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Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

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11–20 of 81 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#11
"Always be the smartest (eg, 'most well informed' or 'best educated') person in the room - ON SOMETHING".

Or to paraphrase slightly "Have a thing that is your speciality, to the point that you are almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room w/r/t that topic."

I think this is a valuable idea to keep in mind, even if it remains forever an aspiration (which it probably will if interpreted in the strictest sense).

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#12

"Always be the smartest (eg, 'most well informed' or 'best educated') person in the room - ON SOMETHING". Or to paraphrase slightly "Have a thing that is your speciality, to the point that you are almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room w/r/t that topic." I think this is a valuable idea to keep in mind, even if it remains forever an aspiration (which it probably will if interpreted in the strictest se…

That’s the opposite of advice I’d give to someone. If you’re the smartest in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#14
post #12

"Always be the smartest (eg, 'most well informed' or 'best educated') person in the room - ON SOMETHING". Or to paraphrase slightly "Have a thing that is your speciality, to the point that you are almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room w/r/t that topic." I think this is a valuable idea to keep in mind, even if it remains forever an aspiration (which it probably will if interpreted in the strictest se…

That’s the opposite of advice I’d give to someone. If you’re the smartest in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.

What if my room is planet earth?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#16
post #12

"Always be the smartest (eg, 'most well informed' or 'best educated') person in the room - ON SOMETHING". Or to paraphrase slightly "Have a thing that is your speciality, to the point that you are almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room w/r/t that topic." I think this is a valuable idea to keep in mind, even if it remains forever an aspiration (which it probably will if interpreted in the strictest se…

That’s the opposite of advice I’d give to someone. If you’re the smartest in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.

I don’t wanna be harsh but sounds like a shallow line of thinking. Can you expand?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#17

“Try to never be the person who cares the most” was an offhand remark my dad made to me when I was stressed over a group project in school. It helped me what in hindsight would’ve been very stressful situation many, many times.

I fall for that. Generally is a good advice, clears up your mind. Also, not all fights are worth fighting.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#18
post #16
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s the opposite of advice I’d give to someone. If you’re the smartest in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.

I don’t wanna be harsh but sounds like a shallow line of thinking. Can you expand?

If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’ve likely surrounded yourself with people “worse” than you in some way. How can you grow in such an environment? You want to surround yourself with people smarter than you so that you can learn from them and grow. So if you’re the smartest person in the room, then you should go find a new room with smarter people. Unless you’re the smartest person on earth of course ;)

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#19
post #12

"Always be the smartest (eg, 'most well informed' or 'best educated') person in the room - ON SOMETHING". Or to paraphrase slightly "Have a thing that is your speciality, to the point that you are almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room w/r/t that topic." I think this is a valuable idea to keep in mind, even if it remains forever an aspiration (which it probably will if interpreted in the strictest se…

That’s the opposite of advice I’d give to someone. If you’re the smartest in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.

Depends on what you want. If you are designing the next James Webb telescope, you are in the right place if you are the smartest in the room regarding one subject, like aligning mirrors, or testing the folding mechanism. It gives enormous responsibility, which you can and should share with others, but I don't see the downside here.

If you're starting with a new career, learning on the job, it's not good if you're the smartest in the room. Then you need to find a place where other people can teach you.

It can also be read as a ego-booster. If you know the most of all people about basketball at a birthday party, it's a cool thing to talk about.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best piece of advice someone has told you?

#20
From this Ted talk on making tough decisions. https://www.ted.com/talks/ruth_chang_how_to_make_hard_choice...

If your making a tough decision, you have already determined that both options are equally attractive and equally good decisions. If this wasn't the case, it would be an easy choice. So if you are choosing between two seemingly equally good decisions, your choice doesn't matter. They are both equally good options, and so are the same level of risk in having a bad outcome.

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