(2015)
and just posted a few days ago? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27027188
Learning how to think (2015)
31–40 of 47 posts
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ironic isn’t it? The author complains about people not thinking enough but his articles don’t seem well thought out either. It’s full of reductionism and oversimplications. Slowing down, concentrating, and having lots of time are definitely helpful for thinking but he implies that it is sufficient for thinking and that everyone has that luxury. What about people operating under duress like in wars or pandemics? Can e…
You would have included eating to your list. You sure are taking it out of context. He didnt imply you think before you do everything. Even as Engineers we know that some of the problems we come up against in the course of a project could have been foreseen and tackled if only we spent some time to deeply understand the project.
Now you're taking my point out of context.
I countered with the implication that there may be more important factors than just time for those acting in time-constrained situations to make "good" decisions and that he was oversimplifying, not that we always think before we do everything.
AFAIK, most people don't eat their meals under duress. I could be wrong though.
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#33This notion of "busy people don't make good decisions" seems a bit concerning to me. Even if all my decisions are perfect, and I have free time, why wouldn't I invest this time into something productive? In the end, being busy is just showing the ability to manage time, not necessarily decision making skills.
The author of TFA asserts "busy people don't make good decisions" without citing studies or presenting evidence. You can save a lot of time by ignoring articles like that.
Interesting, I think you're onto something, though others may find it obvious. Any other tricks for filtering time sinks which don't give value without putting the time in?
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#34I would argue that my degrees in philosophy were granted to me while I was learning to think and judge well at university. It's funny that the paper author goes only into multitasking / concentration after wondering why people struggle to think critically. Sure, distracted thinking is generally not good thinking, but slowing down in and of itself won't improve your judgment skills. It's kind of a bummer that after th…
In other words, would you agree that people that make right decision fastest are the smartest? What I mean is that making a good decision while taking a lot of time is much easier than making the right decision without spending much time. In real life we often have to make suboptimal decisions merely because we cannot spend much time on each one.
Only in very simple solution spaces. In general the solution spaces are pretty big and taking a while to mull it over is worth while. Especially for novel problems. If the problem is similar to something you thought about previously or have already encountered them of course it can be responded to. Even the smartest chess grandmaster will play better with more time. And for hiring, I always prefer people that have a great answer in a day or so than an ok answer immediately which they are happy about.
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#35Good thinking is mostly just taking things apart by asking 'why' or 'how' until you arrive at 'don't know' and trying to answer that question.
There actually isn't much more to it.
You can also then combine the whys and hows to create new stuff. That bit people find impressive if it helps them solve an immediate need.
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
In other words, would you agree that people that make right decision fastest are the smartest? What I mean is that making a good decision while taking a lot of time is much easier than making the right decision without spending much time. In real life we often have to make suboptimal decisions merely because we cannot spend much time on each one.
Only in very simple solution spaces. In general the solution spaces are pretty big and taking a while to mull it over is worth while. Especially for novel problems. If the problem is similar to something you thought about previously or have already encountered them of course it can be responded to. Even the smartest chess grandmaster will play better with more time. And for hiring, I always prefer people that have a…
Interesting. I find most people index too heavily on the other direction. There are diminishing returns on thinking at some point for to the inherent imprecision of making decisions in this world. You can make the best decision and things can still go wrong. Or you can have misunderstood the problem. Or you could be solving the wrong problem.
For most ill defined problems, it's best to accept you may be wrong, but make the best quick decision you can, and be willing to reevaluate.
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#37I would argue that my degrees in philosophy were granted to me while I was learning to think and judge well at university. It's funny that the paper author goes only into multitasking / concentration after wondering why people struggle to think critically. Sure, distracted thinking is generally not good thinking, but slowing down in and of itself won't improve your judgment skills. It's kind of a bummer that after th…
In other words, would you agree that people that make right decision fastest are the smartest? What I mean is that making a good decision while taking a lot of time is much easier than making the right decision without spending much time. In real life we often have to make suboptimal decisions merely because we cannot spend much time on each one.
>would you agree that people that make right decision fastest are the smartest?
they are the smartest in that decision space, probably due to training in it and have made a lot of similar decisions in the past.
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#38I think this is not a great article
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author of TFA asserts "busy people don't make good decisions" without citing studies or presenting evidence. You can save a lot of time by ignoring articles like that.
Interesting, I think you're onto something, though others may find it obvious. Any other tricks for filtering time sinks which don't give value without putting the time in?
Who funds the “research” and/or the publication in which it appears.
If one or both of those is a foundation or opaque organisation, who funds it, and what are their interests?
Re: Learning how to think (2015)
#40There's a lot to be said for slowing down, taking time off from the churn to just think. Reading the comments in here, this does not jive with the HN crowd.
Funnily, I have found slowing down, taking time off from the computer screen, thinking while gardening or doing the dishes or whatever, then putting down ideas on paper, makes me a better programmer, and lets me achieve much better technical solutions than if I were to spend my whole day inside of an IDE. YMMV I guess...