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Fierce Nerds

paulgraham.com

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Re: Fierce Nerds

#241

Post by 1auralynn »

mistersquid wrote: post #232
jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #224

For years I've labeled this nonsense the Midas Delusion: people get dramatically unusual success with their startup, and then conclude that they somehow have superior insight into every banal topic they choose to opine on. They fail to properly understand the path dependency and sheer luck that played a roll in their success, nor that the biggest lesson their success should teach them is humility in the socratic igno…

> I am so very weary of this nonsense being taken seriously as sage advice. Agreed. In fact, in the featured article, the author makes reference to the hard science achievement of Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA as follows. > And moreover it's clear from the story that Crick and Watson's fierce nerdiness was integral to their success. Their independent-mindedness caused them to consi…

Also ignores the fact that the "discovery" of the helical structure of DNA was based on the unpublished work of Rosalind Franklin and others

Re: Fierce Nerds

#242

Post by ModernMech »

SyzygistSix wrote: post #204
Bukhmanizer wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a clear definition of self-doubt that doesn’t overlap with underconfidence? Because if the terms we’re using are so broad that a person can both be described as overconfident and underconfident, then as I say elsewhere this just looks like cold reading.

It's the difference between feeling and acting. A person can feel a lack of confidence and feel doubt and still act confident or overconfident. Lots of people, like artists, visionaries, and weirdos who make strides to live a unique life have to act confidently to get to that life yet many also have a lot of self doubt. They just do the brave thing to move ahead with their vision even though it could likely end in fa…

> A person can feel a lack of confidence and feel doubt and still act confident or overconfident.

This is essentially the pathology of a narcissist.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#243

Post by goldenchrome »

1cvmask wrote: post #47

I think we should confine this to the primarily US setting (and maybe parts of the English speaking world like Canada). In most of the rest of the world being top in academics is expected from everyone especially to pass standardized tests (the only way in many countries) to get into universities. The poor outnerd the rich fiercely so that they can step up. The rich try to nerd so that they can maintain their privile…

I think what you're describing is undergraduates. In the US we don't typically say that undergraduates are academics. Usually, people who are academics will complete a masters and/or PhD where they do independent study and publish a thesis. Afterwards, many of them hope to stay in academia for life, or continue their work as a researcher in a private organization.

Academics have to go through undergraduate programs too, but most non-academics end their education with a bachelor's degree simply to help them get a (typically) non-nerdy job.

Other countries have students who study harder than Americans, for sure. As someone with a multi-ethnic background, I find that students in lesser developed countries have fewer options in their future so they study hard as a student for the chance to make it out of poverty. Students in highly developed nations don't worry as much because they think they have a decent standard of living waiting for them regardless.

I don't think that (for example) India has dramatically more nerds than (for example) America because being a nerd is driven by your personality. Nerds genuinely enjoy studying in particular and they find ways to do just that. Nerds can end up as doctors or engineers but typically nerds aren't primarily motivated by careers. I think you notice this difference in the wide prevalence of cheating in poorer countries. Non-nerds feel the pressure to study but they're not actually interested in the work so they cheat to get by. Cheating exists in America too, but there's less risk of falling into poverty so students who aren't interested in a subject will more often accept a low passing grade.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#244

Post by slibhb »

flaubere wrote: post #226
slibhb wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wrote a gonzo book full of insensitive over-the-top passages, like the one you're referencing, in order to sell books. It worked. He created a literary persona that people loved or loved to hate. It's a huge leap to go from "you wrote x passage" to "you may be biased against women". If you want to fire someone for bias, you need evidence of bias, not a theory that someone might be biased.

I think if you write something which says 'I am biased', the burden of proof is now on you to show hiring managers that it was all a bit, rather than on them to demonstrate that it wasn't.

Well you're wrong. The burden of proof is to show examples of bias.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#245

Post by chmod600 »

version_five wrote: post #197

I see the description he puts forward as essentially fitting contrarian types. Speaking as a contrarian myself, I think the biggest challenge / trap is it's easy to point out things that are wrong or stupid, but tougher to do anything positive about it. I think this equates to the idea about avoiding becoming bitter. Also, something he missed, and the curse of the contrarian, is "the market can stay irrational long e…

I'm not convinced that it's a bigger problem now. In many ways, the ancient world was much stickier. A king could have a bad idea, and it could persist through generations before it falls to better ideas.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#247

Post by goatcode »

TIL "fierce" in the nerd world means having a massive ego and a severe over-estimation of how awesome you are. These kinds of people make me sick, regardless of whether they're nerds.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#248

Post by dreyfan »

albatruss wrote: post #11

If you're going to be this sort of fierce nerd, make sure you come from money, because you're getting fired if you pursue these traits in the workplace.

Assuming those traits come alongside the ability to get shit done, that’s patently false.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#249

Post by joshuamorton »

mjburgess wrote: post #193
jfengel wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm... just so ya know, practically everything in "wokeness" is about somebody saying "Please don't paint me with the broad brush you're using." I think most of what you identify as "wokeness" is other people who aren't directly affected trying to help out, since the affected people are usually a minority who won't be heard if it's just them. That can lead to its own forms of tone-deafness and "you're not helping" be…

> practically everything in "wokeness" is about saying.... Please don't paint me with the broad brush you're using. Err.. really? I mean, that's the definition of individualism against which many "woke" people would object. Even you say, "since the affected people are usually a minority". This is just false, if we take minority to refer to the usual "protected subgroups". The relevant sense of Woke here, seems to me,…

> It's a sort of perverse individualism. It's just substituting a different type of broad brush. Rather than starting with a maximally individual analysis (and hence construe treatment in terms of procedural fairness), rather, start by a group analysis and place individuals within those groups (and hence talk about aggregate distributional outcomes).

> Don't paint me with a broad brush" means let me speak for myself alone. This attitude is antithetical to analysis which begins with "minorities",

This is, I think "just be race blind". Wokeness, as you seem to be describing it is an ideology that recognizes that identities impact how a person is perceived. To fairly judge an individual, you have to take into account that, because of their race or gender, their work may have been misvalued or falsely attributed.

For better or worse, society discriminates, and recognition of that is a part of fairly judging people as individuals.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#250

Post by bigmattystyles »

jfengel wrote: post #223
bigmattystyles wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with a lot of what the 'woke' are trying to achieve; police reform, less bias (call it institutional racism, etc..) in government institutions, address massive generational wealth gaps, etc... but the 'woke' are mostly reductive and reactionary and are the kings and queens of painting with a broad brush.

Thank you very much for that demonstration.

Touche...
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