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

Nine things I learned in ninety years

edwardpackard.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 405 posts

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#221

Post by ferrous69 »

b_e_n_t_o_n wrote: post #138
psychoslave wrote: post #71

>“It’s not so difficult to be a buddha,” says Thich Nhat Hanh. “Just keep your awakening alive all day long.” And it’s not too complicated to be a permanent tightrope walker either: just stay calm, still and balanced. While ninjas with ignited swords jump all around you and acid-proof sharks lurks at you from the sour sea waiting your fall. Sleepwalking, that’s a perfect title for our current Zeitgeist indeed. Ok, th…

I wonder if it's a mistranslation and Hanh means it's not complicated to be a Buddha. Many things in life are very simple, and also very hard.

I read it as Hanh being sarcastic, making a joke.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#222

Post by turnsout »

If a person in the west is thoughtful enough and lives long enough, they will eventually either discover Buddhism, or accidentally re-invent it. (See: Stoicism, Post-modernism). Usually the thing that's left out is Buddhism's ethical foundation. Happy to see that Edward Packard went straight to the source.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#223

Post by VagabundoP »

ropable wrote: post #36

> what an outsized role is played by luck This speaks to me. So much of our life circumstances are beyond our control (parents, genetics, geography, society, wider economy, etc.) It's humbling, how much of our success or failure is influenced by pure chance.

Yeah. It makes me grateful for all the luck Ive had in my life and despair at the amount of unlucky people who suffer.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#224

Post by Nemi »

james_marks wrote: post #197
hshshshshsh wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's not prepared. More like a willingness to be open to possibilities. Preparation assume you know something good is coming and can prepare now to face it. Those kind of events are probably not that life changing. Of course there are exceptions. But best things in life come from opportunities that you cannot prepare for in advance. Just willingness to accept it.

Perhaps pedantic, but "prepared mind" includes your meaning. Prepared may mean being equipped with a skill that meets the moments, but flexibility, acceptance and optimism are also skills of a prepared mind. It's why the quote has survived since 1854. > "dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés" ("In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind") https://en.wi…

I don't think it is pedantic at all. A prepared mind is exactly what is needed to take advantage of opportunity. Prepared mentally denotes a state of mind where you are actively looking for opportunities and that allows you to notice them. It is an attitude, really. Not unlike being a Stoic is an attitude on gratefulness of life and acceptance of death.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#225

Post by dfex »

laserson wrote: post #195
speleding wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the concept of "luck surface area". Sure, I started out with a bunch of luck. But the harder I work, the luckier I get. You have to put yourself into a position to cash in on your luck.

There’s a well-known Louis Pasteur quote that I always liked: “Chance favors the prepared mind”

Also "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#226

Post by belter »

ropable wrote: post #36

> what an outsized role is played by luck This speaks to me. So much of our life circumstances are beyond our control (parents, genetics, geography, society, wider economy, etc.) It's humbling, how much of our success or failure is influenced by pure chance.

"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life."

  - Jean-Luc Picard

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#227

Post by altacc »

vladms wrote: post #114
ropable wrote: post #36

> what an outsized role is played by luck This speaks to me. So much of our life circumstances are beyond our control (parents, genetics, geography, society, wider economy, etc.) It's humbling, how much of our success or failure is influenced by pure chance.

While strictly true, I wonder what does this sentence generates in the minds of the readers. I personally would prefer other formulations, because while I agree with the core, I think this idea should just reduce frustration if you don't succeed, while I am afraid it can be used as an excuse for not trying. Yes, you need luck, but if you never get out of your room/street/neighborhood/city/country, you might have less…

"I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." - Thomas Jefferson

There's lots of similar quotes throughout time, all about what you say in your list line: to be lucky you need to create as many opportunities as possible to get lucky. You can't win at dice if you never roll them.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#228

Post by whiplash451 »

ropable wrote: post #36

> what an outsized role is played by luck This speaks to me. So much of our life circumstances are beyond our control (parents, genetics, geography, society, wider economy, etc.) It's humbling, how much of our success or failure is influenced by pure chance.

You can still work to increase your luck surface, though.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#229

Post by darkwater »

flanked-evergl wrote: post #162
darkwater wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you need to run any experiment. Being married or not is just signing a paper. What matters is if the couple live together and in harmony. You can do so without being married and having children, and it's everyday more common. That's why I'm saying you have cause and effect in the wrong order: children issues are tied to one or both parents not caring about them, and a symptom of that was having children…

> Being married or not is just signing a paper. If we ignore almost all of human history save for the past 50 years, then yes. If we redefine marriage to not mean what most humans that have ever used the word meant by it, then yes. But why would we do these things? If you call all relations between two human beings marriage, you gain nothing, you just lose a word. Marriage is a covenant between two people, a man and…

> If we ignore almost all of human history save for the past 50 years

This seems pretty narrow-sighted and Christian-oriented.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#230

Post by darkwater »

programmarchy wrote: post #187
latexr wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Statistics without context can be misleading. It’s reasonable to assume that the cause is the prior situation which lead to it , not the act itself. Picture two scenarios: 1. A loving unmarried couple, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or child bearing, lives in an affluent neighbourhood, in a rich country, have steady incomes, and decide to have a child. After ten years they decide “I love you so much. I don…

An analogy Statement: Statistically, seatbelts reduce the chances you’ll die in a car accident. You: But, what if your car crashes into a lake and you get trapped underwater?

Wait, what? An analogy to your not-a-correct-analogy:

Statement: Statistically, richer people die less in a car accident.

You (or GP): get rich and survive car accidents!

Post reply on HN