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No More “Insight Porn”

jakobgreenfeld.com

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Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#111

Post by Sebb767 »

Swizec wrote: post #86
danaris wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class.

> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere . Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.

I don't know why this is getting downvoted. Yes, inequality exists and it sucks, but you still need to make the best out of what you have.

Also, a lot of people seem to far overestimate the work and risk involved. This doesn't help really poor people, obviously, but the amount of people with sufficient money, backing and time that complained they'd start a company if they "only also had $20 million backing from their parents" is staggering.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#112

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

layer8 wrote: post #80
recyclelater wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jocko willinck (and many others I am sure) likes to state that you can’t rely on motivation because it comes and goes. Rely on discipline, build habits using discipline if you want to get anything done. A trite but in my opinion helpful statement is discipline equals freedom.

That sounds like insight porn. How do you build discipline if you’re undisciplined? How do you decide what to be disciplined about?

I've found the best way to build discipline is to find someone with discipline and have them keep you accountable. This could be a mentor of some kind. Granted finding that may be equally as hard as doing it on your own.

Also you don't necessarily need discipline in the actual thing you want to do - you just need to know what it means to be disciplined in something and then you can extrapolate your behavior in discipline itself to then be disciplined in something.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#113

Post by saalweachter »

rjtavares wrote: post #94
thenerdhead wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most would call it luck, most self-help "insight porn" from the 1800s would say it is "fortunate" because you are in control of influencing it with your previous actions. If a complete stranger became your big customer from the same scenario, that would be luck.

Can we stop pretending theses things aren't luck? Sure, there's merit involved - but that's a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. There's a million competent people having basically the same drive and capability. The thing that makes a difference is luck. Period. Please note: this doesn't mean that succesful people don't deserve the success - most times they do. It's just that there are many more people, equal…

If "luck" is a dirty word in the startup world, I would at least like acknowledgement that the pathways to success are frequently not replicable.

Sure, nothing is certain, but some career paths are much more replicable than others. Maybe not everyone can work at a FAANGAMMATRON, there's a certain amount of luck, but "get a big tech job, work it for twenty-thirty-forty years" is still a fairly replicable path to moderate wealth.

You can look at the types of actions people took to get a big tech job (probably either "attend a prestigious university, apply straight to big tech" or "attend a decent state university, work any job in between for experience, apply to big tech") and there's probably a double-digit percent chance of you being able to replicate it.

You take any of the paths founders took to a successful company, it's almost impossible you'd achieve the same outcome trying to replicate it.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#114

Post by bombcar »

Sebb767 wrote: post #111
Swizec wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere . Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.

I don't know why this is getting downvoted. Yes, inequality exists and it sucks, but you still need to make the best out of what you have. Also, a lot of people seem to far overestimate the work and risk involved. This doesn't help really poor people, obviously, but the amount of people with sufficient money, backing and time that complained they'd start a company if they "only also had $20 million backing from their…

People don't want to admit it involves hard work and luck - they'd rather think that Bill Gates got to where he is because of his parents (even though there are thousands/millions with similar parents and backgrounds who didn't get even close).

Because one line of thought leads to: "I couldn't do anything, the game was rigged from the start" and the other leads to "I didn't do as much as I could have done."

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#115

Post by recyclelater »

anotheruser092 wrote: post #109
layer8 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like insight porn. How do you build discipline if you’re undisciplined? How do you decide what to be disciplined about?

> "How do you build discipline if you’re undisciplined?" Willink's answer is "Just do it." Very charitably, he suggests you should do things you ought to, even if they are painful and you don't want to do it. This actually has some backing in cognitive-behavioral therapy by starting with action first before motivation. Uncharitably, it's not nuanced if there are deeper reasons why you should actually consider to not…

I’ve always viewed his content through the lens of being your own boss, so being overworked and taken advantage of by an employer might happen, but if you don’t have the ability to work through things you don’t want to do, you can rarely succeed on your own. A boss is a great way to always have external motivation. That doesn’t exist when you work for yourself.

Great points by the way. I would also add that Jocko Willinck is a master teacher in self promotion. The pioneer of “monetize my navy seal career”, but I do feel it’s mostly genuine and valuable content.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#116

Post by strken »

juve1996 wrote: post #82
strken wrote: post #52

It's genuinely useful to know that making $X a year is the same as Y clients paying $(X / Y / 52) a week, if you've never thought about a business in concrete terms before. Obviously this is old and repetitive if you're a working software engineer who's been reading HN for years and has seen a ton of motivational LinkedIn bullshit, but it's the kind of thing a career councillor might go over to make running a busines…

> One of the later tweets is "pick business partners...with integrity." They're both good bits of advice. Really? This is good advice? Is "don't work with a known thief" also good advice? Most people know this already. They make it seem like it's this grand knowledge. it's not. It's worthless advice dressed up to sound good.

One of my (distant and now deceased) family members got ripped off by a business partner who fled the country, who he knew was slimy but decided to trust for some reason. Yes, it would have been good advice for him.

It's not grand knowledge unveiled by the Secret Brotherhood of Hidden Twitter Masters, it's just...normal good advice. You shouldn't go into business with crooks. People do it all the time, and it often ends poorly for them. "Eat your vegetables" and "take your car in for a service when it makes weird noises" are also good bits of advice, for the right audience.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#118

Post by paskozdilar »

Swizec wrote: post #86
danaris wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class.

> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere . Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.

It might not be helpful to the individual, but it provides a useful guideline for society - everyone is capable of doing great stuff, as long as the means for doing so are provided.

I'd bet my life on this - if every homeless person was given a place to live, recovery from addiction (if needed), mental health counceling, education and a job, a significant percentage of them would become productive members of society.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#119

Post by jjj123 »

Swizec wrote: post #86
danaris wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class.

> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere . Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.

You’re right it’s not helpful towards the goal of becoming an entrepreneur or whatever, but I disagree that it’s not helpful at the macro level.

We should all have this basic understanding of how our society works, and how our plutocrats got to be in the position they are in. We’re fed myths that they all started from the bottom and worked hard enough and smart enough to get where they are, and you can do it too! And if you can’t, you’re just not as smart or hard working as they are. These myths serve the people in power by preserving the status quo. I believe it is helpful to remind people that we should change the status quo instead of adopting a “grindset” to get yours within it.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#120

Post by ianbutler »

alecbz wrote: post #104
thenerdhead wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a new idea. Just a new messenger for the modern era. Marcus Aurelius was talking about this thousands of years ago. > At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets…

> Not even "discipline", but what is "nature". So… not what Jocko is talking about?

Nature in this context would be things you have to get done except more of a belief that each person has a specific pre defined role. He's still very much talking about using discipline to accomplish this role and often self admonished for not getting more of his own role done.
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