Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An Unreasonable Amount of Time

allenpike.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 91 posts

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#11

Post by soulofmischief »

romesmoke wrote: post #8

Great, useful article. Remember: the same principle holds in the world of the psyche. Those people walking around, seeming effortlessly happy? Unless if they're little children, a horrendous amount of effort has been invested to their inner peace. It took me years to realize that. Being envious is much easier than being humble and diligent with getting one's shit together. My wish for 2025 is for massive, decentraliz…

A good and often useful generality, however it's important to recognize how vast the difference can be in the amount of energy needed to achieve inner peace from one person to the next.

For example, I had absent drug addict parents, was instead raised by extremely abusive and restrictive guardians. I was homeless since 16 and I spent my 20's undertaking the self-actualization that I should have been doing in my teens but lacked the safety, stability, autonomy and financial requirements.

Meanwhile, my typical peer has a functioning family unit, and has enjoyed a relatively struggle-free existence. I also had to overcome disabilities such as ADHD, which has had an enormous negative impact on my life and mental health.

I'm not jealous of anyone, and I love and support my peers who were provided more opportunities and didn't waste them. But it's quite clear to me that the level of effort that I and the average US adult had to expend in order to achieve inner peace is off by magnitudes. Cognizance of this fact is important.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#12

Post by soulofmischief »

bennythomsson wrote: post #7
zwendkos wrote: post #6

The magic lies not just in the effort itself but in how it is directed. Teller’s months of work burying boxes weren’t random. Sustaining long-term effort toward an uncertain payoff requires more than discipline—it demands resilience and a reimagining of gratification. The real magic, perhaps, lies not in the final trick, but in cultivating a mindset where the process itself becomes fulfilling, where the act of buryin…

Though, would the burrying have any meaning without the reveal? Its only purpose was to be used in the end. I have a hard time seeing the meaning of the burrying itself.

Art gratis art.

Some get their rocks off interfacing with the relationship between their art and those who engage with it. Others are entirely satisfied with the process of making art itself. The former is an externalized process, the latter is internalized.

Different strokes for different folks, but you can put me in a box with no human interaction and a keyboard, and I will find no end of entertainment through self-exploration via the artistic process.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#13

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

punnerud wrote: post #10

Good quote from the article: “Eventually, years in, this will culminate in overnight success.”

That’s a big reason that I spend so much time developing modules.

Most of my published code consists of SPM modules.

I test the bejeezus out of each one, and some, I never use, but it’s worth it, to me, to have their functionality available, when I need it. It’s not particularly practical or efficient. It’s very effective, though.

But WFM. YMMV.

I don’t get paid for the work I do, and seldom have schedule pressure. This allows me to deliver really high-Quality results, fairly quickly. Also, since I’m usually working alone, it allows me to ship rather significant-scope deliverables.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#14

Post by nejsjsjsbsb »

Except for software engineering where doing for 25 years doesn't make me feel like I am doing magic. It feels like the art keeps moving and I need to keep up. Like the card tricks I did back when are now obsolete so I need to learn human cannonball as table stakes.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#15

Post by nejsjsjsbsb »

bennythomsson wrote: post #7
zwendkos wrote: post #6

The magic lies not just in the effort itself but in how it is directed. Teller’s months of work burying boxes weren’t random. Sustaining long-term effort toward an uncertain payoff requires more than discipline—it demands resilience and a reimagining of gratification. The real magic, perhaps, lies not in the final trick, but in cultivating a mindset where the process itself becomes fulfilling, where the act of buryin…

Though, would the burrying have any meaning without the reveal? Its only purpose was to be used in the end. I have a hard time seeing the meaning of the burrying itself.

It is like any goal attainment. Like when you call you broadband provider to connect you, which has little meaning until you get to work from home.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#16

Post by zarzavat »

> I am certain I’ve seen Penn & Teller describe this trick, but can’t find a citation online. They wrote about a similar trick in their book How to Play In Traffic, but let me know if you know where they explain the “buried underground” version.

I also remember watching Penn (I assume) explaining this concept and it's been living in my head ever since. Does anyone know the video?

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#17

Post by Nevermark »

bennythomsson wrote: post #7
zwendkos wrote: post #6

The magic lies not just in the effort itself but in how it is directed. Teller’s months of work burying boxes weren’t random. Sustaining long-term effort toward an uncertain payoff requires more than discipline—it demands resilience and a reimagining of gratification. The real magic, perhaps, lies not in the final trick, but in cultivating a mindset where the process itself becomes fulfilling, where the act of buryin…

Though, would the burrying have any meaning without the reveal? Its only purpose was to be used in the end. I have a hard time seeing the meaning of the burrying itself.

The end goal is still the organizing principle. The target to relentlessly pursue.

But discovering the path to the goal also has meaning.

Every little step down the path, the surprising things that are easy, the unexpected things that are hard, is worth celebrating. They are all taking us where we want to go! The ups and downs are the path.

And the path is a teacher.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#18

Post by andrewstuart »

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4022D0C2D4AB65BC

"Derren Brown, a British illusionist and mentalist, showcased a horse racing betting experiment called "The System" in a 2008 Channel 4 special. In this program, he demonstrated a method that appeared to guarantee winning bets on horse races. The process began with Brown anonymously sending a woman named Khadisha a series of correct predictions for five consecutive races, leading her to believe in the infallibility of his system. Subsequently, she was encouraged to stake a substantial sum on a sixth race.

The underlying mechanism of "The System" involved initially contacting 7,776 individuals, dividing them into six groups, and assigning each group a different horse in a six-horse race. After each race, only the group with the winning horse progressed, while the others were eliminated. This process was repeated through successive races, reducing the number of participants exponentially, until only Khadisha remained, having experienced an unbroken series of wins."

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#19

Post by mkrd »

That thought keeps me motivated to continuously work on a project of mine. That one day, maybe years from now, it will reach that point where it is good enough to get the ball rolling. Only a few, which where there from the beginning, will be able to imagine the efforts that had to go into it.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#20

Post by zeeed »

andrewstuart wrote: post #18

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4022D0C2D4AB65BC "Derren Brown, a British illusionist and mentalist, showcased a horse racing betting experiment called "The System" in a 2008 Channel 4 special. In this program, he demonstrated a method that appeared to guarantee winning bets on horse races. The process began with Brown anonymously sending a woman named Khadisha a series of correct predictions for five consecu…

it bugs me to an unreasonable extent that he finished one person short of 7777.

The system and the fact that he executed it though is genius.

Post reply on HN