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A Project of One’s Own

paulgraham.com

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Re: A Project of One’s Own

#31

Post by edent »

monoideism wrote: post #24
austincheney wrote: post #13

If I had to choose between my kids getting good grades and working on ambitious projects of their own, I'd pick the projects. And not because I'm an indulgent parent, but because I've been on the other end and I know which has more predictive value. When I was picking startups for Y Combinator, I didn't care about applicants' grades. But if they'd worked on projects of their own, I wanted to hear all about those. Tha…

> common sentiment reminds me of reading history about lynchings in Jim Crow era and sun down towns I'm about as far from woke or PC as you could imagine, but that's an incredibly inaccurate comparison. Reading some developer scorn or arrogance, no matter how unfortunate or annoying, shares no common features with an actual lynching.

Perhaps you would describe yourself of being aware of the negative power that racialised language can have on people? And now you've realised that, it seems wrong to draw distasteful comparisons - not least because of the potential reaction of your peers.

It is almost like you've had an awakening and realise that it is important to understand how important it is to behave in a politically savvy way.

If only we had some words for that...

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#32

Post by choonway »

[2]Oh but it already has happening in Singapore. IF the kid can't make it through the conventional academic path, and has to rely on the discretionary route, there are plenty of coaches who will 'teach' your kid how to interview and even 'help' write the essay on his 'interests'.

Of course, the interviewers can easily spot those coached this way, but that is not going to stop the tiger mom from doing what she wants.

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#33

Post by martindbp »

> If I had to choose between my kids getting good grades and working on ambitious projects of their own, I'd pick the projects.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Unfortunately kids in Sweden have to attend school by law, homeschooling is not allowed. By extension, you're not allowed to go on trips, or take any other time off without permission from the school. As my kid is only 3, I'm not sure how strict they are with this, but it feels very suffocating to me. I want him to have breathing room to spend time on projects and whatever he's passionate about, even if that means missing out on regular school for a while or getting worse grades. The last resort is to move abroad, but that has obvious downsides. The intention for this law was probably good: ensure that all kids get an education, and are not brainwashed by religious nuts, but it really really bothers me.

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#34

Post by UncleMeat »

nindalf wrote: post #19

> That's why it's a mistake to insist dogmatically on "work/life balance." Indeed, the mere expression "work/life" embodies a mistake: it assumes work and life are distinct. For those to whom the word "work" automatically implies the dutiful plodding kind, they are. But for the skaters, the relationship between work and life would be better represented by a dash than a slash. So I guess this is what I'll be told the…

Yeah this is horseshit for everybody except maybe founders. I'm selling my labor for money. If I work harder and the company does better, this translates into almost no extra benefits to me, with all of the net benefit going to the owners. I want "work/life balance" because I am being paid for a very specific amount of work and I want my employer to keep its nose out of the rest of my time.

At least with a founder they capture more of the economic output of their overwork, but even then you hear so many stories of families that have been sacrificed at the altar of entrepreneurship that I can't even support this approach for most founders.

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#35

Post by bko »

ampdepolymerase wrote: post #28

> If I had to choose between my kids getting good grades and working on ambitious projects of their own, I'd pick the projects. And not because I'm an indulgent parent, but because I've been on the other end and I know which has more predictive value. When I was picking startups for Y Combinator, I didn't care about applicants' grades. But if they'd worked on projects of their own, I wanted to hear all about those. T…

Why does everything written on the internet immediately trigger such a dunk reflex in some? Is your comment productive to the ideas presented in this article?

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#37

Post by TeMPOraL »

ampdepolymerase wrote: post #28

> If I had to choose between my kids getting good grades and working on ambitious projects of their own, I'd pick the projects. And not because I'm an indulgent parent, but because I've been on the other end and I know which has more predictive value. When I was picking startups for Y Combinator, I didn't care about applicants' grades. But if they'd worked on projects of their own, I wanted to hear all about those. T…

pg wrote, "When I was picking startups for Y Combinator". Did the YC application state that back then?

Also, is it known how YC is actually evaluating those? Myself, if I were trying to pick people to fund, I'd consider grades a weak signal, and apply a concave, ^-shaped function to it, i.e. bad grades are obviously bad, but if the grades are all perfect, this may indicate lack of independent thinking.

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#38

Post by mpfundstein »

UncleMeat wrote: post #34
nindalf wrote: post #19

> That's why it's a mistake to insist dogmatically on "work/life balance." Indeed, the mere expression "work/life" embodies a mistake: it assumes work and life are distinct. For those to whom the word "work" automatically implies the dutiful plodding kind, they are. But for the skaters, the relationship between work and life would be better represented by a dash than a slash. So I guess this is what I'll be told the…

Yeah this is horseshit for everybody except maybe founders. I'm selling my labor for money. If I work harder and the company does better, this translates into almost no extra benefits to me, with all of the net benefit going to the owners. I want "work/life balance" because I am being paid for a very specific amount of work and I want my employer to keep its nose out of the rest of my time. At least with a founder th…

i think you really didn't get the message, did you? maybe read it again, carefully, and then edit your initial post

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#39

Post by KozmoNau7 »

nindalf wrote: post #19

> That's why it's a mistake to insist dogmatically on "work/life balance." Indeed, the mere expression "work/life" embodies a mistake: it assumes work and life are distinct. For those to whom the word "work" automatically implies the dutiful plodding kind, they are. But for the skaters, the relationship between work and life would be better represented by a dash than a slash. So I guess this is what I'll be told the…

It really speaks to how little PG understands the realities of being an employee, rather than a founder or "visionary" or some such high up idea person.

I enter into employment with an employer, and the terms are laid out in a contract, possibly based on an agreement the company and a union.

My employer gets to call the shots during the working hours, as specified by the contract. For anything outside of that, they have no say in what I do, and the less they know about it, the better. Work is something I have to be compensated for, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

I bring very little of my private life into work, just what seems reasonable for general interactions with my colleagues and talk about random subjects over lunch. I'll talk about a recent concert I went to or a nice restaurant, and that's it. We can have a beer at the Friday bar and some small talk, but colleagues != friends. We have a professional and cordial relation, not a friendship.

Conversely, I also don't take my work home with me. My phone and laptop get shut off completely at the end of the work day, and they do not get switched on before I am at the office again (or around 8 when WFH).

My time is mine, and that is non-negotiable.

Re: A Project of One’s Own

#40

Post by GavinMcG »

mpfundstein wrote: post #38
UncleMeat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is horseshit for everybody except maybe founders. I'm selling my labor for money. If I work harder and the company does better, this translates into almost no extra benefits to me, with all of the net benefit going to the owners. I want "work/life balance" because I am being paid for a very specific amount of work and I want my employer to keep its nose out of the rest of my time. At least with a founder th…

i think you really didn't get the message, did you? maybe read it again, carefully, and then edit your initial post

That comment is entirely unhelpful, and a net negative with the condescension. If you think someone misunderstood, help them by restating the idea in a way you find more understandable.
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