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How my genius roommate changed my perspective

farhadg.com

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Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#171

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

athenot wrote: post #110
markus_zhang wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably a story to move the argument forward. But I can explain as the original Chinese version needs a bit of interpretation. Basically the formula can help soldiers fight during winter so whoever has it has an advantage over the other side. BTW the Chinese version if anyone is interested: 宋人有善为不龟手之药者，世世以洴澼絖为事。客闻之，请买其方百金。聚族而谋曰：『我世世为洴澼絖，不过数金；今一朝而鬻技百金，请与之。』客得之，以说吴王。越有难，吴王使之将，冬与越人水战，大败越人，裂地而封之。 Also to answer the…

> They made their livelihood to persuade kings to follow their advices and make profit (in money, fame and land) from it. Early consultants?

Lobbyists

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#173

Post by Dumblydorr »

jbluepolarbear wrote: post #169
Dumblydorr wrote: post #165

I think the word genius is a bit click-baity in this title. Genius is Einstein's year 1905, it's Beethoven writing profoundly inspirational, timeless works while fully deaf. If we cheapen the term genius down to creative maker, or PhD level mathematics, or moving some planks of wood around, I feel we cheapen the greatest insights of historys bonafide geniuses.

Where does this value of only a few can be genius’ come from? Anyone with an exceptional gift, be it intelligence or creativity, is a genius. Using your genius to make a great lasting impact is something only a few will accomplish, but it doesn’t cheapen their accomplishments to call others genius.

It's the word's definition, it's language that matters here. If I say every musician is a virtuoso, it cheapens the playing of Hiromi, Chick Corea, and Coltrane. If I say every athlete is a superstar, it cheapens the label for Lebron and Giannis. If we say someone who repurposes wooden furniture is a genius, it cheapens the monumental feat of Einstein publishing multiple Nobel-worthy articles while writing in evenings after getting home from clerking at a patent office.

The definition of genius is not "resourceful" or "creative", it must indicate a profound mind who greatly improved human society through their intellect.

We shouldn't use terms like genius to drive content to our blogs, unless the word is warranted. That is why I believe it's click bait.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#174

Post by spywaregorilla »

jareklupinski wrote: post #166
spywaregorilla wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This story seems really weird by modern standards. The silk washer gets a great deal. The traveler could likely have offered far, far less because the value he saw wasn't obvious at all to the silk washer. Traditional storytelling would probably have suggested that the silk washer was naive and suffered for it, but he comes out great in this story. The traveler takes a huge risk in assuming this will prove to be a hu…

i have a feeling something got lost in translation; i got the same impression i think we're just used to these 'fables' having some sort of downside for the person who accepted the quick buck, like the gold turned out to be worthless because the person that bought the formula became poor from mis-using it or whatever maybe the lesson is "sometimes payday does come" ;)

haha yeah. It's definitely the quote. The guy exclaims how he is going to get rich quick and how great it is... and then that's the last we hear of him, so I guess it all worked out

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#175

Post by jackTheMan »

geocrasher wrote: post #4

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

Better example might would be with LEGO, not everyone who plays LEGO is genius, but you can definitely be creative with what you have

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#176

Post by mod »

nobrains wrote: post #43

This is amazing. My dad is like this, very resourceful with very less and creative with the limited resources he has as hand, and has lived/survived through life like this. But there is a problem now. As a family, thanks to the incomes of the kids, have enough to survive (and thrive), but he continues with his efficiency-only approach, instead of the just-buy-it approach. - So, we see plastic bottle based plant pots…

You sound really reasonable, so I recommend talking to him, maybe in less absolute terms if he'll still get it, and tell him things like "please spray paint outside" and "please design for aesthetics as well as functionality if the object will not be temporary", or whatever other types of solutions make sense to you. Some kind of compromise.

Or, my real recommendation--search for a new perspective, because you're so close already. Enjoy his objects, celebrate those that work well, and let him keep contributing to his family.

Good luck!

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#177

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #170
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…

This is the kind of story that people use in strong support of Capitalism as a system, and it falls flat for me because it just reads like 'rich man with connections uses his wealth and connections to become richer by exploiting the labor of a poorer man without wealth and connections.'

It could fall flatter if he had stolen the formula. That's what I'd expect from movie version, wouldn't you?

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#178

Post by FarhadG »

geocrasher wrote: post #164
FarhadG wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Author here) Thank you for the thoughtful post and rigor. I've really taken time to reflect on this term and what it means. I still come back to `genius` being associated with attitude/approach/decision-making that may yield certain results. In this case, `resourcefulness` applies to his approach while sharp/smart/genius applies to his attitude and approach. In another way, I find it difficult to deem someone a geni…

Thanks for the reply, FarhadG! I do see how you are applying the term. I get it :) I suppose my reply was a bit pedantic (taking the term "genius" literally) but I do have another thought: I think the word 'ingenious' is a better fit. Check it out: ingenious : having or showing an unusual aptitude for discovering, inventing, or contriving an ingenious detective. 2 : marked by originality, resourcefulness, and clevern…

(Author here) Love that point. Never considered the term `ingenious`

I'm adding a note (as we speak) in the blog post to reflect this.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#179

Post by themaninthedark »

icu wrote: post #32

This reminds me of an 80s tv show called MacGyver which impressed on me as a kid that you can use what you got to get out of tricky situations. I've done loads of different things as a result of this attitude. The only time I stopped to think about the show's wider influence was when I was at University (some time ago) in the Engineering building with my best friend (an Engineering student) and a phone went off with…

I would say that some of AvE's stuff falls into that but he does not filter his language/attitude at times so he is off putting to some people.

https://www.youtube.com/c/arduinoversusevil2025

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