Advice is best regarded as suggestions for future experiments. Nothing beats trial and error plus a willingness to do new things.
Most advice is pretty bad
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Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#12VC give pretty bad advice in general. Their advice is the the description of founders they want to invest in. Most of the founders they give money to, more or less follow the advice they give (not directly, but because they have been selected like that). But as all vc most of their companies fails, showing that the advice in fact doesn't work.
Don't forget that if they really knew what to do to start a successful company they wouldn't be investors but founders
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#13I think part of the dynamic here is that when people give advice it often comes from one of two very different modes:
1. There's a piece of advice I want to give, and I'm going to give that advice to some degree regardless of the question or situation. Maybe I'll wait for a question where my advice fits, or maybe I won't, but it's a play _I_ want to suggest, so I'm going to suggest it. For example, "use Django" is advice I might give to anyone who asks anything about web apps because I know Django and it's easy advice to give.
2. I really listen to what someone's asking, and give them specific advice for their situation, without letting it be colored by my own experience or the moves that have worked for _me_ in the past.
The second is a lot less common! It's really hard to pay that level of attention, and force yourself to question your own assumptions. But it's also a lot more useful, since it's specific and tailored.
Critically, in a blogging context, only the first mode is really possible. There isn't someone asking for the advice, it's just me writing a blog post for some imagined asker. This is why most unsolicited advice isn't that useful, which absolutely includes whatever blog post you're reading. Including one of mine.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#14Most advise is like: do what I did, if you were me, in the exact place and time as I was, surrounded by the same people as I was, and so on...
I think advise in the form of a small life lesson is more helpful. For example: 'Take good care of yourself if you work hard.' is more helpful than 'Work hard to become successful.'.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#15“smile” is an exception
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#16Our obsession with non-obvious advice stems from our base addiction to novelty. For good reason, pathways in our brain become myelinated and more efficient the more often we use them, to the point where we can process well-worn thoughts almost subconsciously. Thus, toys we've played with too long become boring. Advice we've heard too many times before seems blah.
We're hardwired to notice more when we encounter things we've never heard or seen before. Novel advice just pops.
However, most good advice is common advice. In practically any field, grokking the fundamental advice and actually sticking to it will get you 99% of the way there. As Charlie Munger once said, "Take a simple idea, and take it seriously."
But the fundamentals are boring. We'd prefer to ignore them and say, "Yeah yeah I know that already," even if we're totally ignoring it. Then we retweet the next dopamine hit of novel advice we see on Twitter.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#17I think part of the dynamic here is that when people give advice it often comes from one of two very different modes: 1. There's a piece of advice I want to give, and I'm going to give that advice to some degree regardless of the question or situation. Maybe I'll wait for a question where my advice fits, or maybe I won't, but it's a play _I_ want to suggest, so I'm going to suggest it. For example, "use Django" is ad…
I don't mind 1 if I know what it is. It's an existence proof of sorts. "I took this path to get somewhere and the fact I got there" tells you something about the level of obstacle on the way.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#18Work smart, not hard.
If you knew how dumb I am, you'd realize it's not up to me.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#19I disagree strongly with the article's central thesis, but it is still worth critically examining the source and utility of advice. Even honest and sincerely given advice is often more a form of nostalgia on the part of the giver than a lucid examining of your specific situation and the nuances therein. It's most often a form of "well this is what I wish I'd done when I was in a similar situation years ago" or "here'…
I’m reminded of a quote from the “Wear Sunscreen” song/speech from back in the 90s:
> Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
Re: Most advice is pretty bad
#20I disagree with the article somewhat, I think a more accurate take is that the well of good advice that is generally applicable is fairly shallow and once exhausted is not worth revisiting. From there you need to start looking for advice with an eye to the specific context of your life.
For me personally, the first time I understood that my life would be really easier if I was really good at something, and that the best way to get good at something was to work at it every day, was a bit of revelation. That may sound a bit silly to say, but we don't come into this world knowing everything. The advice has improved my life immensely and is exactly the advice the author is bashing but it was only good because I understood how to apply it.