Willingness to look stupid • Hacker News Board

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#11

Post by sampo » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:07 AM UTC

> Covid: I took this seriously relatively early on and bought a half mask respirator on 2020-01-26 and was using N95s I'd already had on hand for the week before (IMO, the case that covid was airborne and that air filtration would help was very strong based on the existing literature on SARS contact tracing, filtration of viruses from air filters, and viral load)

I think this is remarkable, how common people with some level of scientific literacy were able to get this correct much better than the whole medical establishment.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#12

Post by locallost » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:08 AM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #6

locallost wrote: post #3

I felt too insecure to ask (stupid) questions previously because, well, people around you are always confident. But with time I saw there's often not a lot behind this confidence, that someone who has a high opinion of himself is capable of really failing in a very basic way, and that most people are more or less the same. So I talk more freely now, and yes, some people are quick to judge. But whatever.

(OT, but nice username. "I hate when I get locallost on the way to localhost's LAN party...") The judgmental people tend not to matter in the long run, by the way. Sort of. There are two types of judgmental people. One, the people building a team, or making a bet. Two, the people looking to talk about others. The latter don't matter. The former are quick to judge because they have to be. If they're wrong about their…

Right, I don't care. It's my opinion now that I have to be open about what I think or feel because it's just how I am. So if I don't find a common language with someone, then so be it. There are 7 billion other people on the planet.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#13

Post by iamben » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:08 AM UTC

It was a long time ago that I read it, but I'm pretty sure Richard Feynman says something similar in "Surely You're Joking..."

I can't remember his exact words, but my takeaway was not to be afraid of asking super basic questions.

(Also, it probably doesn't need to be said on HN again, but that really is a good book.)

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#14

Post by j7ake » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:10 AM UTC

sampo wrote: post #11

> Covid: I took this seriously relatively early on and bought a half mask respirator on 2020-01-26 and was using N95s I'd already had on hand for the week before (IMO, the case that covid was airborne and that air filtration would help was very strong based on the existing literature on SARS contact tracing, filtration of viruses from air filters, and viral load) I think this is remarkable, how common people with som…

I wouldn’t say “whole medical establishment”. All Asian countries and their medical teams were using masks by that time.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#15

Post by dTal » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:10 AM UTC

bayindirh wrote: post #8

sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

Studying thermals?

They're clearly talking about the packaging, not the computer case.

Without any kind of prior on this person's intelligence, I too would, in the position of the Apple employees, gravitate towards the "moron" theory.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#16

Post by simonswords82 » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:13 AM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

My guess was that he needed a small box in order to fit it in his bag to take home?

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#17

Post by tremon » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:13 AM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

I'm going to guess it's about luggage size restrictions for (air) travel.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#18

Post by orangeoxidation » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:14 AM UTC

sampo wrote: post #11

> Covid: I took this seriously relatively early on and bought a half mask respirator on 2020-01-26 and was using N95s I'd already had on hand for the week before (IMO, the case that covid was airborne and that air filtration would help was very strong based on the existing literature on SARS contact tracing, filtration of viruses from air filters, and viral load) I think this is remarkable, how common people with som…

> I think this is remarkable, how common people with some level of scientific literacy were able to get this correct much better than the whole medical establishment.

I don't think it's remarkable at all. Common people with some level of scientific literacy took basically all kind of stances about masks. Some of them had to be right in the end.

'The medical establishment' otoh had to come to one single common recommendation and as it's only one there's a chance of failure (there were, ofc. individual medical professional and scientists who got it right as well).

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#19

Post by simonswords82 » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:14 AM UTC

iamben wrote: post #13

It was a long time ago that I read it, but I'm pretty sure Richard Feynman says something similar in "Surely You're Joking..." I can't remember his exact words, but my takeaway was not to be afraid of asking super basic questions. (Also, it probably doesn't need to be said on HN again, but that really is a good book.)

Richard Feynman's lectures are available for free online:

https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#20

Post by lbriner » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:15 AM UTC

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but insecure people like me find the lack of affirmation of others troubling sometimes. How many of us get upset/offended if what we think is a high-quality comment on HN gets voted down by a load of people?

We should be confident enough that we stand by comments even if we expect some of them to be misunderstood/unpopular. There are always people who will agree and always some who will agree. Once we can judge ourselves fairly, we won't care what other people think - we can be judged by our outcomes.