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Nine things I learned in ninety years

edwardpackard.com

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Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#261

Post by bwfan123 »

gilbetron wrote: post #199

I dunno. I'm on the older end, but nowhere near 90, and I've read a lot of these takes, and heard similar from a lot of older people in my lives. While there are good thoughts, often they come from people who didn't do that in their lives and achieved great things because they weren't chasing peace, but chasing success, status, adventure, and the such. When I read something like this now, I ask if the person writing…

You could ignore where it came from and evaluate it on its own merits. I had no idea who Packard was - initially i thought it was Packard of hp fame (lol). And I did not entirely agree with some things in the piece. However, it seemed authentic (not ai generated), was brief, and provoked some reflection which is what I expect from any reading.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#262

Post by km144 »

throw0101c wrote: post #158
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.

> This speaks to me. So much of our life circumstances are beyond our control (parents, genetics, geography, society, wider economy, etc.) Philosopher John Rawls made this a key point for this thinking: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luck_egalitarianism * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rawls#A_Theory_of_Justice

> According to this view, justice demands that variations in how well-off people are should be wholly determined by the responsible choices people make and not by differences in their unchosen circumstances. Luck egalitarianism expresses that it is a bad thing for some people to be worse off than others through no fault of their own.

When I see this line of reasoning, it leads me down the road of determinism instead. Who is to say what determines the quality of choices people make? Does one's upbringing, circumstance, and genetics not determine the quality of one's mind and therefore whether or not they will make good choices in life? I don't understand how we can meaningfully distinguish between "things that happen to you" and "things you do" if the set of "things that happen to you" includes things like being born to specific people in a specific time and place. Surely every decision you make happens in your brain and your brain is shaped by things beyond your control.

Maybe this is an unprovable position, but it does lead me to think that for any individual, making a poor choice isn't really "their" fault in any strong sense.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#263

Post by slfnflctd »

tnel77 wrote: post #211
BarryMilo wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Psychologists are a myth?

I suspect they mean that psychologists are more a problem than a useful profession.

They certainly are when they're poorly trained and not held to proper academic standards.

I've had more than one licensed psychologist attempt to proselytize to me. Granted, my location is part of the problem, but it still should never have happened. There are other, less rigorously trained people you can go to for that kind of thing and they're a dime a dozen. It objectively made things worse for me as some of my most major issues directly involve religion(s) pushed upon me as a child.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#264

Post by ksec »

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.

Somewhat strange to see the narrative flips again on HN. The pendulum not only swings back in other areas, but this too.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#266

Post by titzer »

larsnystrom wrote: post #165
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.

On the other hand, many things attributed to chance are actually the aggregate effect of other people's choices. If we make choices based on not just what's best for ourselves but what's best for all of us, we will all suddenly become more "lucky". And vice versa, if we only think about ourselves that luck will diminish.

That's a nice point. A society where everyone makes everything just a little bit better for the next random person will be a society full of nice surprises, rather than nasty ones.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#267

Post by kinnth »

I really love reading the wisdom of older people. Society really dismisses everyone over 80, but I find myself having deep interesting connections with a few people much older than myself (38).

Something society always neglects is that everyone goes through the same thoughts time and time again. We all make mistakes and we learn our own way, but when someone's 90, they really have done a lot of it all before. Even if we think everything is different, human's really are very similar. We all have emotions, we all have desires and we are all deep down social creatures. So I would only encourage more people to step out and try to make an honest, deep, friendship with someone a lot older than you. It can really help give you guidance and perspective.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#268

Post by idiotsecant »

ksec wrote: post #264
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.

Somewhat strange to see the narrative flips again on HN. The pendulum not only swings back in other areas, but this too.

Huh? What 'narrative' is flipping here?

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#269

Post by PTOB »

altacc wrote: post #227
vladms wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Precisely. "Luck" shouldn't be equivocated with "chance." We have two words for a reason.

Show up + embrace awkwardness + be kind and courteous and luck will follow.

My son's Scout troop was lucky this year. They just sold more than $60k worth of pop-corn in two weeks. How? Each kid walked up to hundreds of complete strangers at grocery stores and asked politely - albeit awkwardly sometimes. The exponentially lower-success approach is to sit behind a table waiting for people to hand you money.

The result? Almost 40 lucky kids get 11 all-expenses-paid camping trips and a fun summer camp all for just eight hours of walking and talking. Doesn't matter how much money their families make; every kid gets to fully participate.

Re: Nine things I learned in ninety years

#270

Post by squigz »

gilbetron wrote: post #199

I dunno. I'm on the older end, but nowhere near 90, and I've read a lot of these takes, and heard similar from a lot of older people in my lives. While there are good thoughts, often they come from people who didn't do that in their lives and achieved great things because they weren't chasing peace, but chasing success, status, adventure, and the such. When I read something like this now, I ask if the person writing…

Just because they mightn't have lived that way doesn't mean they haven't learned, and are trying to pass that lesson onto others.
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