvassey wrote: post #597
nstart wrote: post #575

From my father: No matter how correct you are, you won't get anywhere by making the other person feel stupid. He gave me this after we went together to a conference on communication and I found the presenter to be making some rather doubtful statements. I asked questions and tried to break the presenter in the QnA session and when I didn't get what I wanted, I left. I was 15 at the time. So, I forgive myself but stil…

On similar lines, the anecdote at the beginning of this speech - https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate... -changed my life too. Since then I’ve been trying to follow - it’s harder to be kind than clever. So many cringe-inducing interactions where I was a total jerk just to come off as the smarter guy. Feels awful and I strive to not behave like that anymore. This quote serves as an anchor.

I didn't expect that story to be from Jeff Bezos. It is so at odds with the way we hear low-level Amazon employees are treated.

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

#738

Post by fredsir »

gfodor wrote: post #706
fredsir wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wor…

Yes, I’m aware of this meme, which echoes loudly on twitter, yet it’s still wrong.

How so?

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

#739

Post by vmception »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #716
vmception wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to point out the primary indices like the Nasdaq and S&P500 kick out poorly performing companies. So they very well could go up x% per year if their managers felt like it. It doesn't really bound to the marketcap of its components, just their relative marketcap amongst each other.

If you assume we've only tapped 10% of the planet's economic capacity (raw materials, energy, human support capacity) then we're only about 30 yrs from exhausting this planet. To continue doubling we'll need a new _a new earth_ every 12 years to continue it's growth rate. This is the point of the video, that when you're consuming a finite resource, you cannot have infinite growth and when you're 1 doubling away from…

I understand that talking point and that's not the point of my response.

The "stock market" - particularly the indices that are improperly used to show the health of the market - can indeed continue going up to infinity for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with physical production of physical goods.

If that rocks your world so much and would like to know more then let me know

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

#740

Post by iamgopal »

toufka wrote: post #364
Waterluvian wrote: post #299

A decade of success against steep odds later, I ran into the high school teacher who I idolized and who helped me actually achieve something. Most teachers tolerated me or insulated the rest of the classroom from me. But he put in the effort to get me engaged with something that got me to sit down and try. I was excited to show him what his work had helped me accomplish. He had two things to share with me: 1. He does…

But it's also much more than that - he's not just a guy, he's one of just a few guys that put in the effort to do their job well and honestly. And that positive daily effort had profound effects on the lives of people he cared about. (And conversely, those that did not put in that effort did not create profound and positive wakes). And that idea can be paid forward. There are plenty of times one doesn't get to go bac…

Paying forward is such a powerful concept. I know where I am being fairly successful is due to tons of people to whom I may not pay back, but doing the similar helpful gesture to other people is so empowering. Hopefully the link never breaks.
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