This may work for low-ROI things or things that are not that intellectually demanding, like watching a movie, but otherwise you will have to put the hours/effort to have any hope of seeing a payoff, and even then, hardly any assurance of success. Or just raw luck, but this only applies to tiny percentage of people. yes, most people do little, but you're not competing against those people; you are competing for one of a handful of slots against those few who have talent and work hard.
The Dead Planet Theory
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Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#12> If I were to write a fictional story, and set this many characters of such magnitude in the same city at the same time, people would think the premise was absurd. Heh, I chuckle because understanding the mechanics of what is happening in that anecdote one is one of the high-payoff learning curves the the article was talking about up to that point. The dynamics of how a group makes decisions is not particularly intu…
I feel like 90% of the selection of tribes is only done by groupthink.
People seem to have opinions based on propaganda instead of reason.
Someone deciding which donut to buy in a donut shop is usually making a more informed choice.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#13What a horrible way of looking at the world. Not everything needs to be a competition. Sure, do what you get paid for or care about intentionally, but framing it as being in the "top x%" is just so off-putting. I don't want to constantly compare myself to others. I'd rather compare myself today to myself yesterday. Or, you know, just do things I enjoy because I enjoy them. As for wanting influence, I can't relate at…
My takeaway from that was more "the world isn't that daunting, if you just do something consistently with effort, you're going to do a lot better than most people since most aren't putting much effort into it."
You don't have to do that with everything in life, but you can do that with the things you care about.
It could be actually practicing chess, it could be following a training plan while running, and it could be rising through the ranks at work.
I like cycling, and I know with a consistent routine I improve a lot more than my friends who just cycle on once or twice a week. I'm not trying to be better than them, I just really enjoy being a good cyclist.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#14Excellent article, and a reflection of my own successes in my career thus far - and of recent, life in general.
I'm not an SME in anything specific. The fact I know this, already puts me in the top 50% of IT Professionals. The fact I can identify my level of expertise in specific fields or subjects ("I know what I know, I know what I don't know, and I'm willing to admit the latter") probably bumps me into the top 25%. Even if you're a "C student" in your career, being a C student in multiple related knowledge domains will make you far more valuable than a B student in a single domain, and that's my approach to things.
I'm not CKA-certified, but I can still grep what value Kubernetes brings to the Enterprise and engage with it because I did the reading. I'm not certified on any of the VMware product line, but I've built some degree of tenancy into the product without spending a dime on their Automation suite, because I did the reading, because I dove into the product line and put in the work. I'm no AWS-certified Architect, but I've moved global datacenters into AWS because I did the reading.
Seriously, this comes up time and time again, but it always bears repeating: just doing the reading immediately boosts you into the upper echelons of something. Finishing a book on the fundamentals of drawing will make you a more accomplished artist than 90% of your peers. Finishing a book on photography fundamentals, or the exposure triangle itself, will make you a far better photographer than someone using their iPhone on auto. Finishing a course on a specific technology will make you more competent in it than most of your peers, even if you don't get a credential from it.
Do the reading. Always do the reading.
But more than doing the reading itself, you also need to apply the knowledge from reading. That's when the rubber meets the road, when reality encounters ideals and things break, fall apart, or fail. That's when you go from the top 25%, to the top 5%. From there, it's all diminishing returns, so you have to pick-and-choose what brings you joy, what sparks your passion in life, because the "easy growth" is gone. You did the reading, you put it into practice, and that's all you can do until others recognize your expertise for what it is.
But you can get to that top 5% pretty quickly, and pretty easily. It just takes a little bit of reading, and some basic practice.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#15If you post a comment on hackernews, you're already in the top 5% of people who visit hackernews. If you attain enough karma to actually downvote other people, you will probably be in the top 1%.
I comment a lot, mostly to acknowledge the lofty brilliance of some people. ( Like you ), but I do not know what my karma is or how to downvote, but no matter. I have no idea what percentile I am in... I am absolutely sure someone is tracking/ranking it, because if I were actually training and AI, I would absolutely start at this large collection of bainiacs - but first I would ask permission, which I would guess wou…
I do not post, so my karma must be non-existent.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#16> If I were to write a fictional story, and set this many characters of such magnitude in the same city at the same time, people would think the premise was absurd. Heh, I chuckle because understanding the mechanics of what is happening in that anecdote one is one of the high-payoff learning curves the the article was talking about up to that point. The dynamics of how a group makes decisions is not particularly intu…
I feel like 90% of the selection of tribes is only done by groupthink. People seem to have opinions based on propaganda instead of reason. Someone deciding which donut to buy in a donut shop is usually making a more informed choice.
Likely way more than that.
Considering how rare genuinely original ideas are… it’s likely even the 90th percentile HN reader will be regurgitating and parroting until middle age, at least.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#17One of my strongest recommendations to people on social networks is to engage down-thread. Talk to other people, not just the top post. Get beyond your glancing para-social relationship, and expand your Metcalfe-factor by commenting and liking other people's engagement. Especially for new or young networks, a lot of people are truly starved for engagement & don't see the pattern of being engaged with . Engagement has…
Will second this. It's why I live in the comments, rather than scurry for OP recognition. It's why I invite comment and critique, so I can learn more things from other perspectives I'd not considered (not gonna lie though, that's a rarity on social networks and forums these days, compared to the usual goalpost-movement and general nastiness).
The OP gets the discussion going, but the discussion is in the thread. Sticking to the top level is like judging a book by the Goodreads summary and reviews; to really appreciate the content, you have to read the book.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#18There are multiple points in the article, each of them probably deserving its own article. I want to focus on the two.
One is the peer effect. Who you surround yourself with absolutely matters. This applies to the content consumption, and this applies to your surroundings too. This can be as simple as going to the library, having surrounded by other people working and researching is great, even if it's just schoolwork. Beyond that, I have found I enjoy spending time with people who are deeply interested in some kind of a craft. Listening to someone talking about a piece of software they are working on, or a music album they are recording, is absolutely interesting. It sets sort of a benchmark for yourself too.
The other one is the point about how 'little' time it actually takes and how easy it is. This is a point that is both true and false, in many ways. If you have general software development expertise, finishing[doing the exercises as well] a single book on a language/technology/framework will absolutely get you to the intermediate level on that piece of technology. Finishing a book isn't hard, you can do it in a weekend.
At the same time, as easy as it is, it is also hard. There are lots of obligations in life. You probably have somewhere to go that weekend. You are also a bit tired, you have been working during the week. And well you have to socialize a bit to be healthy, so shutting yourself off every weekend isn't something you want to do either. I find occasional, short retreats healthy for this reason. That seems to be a nice balance.
In the end, it is simple, but not easy, that's the word I was looking for. It can be achievable if you plan ahead and are purposeful in your actions.
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#19What a horrible way of looking at the world. Not everything needs to be a competition. Sure, do what you get paid for or care about intentionally, but framing it as being in the "top x%" is just so off-putting. I don't want to constantly compare myself to others. I'd rather compare myself today to myself yesterday. Or, you know, just do things I enjoy because I enjoy them. As for wanting influence, I can't relate at…
My takeaway from that was more "the world isn't that daunting, if you just do something consistently with effort, you're going to do a lot better than most people since most aren't putting much effort into it." You don't have to do that with everything in life, but you can do that with the things you care about. It could be actually practicing chess, it could be following a training plan while running, and it could b…
I agree with your takeaway however the comment you’re replying to is reacting to the tone and the presentation and I agree with them.
The two points in the article, that 80% is done by 20% and that to get to 20% all you need is relatively little effort, if taken to heart give license to deride those who aren’t in the 20% because clearly if they cared at all they’d just try and be solid at things.
Siddhartha[0] recently was on the front page. I’d highly recommend it as a much more humanist take on “the world isn’t that daunting so long as you are intentional with your actions.”
Re: The Dead Planet Theory
#20Now apply it to physical and mental health, arguably the most important foundation for everything in life.