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But I cannot help but compare this to negotiation. It is a lot easier when you negotiate from a place of abundance. Negotiating salary is easier when you do not need the job. Negotiating a house is easier when you do not need to buy that house.
I feel like the same applies here. Willingness to look stupid is a lot easier in situations where you have confidence and nothing to lose.
Being willing to look stupid involves actually being able to deal with mistakes and failure, with actually _feeling_ stupid sometimes. Just listing a bunch of great decisions you made that other people thought were stupid seems less life-changing to me.
There is way to much of this bullshit all over the place (e.g. PPE use) and I'm quick to judge people who do it, because I find it a truly moronic attitude.
> 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?
It raises even more (admittedly pointless) questions, like "Is that true for Apple laptops, or all laptops? I bet Dell packs their tiny laptops with a bunch of peripherals or padding. A larger box might get sold more frequently."
And even for Apple, are the boxes physically smaller between different models? I unpacked an M1 MBP the other day and was surprised how large the box was compared to the laptop. I think there's a 13 inch and a 15 inch, and it almost seemed like the box was designed for the 15 inch.
Hmm... This calls for an empirical study. Too bad I don't live across the street from an Apple store anymore, or I'd just go look.
But "How could any of this possibly matter to a CPU designer?" won't be so easily resolved. E.g. even if it's true that the smallest laptop comes in the smallest box, why didn't they ask for the smallest laptop? The salesperson would've been like "Of course, it's right over here." It sounds like he compared the actual sizes of boxes, which is fascinating.
In my experience, there is a slight nuance in the frame here. It isn't just that Mr. Luu is "willing to look stupid", it is that he has confidence that his decision making process will on average turn out better decisions than the go-to default strategy that most people employ ("copy the crowd"). Most people, if they rely on their own research and decision making, will do poorly. And even moderately clever people gen…
Why is that?
A honest man would not "Willingness to Look Stupid" if he is not stupid.
> 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…
It is a bit condescending in my view to withhold that information from the clerk. But then again, I'm only making assumptions. Also, I've done similar things where I refused to let on my internal reasoning for various reasons. Sometimes just to mess with people. And clearly, many people thought me a fool for it. If I'd actually told them my reasoning? In many instances that would not have improved their opinion of me. So no loss.
There are also many instances where I could have benefited immensely from sharing my reasoning, because people could have corrected my mistaken assumptions. Can't say I've got it figured out when to keep shut and when to share.
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…
"You don't need more control over everything, you need more courage". In a lot of ways that dovetails with Dan's comments.