Wow. Reading through Wolfram's post, I stopped and decided to listen to one of his livestreamed software design sessions. Who knows what the right model is, but it's very very clear from at least this video (https://youtu.be/y_M7qtfjjjs) that he's deeply technical and incredibly actively involved in development. I really want to know how effective he is as an organization's manager and not their product manager...
Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
31–40 of 110 posts
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#32Is Gwern [1] actually Stephen Wolfram's alter ego? Two sides of the same coin
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
no idea why this was downvoted, except possibly by people who don't know about wolfram
It's honestly just a boring comment. Yes we all know Wolfram is self-indulgent and overly long-winded, nothing new there, no need to belabor the obvious. The question is whether there's anything of value to be gleaned from his novella-length blog posts. If you think not, then just downvote or flag article submission. But if you actually read the whole thing and found specific things of value, and want to summarize th…
> The question is whether there's anything of value to be gleaned from his novella-length blog posts. If you think not, then just downvote or flag article submission.
Flagging, I've always felt, is sort of heavy-handed for "I disagree with". I use it for spam and the like.
There is no "downvote" feature, for article submissions. Which is why it is disappointing when low quality reads like this makes it to the front page.
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#34I've always found Stephen Wolfram's thoughts to be overly self indulgent, and this is no exception. But it is illuminating since it reveals what I most loathe: the productive life. Being productive is not a good. It leads to wanting to attach a computer to oneself while going on a walk outdoors!
This is a common sentiment on the Internet. But when I look around at the people I know, none of the people who are anti-productivity are people I admire. In fact, the pro-productivity people do much more of everything with better outcomes. - The pro-productivity people are more involved parents and family members - The pro-productivity people are more involved in hobbies - The pro-productivity people create many mor…
Having read that blog post as well as others like [1], I'm not convinced Wolfram has the time to fulfill those bullet points in a fully engaged manner. He appears to be constantly working (or at least be available for calls and meetings) from waking up at 11am to going to bed at 3am, with a 2-hour dinner break.
I dunno, he's clearly not your average Joe. I also enjoy my work but it's more stressful than going for a walk or playing the guitar. At work there are expectations and deadlines, and I have to plan and manage my time, and update the right people when there are delays or scope changes etc etc. Going for a walk you can just be whatever you are in the moment, you don't have to do or be anything that's asked of you for a few hours.
[1] https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-ana...
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#35My intuition is that all of the benefit you get being outside and walking is probably lost by strapping a laptop to yourself and being on calls the whole time. Call me old fashioned but I'm outside to look at the sea, hear the birds and be very definitely away from my tech.
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#36I've always found Stephen Wolfram's thoughts to be overly self indulgent, and this is no exception. But it is illuminating since it reveals what I most loathe: the productive life. Being productive is not a good. It leads to wanting to attach a computer to oneself while going on a walk outdoors!
This. I felt an almost cringe-like reaction from reading the article. It reminds me of Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. At some point being productive becomes the end goal and no longer a means to an end, and you've lost touch with the beauty of just going on a walk in nature.
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#37I've always found Stephen Wolfram's thoughts to be overly self indulgent, and this is no exception. But it is illuminating since it reveals what I most loathe: the productive life. Being productive is not a good. It leads to wanting to attach a computer to oneself while going on a walk outdoors!
Productivity people remind me of that one KRAZAM video [1].
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#38Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#39My intuition is that all of the benefit you get being outside and walking is probably lost by strapping a laptop to yourself and being on calls the whole time. Call me old fashioned but I'm outside to look at the sea, hear the birds and be very definitely away from my tech.
For the last year or so I have scheduled my two status meetings back to back in the mornings. That means I have 90 minutes of walking in the forrest in the morning (30min before the meetings and then 30min each for the two meetings).
I have two teams reporting to me, and each have a 30minute morning meeting where we decide what needs the team attention during the day. There is also room for small talk to keep it a bit social.
Those meetings do not need screensharing very often. When they do, we can manage to look briefly at a phone screen.
It has been wonderful and it is something I would miss if I ever had another job. I encourage the others in the team to do the same thing.
Walking in the forrest have two benefits; less risk of getting hit by a car, and, it’s more quiet of a background for when I unmute.
Highly recommended!
Re: Seeking the productive life: Some details of my personal infrastructure (2019)
#40What a fascinating person! Personally, I prefer to run 10 miles on a trail in the morning then go to work and grind. Vs trying to combine exersize and work.