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Merlin's Wisdom Project

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Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#61

Post by criddell »

layer8 wrote: post #47
criddell wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a couple of minor carpentry projects going on. I could finish them quickly if I bought or rented great power tools. I don't want to spend the money though, so I'm using mostly hand tools and manual labor.

My point is that I wouldn’t say that that labor comes for free. In any case, that triangle would then not apply in a commercial setting, where you have to pay those doing the labor, in addition to it taking time.

If for your project, time == money, then you only have two tradeoffs and this bit of wisdom wouldn't apply to you.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#62

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

criddell wrote: post #61
layer8 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that I wouldn’t say that that labor comes for free. In any case, that triangle would then not apply in a commercial setting, where you have to pay those doing the labor, in addition to it taking time.

If for your project, time == money, then you only have two tradeoffs and this bit of wisdom wouldn't apply to you.

Take this far enough and you end up with something like the Linder Theorem.

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/06/th...

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#63

Post by ChildOfChaos »

noirbot wrote: post #22

> Never argue on the internet. No one will remember whether you won or lost the argument; they'll just remember that you are the sort of person who argues on the internet. This is burned in my mind and doesn't anchor enough of my judgement of what to engage with on the internet yet, but I've never yet been steered wrong by it. EDIT - This is equally applicable to realms outside of the internet. You have to be really…

This is a really tricky one for me, particularly on reddit, I don't know why people post such stupid things online or have to argue with everything, but then sometimes I do wonder, how much they are just me, because I get enraged with what they say and end up arguing back. So am I any better than when I do that? and I don't want to be that person, so I need to learn to let it go, but outrage is a hell of a drug.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#64

Post by hnfong »

noirbot wrote: post #22

> Never argue on the internet. No one will remember whether you won or lost the argument; they'll just remember that you are the sort of person who argues on the internet. This is burned in my mind and doesn't anchor enough of my judgement of what to engage with on the internet yet, but I've never yet been steered wrong by it. EDIT - This is equally applicable to realms outside of the internet. You have to be really…

You're doing it wrong.

You gain nothing by winning arguments. It's when realize you were wrong and the other side passionately tears apart your argument is when you learn the best.

Most people don't know how to learn from being wrong on the Internet, but for the those who do, they also might have something to gain when I'm right.

I don't know why some people think "the sort of person who argues on the internet" is some kind of low life. There are those who don't dare to argue, there are those who are irrationally afraid of being wrong, there are those who have lost passion for anything worth making a stand, and there are those who overly worry about what others would think of them. These people don't argue on the Internet, and I don't want to be any of those people.

That said, choose your battles. But don't be a coward.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#65

Post by hnfong »

aidenn0 wrote: post #3

> Frequently ask yourself: do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy? I always felt that people giving this advice assume the latter is preferable. Is there something defective about me if I prefer the former?

I'm with you.

The problem is that the issue is phrased too crudely.

I don't want to be ignorantly happy and wrong. My definition of being right implies me being happy or at least at peace with myself.

It may mean disengaging with a pointless discussion, letting somebody wrong have the final say, etc. Because that means I'd made a "right" decision.

The false dichotomy is really unnecessary.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#66

Post by aidenn0 »

hnfong wrote: post #65
aidenn0 wrote: post #3

> Frequently ask yourself: do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy? I always felt that people giving this advice assume the latter is preferable. Is there something defective about me if I prefer the former?

I'm with you. The problem is that the issue is phrased too crudely. I don't want to be ignorantly happy and wrong. My definition of being right implies me being happy or at least at peace with myself. It may mean disengaging with a pointless discussion, letting somebody wrong have the final say, etc. Because that means I'd made a "right" decision. The false dichotomy is really unnecessary.

I think you may be overly hung-up on the wording (not that the wording isn't important; another reply to my comment suggested a wording I like better); I'm trying to engage the statement with the sentiment I believe it is trying to convey, which I think is different from the sentiment in the statement "ignorance is bliss" and is more of a sentiment against pedantry.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#67

Post by aidenn0 »

zoogeny wrote: post #60
aidenn0 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are optimizing for "truth" and everyone else is optimizing for "happiness", you might find yourself optimized out of the equation. When this happens to me, the "optimizing out" is usually mutual, and when it is unilateral it is as often from my side as theirs.

That is totally possible. One thing to watch out for is the fable of the fox and the grapes. The fox is unable to get the grapes from a high branch and so wanders away thinking "they are probably sour". It is just a reminder that sometimes when we can't get something we want we use a defense mechanism to protect our ego. Kind of the point of "wisdom" though is the judgement to know when it applies and when it doesn't…

Your point about sour grapes is well taken; indeed I think about 50% of human brainpower is used to rationalize why the choices we have already made (or are likely to make in the future) can't be wrong.

> And so "being on the same wavelength" goes both ways. Although, if you find that you are always requiring others to always be on your wavelength and you are never willing to match theirs, that might be another thing to self-reflect on.

Very true. I'll give an analogy: I really don't like the game Ticket to Ride. If I'm going to a weekly game group I'll sometimes play Ticket to Ride because playing games are a social activity, which requires compromise. However if the group is playing Ticket to Ride a majority of the time, we are all happier if I just find a different gaming group.

Re: Merlin's Wisdom Project

#68

Post by LeSaucy »

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #28
ChrisArchitect wrote: post #27

Who?

Was wondering if everyone was supposed to know who this was....read some of the comments that mention these kinds of wisdom lists ending up on HN here and there... It's like a name that seems sorta familiar but dunno if it just sounds like someone else from tech or something. Interesting a quick HN search shows a bunch of shares posts that got any traction but they're all like 14-15 years ago? Was Merlin Mann more of…

You look nice today was one of the first comedy podcasts that helped define the genre of comedy podcasting
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