How my genius roommate changed my perspective • Hacker News Board

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#111

Post by ethbr0 » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:28 PM UTC

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #84

jacquesm wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's all true, but given that both parties were evenly matched before picking winter to do battle required something to tip the advantage to the attacker who picked that time because they had a solution to the problem of dealing with chapped hands, which in the age of manual combat may well have been of such importance that the outcome was all but certain. Asterix joke: "The Romans, upon learning that the English r…

somebody is wrong on the internet and IT'S YOU!!! In Asterix in Britain https://asterix.fandom.com/wiki/Asterix_in_Britain the Romans attack during the time the British are having their hot water - with maybe a little bit of milk in it. Before the final battle when all seems to be lost because the barrel of magic potion was sunk in the river Asterix announces that they have the makings of the magic potion (pulling so…

Wait, there's an ongoing alternate history French comic that's been published since 1959 about warriors from Gaul fighting the Roman Republic under Caesar?

I admit, retconning your arch-foe's national non-alcoholic drink of choice is fairly grand, but I feel like you buried the lede there.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#112

Post by tiepoul » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:34 PM UTC

I can definitely agree that close friends also affects on how you think.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#113

Post by the_only_law » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:36 PM UTC

doctoboggan wrote: post #58

There is something very fulfilling (at least to me) about working this way. Not solving the problem in the best way, but solving it in the way you can _right now_. When I was younger this was how I solved most problems, but in my professional life I can't really do that (and for mostly good reasons). I follow someone on YouTube who moved to a small island in Panama, built his house, many boats, and lots of other item…

> When I was younger this was how I solved most problems, but in my professional life I can't really do that

I find the same, mostly because my motivation to solve problems has changed significantly.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#114

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

brobdingnagians wrote: post #41

Reminds me of the story of Zhuangzi, the Chinese philosopher, on how one thing can be used in very different ways: There was once a man from Song who was skilled at making ointment for chapped hands. For generations, his family had made their living by washing raw silk. A traveler happened to hear of it and offered to purchase the formula for a hundred catties of gold. The man called his family into conference and sa…

(Author Here) Thank you for sharing. Very strange that I've heard of Zhuangzi from various interesting folks but have rarely found much info on him.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#115

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

sandreas wrote: post #6

Nice article. Unfortunately there is a limitation to this way of thinking in my daily business - the WAF ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor Luckily the articles' principle doesn't only apply to building furniture. Edit - Clarification: This comment describes only my personal situation and should in no way harm anyone. It is a satiric way of stating out that if you are not alone in your apartment…

(Author here) To be fair, he asked our roommates about using materials from our shared living space.

I'll be using WAF in the future, however :)

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#116

Post by iJohnDoe » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #88

greybox wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny it's been re-posted as new though, I wonder if the author is the original one ....

I bet the whole post is an ad for the wim hof nonsense.

Glad someone else noticed. I knew I read this many years ago. Not complaining though.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#117

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:40 PM UTC

doctoboggan wrote: post #58

There is something very fulfilling (at least to me) about working this way. Not solving the problem in the best way, but solving it in the way you can _right now_. When I was younger this was how I solved most problems, but in my professional life I can't really do that (and for mostly good reasons). I follow someone on YouTube who moved to a small island in Panama, built his house, many boats, and lots of other item…

(Author here) I share your perspective. As you can tell, it was eye opening and it really started to shape how I approach problems. I'd love to check out those YouTube channels.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#118

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

bch wrote: post #11

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” -George Bernard Shaw Edit: proper attribution

(Author here) I've heard this before and it's a good reminder.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#119

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

tiepoul wrote: post #112

I can definitely agree that close friends also affects on how you think.

(Author here) Over time, I've found that my environment affects me much more than I had ever thought.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#120

Post by ethbr0 » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

madaxe_again wrote: post #34

sandreas wrote: post #6

Nice article. Unfortunately there is a limitation to this way of thinking in my daily business - the WAF ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor Luckily the articles' principle doesn't only apply to building furniture. Edit - Clarification: This comment describes only my personal situation and should in no way harm anyone. It is a satiric way of stating out that if you are not alone in your apartment…

The WAF is not incompatible with this way of thinking - it just requires you to extend your creative reach to come up with solutions that are also aesthetically pleasing. Me, I like to work with negative space when I’m making furniture - take stuff away to create something, add as little as necessary. I also have my fair share of Heath Robinson contraptions, but as long as I keep them invisible (i.e. tucked away in a…

Side note: angle grinders are vastly underappreciated

Maybe it's because I didn't grow up (completely) on a farm, but between circular saw (regular blade), angle grinder, and circular saw (diamond blade) you can cut and shape just about everything with enough care.