Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#1

Post by samcgraw » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 6:33 AM UTC

I seem to constantly have 1-2 large ideas in my mind that I chew on in the background, which seem to arise (or give way to something bigger) from reading or a lengthy discussion with a coworker or friend. For example: "what is the best way to organize a liberal democracy of >100M citizens?"

I'm wondering if there is an approach people have that best helps to organize, prune, and work through large, fundamental ideas such as these that they'd be willing to share.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#2

Post by benjaminjosephw » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 7:32 AM UTC

Being able to work through big ideas is really just a process of breaking a problem down into component parts and seeing how those parts interact and connect (much like with software). I'd recommend the book "How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens for some strategies on how to do that.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#3

Post by TechNerds » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 9:05 AM UTC

Break large ideas into chunk size pieces. Focus of solving/understanding that piece and gradually build up momentum to tackle the bigger pieces. I love the book "Atomic Habits" and it tackles this issue in a much bigger context.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#4

Post by semicolonandson » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 1:48 PM UTC

I give each of these big ideas a folder on my computer and then fill that folder with markdown documents and think aloud via writing. The core idea is that I don't want to lose the momentum of my thoughts. Maybe that might be helpful for your use-case.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#5

Post by g8oz » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 4:33 PM UTC

Markdown files. Even better software that supports the concept of Markdown notebooks like Vnote. Organize your thoughts in a heading hierarchy.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#6

Post by tech_taxpayer » Thu, Nov 26, 2020, 9:53 PM UTC

Whatever that solution to your example is, pls don't raise tax. It's already too high.

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#7

Post by juliushuijnk » Fri, Nov 27, 2020, 12:04 PM UTC

I use my own app[1] for when they're small, when it grows into a project, it often has to do with code, so then I have a repository with a todo txt file in it.

I also use the concepts app [2] on my tablet to draw out mindmaps / charts /etc.

I use taskpaper vim plugin so I can quickly collapse and expand items to not make the file too overwhelming. In the file I group topics / questions based on what makes sense for that project, and at the top of the file I often have a 'topic' where I can quickly dump thoughts, that then later have to be refactored into one of the real topics.

I hope to one day find a way (and the time) to connect my ideas app with the repo txt file approach, so I can sync both.

Conceptually I think the hard part of most problems is figuring out the real important questions you want to ask yourself. Once you think you know them, then the answer is either obvious, or requires you to do something (research, build prototype, etc).

[1] Idea Growr app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.juliushuij...

[2] Concepts app - https://concepts.app/en/

Re: Ask HN: How do you work through large ideas?

#8

Post by mrmonkeyman » Fri, Nov 27, 2020, 12:12 PM UTC

Take time off, go offline and have deep thoughts. Record everything.

In 90% of cases: you need to ignore these thoughts as they can be time-consuming. You are not going to solve anything worthwhile related to organizing a 100M democracy if you are not in that field. You will not just "pick it up" unless you are a freak of nature and you are not.