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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

#751

Post by kgin »

sdegutis wrote: post #497

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. Anyon…

> Anyone who does enough research on this topic and has a good and honest heart will eventually become Catholic

This is a big claim. You're saying that anyone who isn't catholic either hasn't done enough research or doesn't have a good and honest heart?

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

#752

Post by spookybones »

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…

I'm mixed on Tim Ferriss, but he also advocates this. His take is that if it's important enough news, then you will hear about it from your friends. Hearing about something a day or a few days later usually doesn't make a difference. I believe he also advocates trusting your friends' opinions when you need to vote and make political acts. However, this essentially is a selfish position that only works if a few people do it.

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

#754

Post by lifebeyondfife »

There are two versions of you: the experiencing self and the remembering self. If you only pleasure the experiencing self then you make lots of short term decisions e.g. it's the experiencing self who enjoys the cake, but the remembering self gets almost no benefit from it. Worse, they have to deal with the consequences of the extra calories.

I'd convinced myself that there were things I didn't like so I wouldn't do them anymore, like travelling for long holidays. But after hearing this idea I realised sometimes the pain and inconvenience of being away from home, and being stressed by travel is a temporary pain for the experiencing self. The remembering self however gets lifelong benefit.

I use this model to analyse the cost/benefit to each persona which helps make better long term choices.

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

#756

Post by mikorym »

possiblelion wrote: post #741
mikorym wrote: post #657

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a pianist that went throught this. The first time I wrote something of my own "taste" was when I was 15. A couple of somewhat important guys told me "We can't wait until you are 18." This is the only field in which I had this kind of luck. (I am about 30 now and I can write a song within about three days that I would be happy with. A more recent one was when I took an Estonian poem by Johan Liiv and set it to mu…

How did you happen to take Juhan Liiv's poem without knowing Estonian?

I asked an Estonian which poet's work to use and then bought the book [1] where his poems are translated to English.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Drifts-Sing-Essential-Translatio...

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

#757

Post by spookybones »

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…

Sadly, this post retroactively suggests that we should not care about his arrest and death.

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

#758

Post by progre »

kieckerjan wrote: post #610
sanfranciscoave wrote: post #593

The quote "We often suffer more in imagination that we do in reality" has really stuck with me. I consider myself to be a bit of an introvert and this idea has helped me tremendously with networking and meeting new people. I often project the worst casinario in my mind, but in reality, outcomes are almost always positive and enjoyable.

“I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”

This sounds like every John Green-vlog ever
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