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No More “Insight Porn”

jakobgreenfeld.com

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Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#171

Post by pwinnski »

enos_feedler wrote: post #4

Out of the 3 "Insight Porn" examples linked in the article, I think the Paul Graham essay seems out of place. I know I know, this is hacker news. Yet another person sticking up for pg. But I just don't think this essay (or others) is really trying to boil some dream/goal into steps. In fact, in the "How to get startup ideas" referenced in this post, pg says: "So if you can't predict whether there's a path out of an i…

The link was specifically labeled with a line from the essay: "Live in the future, then build what's missing." PG goes on to say that's how "many if not most of the biggest startups got started," which sounds more descriptive than proscriptive, since the proscription seems like nonsense.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#172

Post by MisterBastahrd »

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 do have to start somewhere. It's also important to know which goals are realistic relative to what position you're in.

If you're poor, do you go for the moonshot, or do you go for being middle class and then adjust your expectations once you're comfortable that you've achieved your initial goals? Going from nothing to something is more impressive than going from something to... more something.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#173

Post by wnolens »

suction wrote: post #18
boomskats wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, too, am a huge fan of Nathan for You [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_for_You

Best comedy on TV. Basically anything Fielder has touched so far, was gold. Or maybe it's because his brand of comedy really works for me, personally.

The latter. I can barely watch him. I'll admit he's incredibly original and I really appreciate a skit or two. But he borders on sociopathic, and his latest movie is a great encapsulation of that.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#174

Post by juve1996 »

ReptileMan wrote: post #132
juve1996 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Everybody forgets the basics from time to time and needs to be reminded. There are people that are surprised when the partner who cheated with them in their previous relationship also cheats on them in the current.

I don't know if I buy that.

> There are people that are surprised when the partner who cheated with them in their previous relationship also cheats on them in the current.

Is it that these people don't know the risk, or they willingly choose to take the risk, because of some potential reward, such as having a partner? I say that is more likely. A lot of people know things are bad decisions and do them anyway - often because of hopes.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#175

Post by wnolens »

Torwald wrote: post #15
yamrzou wrote: post #8

My guess is that a big chunk of the "insight porn" and self-help landscape would fade away if it was subject to a data driven evaluation. Given a piece of advice or a self-help book, how many people did actually change their behaviour after reading it? And did the change persist long-term? Unfortunately, such data is not available.

Tony Robbins says in one of his audios (can't remember which, otherwise I would link), that 80% of the books he sold are just collecting dust, because people just buy them in order to pat themselves on the back for having done something for their personal development.

Maybe that says something about the quality of his words. He is a kingpin of insight porn.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#176

Post by diehunde »

mmaunder wrote: post #162

“Many people that truly accomplished amazing things, when asked for the key to their success come up with some framework or playbook that they, in fact, never used themselves.” And they rarely share the messy awkward embarrassing reality of their journey.

This is why I'm not a big fan of "Things that any [insert career] should know" or "things I wish I'd known" type of articles. The path to mastering something is always unique, messy, and unstructured. It's impossible to replicate your journey by telling someone to read X, read Y, and do Z. All of that needs to be internalized as part of a slow journey that can't be accelerated too much. Your brain needs to learn how to filter noise, find patterns and get used to thinking a certain way. You might lose a year learning something that became obsolete; guess what? You still learned tons from that. We don't need to babysit junior people too much. They can find their way into becoming great SWE just like any great SWE who complains they learned something too late in their careers or that nobody told them something before did.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#177

Post by falcor84 »

bombcar wrote: post #39
MOARDONGZPLZ wrote: post #28

I got super lucky. I started a company and didn’t really have any meaningful traction. I was about to shut it down. Walking out of the grocery store one night after work, I passed by my former manager when I was an intern. We got to talk for about 30 seconds, mentioned my company, she asked me to email her. I did, and that very quickly led to my first big customer which makes me about double what a FAANG swe would ma…

"Get lucky" is always the key - however, you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things (for example, you couldn't have gotten lucky if you hadn't started the company, nor if you hadn't bothered to talk to people).

The book "Conspiracy: A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire's Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire" is a wonderful example of how what seemed to be a lucky break for Peter Thiel was actually a product of extensive preparation for an opportunity to take revenge on Gawker.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#178

Post by jackling »

philipodonnell wrote: post #44
ycombinete wrote: post #2

Jonathan Haidt speaks about something similar in The Happiness Hypothesis . Epiphanies can only take you so far, before their novelty wears off and they lose the power to change your behaviour. This is why self-help book readers tend to keep reading self-help books. 4 weeks after finishing one they need another hit of epiphanies. Even the lamest examples listed in the OP article can probably give someone a boost in p…

"Epiphanic rush" is such a accurate but bittersweet term for this. It must be so ingrained in human psychology from the days of shamans, prophets and sages.

"days of shamans, prophets and sages"

Are these really examples of what is described? The spiritualism gained from those entities persist to this day. Wars were fought and people continue to live by what those entities taught. Sounds different from the short lived rush that is being discussed.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#179

Post by soulofmischief »

eloff wrote: post #134
nthypes wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is only true if the "unlucky" payout is not that big, so you can increase your "luck surface" without worrying about the effects for "unlucky" results, otherwise increase your "lucky surface" could increase your downside of "unluckyness"

Technology startups are naturally kind of like this. They have limited downside and unlimited upside. However, in my life that limited downside has cost me a lot of money in opportunity costs over twenty years. I might be retired had I been able to work for money with the same energy and time I applied to my startup projects. But reality isn't quite like that, I would have been so unhappy doing that, it wouldn't have…

Solidarity, friend. Keep doing what makes you happy, keep learning every day, keep trying new things, keep meeting new people, and you're giving yourself the best odds you can get.

Re: No More “Insight Porn”

#180

Post by jackling »

wholinator2 wrote: post #79
ycombinete wrote: post #2

Jonathan Haidt speaks about something similar in The Happiness Hypothesis . Epiphanies can only take you so far, before their novelty wears off and they lose the power to change your behaviour. This is why self-help book readers tend to keep reading self-help books. 4 weeks after finishing one they need another hit of epiphanies. Even the lamest examples listed in the OP article can probably give someone a boost in p…

Yeah, I agree. Though I will say that doesn't mean epiphanies aren't valuable long term. A little boost to get you started might translate into a huge change in personal circumstances 10 years after that small boost. Without a couple months with Jordan Peterson relaying not just the possibility but the nobility of looking people in the eyes, entering the forest at the place that looks darkest to you, etc. I would alm…

What always surprised me about Peterson was the fact that so many people swear by his videos. There's multiple claims about how his videos changed their lives or saved them. However, his methodology couldn't keep his own life from going awry.
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