81–90 of 169 posts
There is not, as some people seem to think, any economic upper bound on this number. I know that this is a side issue, but it keeps cropping up as a side issue in pg's essays. I would be interested in a more thorough discussion of this point.
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You mentioned on your blog that you tested out of your bachelor's degree. So what's your experience getting your degree from a non-traditional university? You seem somewhat of an autodidact, so did you find that the coursework was an acceptable study plan, or did you end up supplementing the coursework to learn the material? The school you mentioned seems to be credible, it even has a couple engineering technology pr…
I Clepped basically an entire year of university. Higher education serves two purposes: Learning, and credentialing. And there's certainly faster ways to learn - so that leaves you with the credential. The cheaper and faster you can get it if you want that one, the faster you can get out into the world and do cool things.
"Anyone who can muster their willpower for thirty seconds, can make a desperate effort to lift more weight than they usually could. But what if the weight that needs lifting is a truck? Then desperate efforts won't suffice; you'll have to do something out of the ordinary to succeed. You may have to do something that you weren't taught to do in school. Something that others aren't expecting you to do, and might not un…
You mentioned on your blog that you tested out of your bachelor's degree. So what's your experience getting your degree from a non-traditional university? You seem somewhat of an autodidact, so did you find that the coursework was an acceptable study plan, or did you end up supplementing the coursework to learn the material? The school you mentioned seems to be credible, it even has a couple engineering technology pr…
If anyone out there happens to be a professor of analytical philosophy or decision theory who's willing to let me come in and just do my PhD thesis on an elegant general solution to Newcomblike problems, give me a ring (see http://yudkowsky.net/ for contact info). But if I also have to show up for classes I can't test out of, just to prove that I was there - then I'm sorry, but I can't.
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Obviously, the opposite of hapless is hapful.
I sometimes get annoyed at English's lack of symmetry. The opposite of... is not... worthless worthful senseless senseful wasteful wasteless handful handless moreover lessover (moreunder?)
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One of my alltime favourite quotes that I think is relevant is: "I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I am never satisfied with my work. I resent the limitations of my own imagination" - Walt Disney Also, perhaps this one might work too, also by Walt. "Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secr…
That's surprisingly ironic considering Disney's attitude towards the public domain and copyright extension.
Is meeting people one of those things that fall outside of the being relentlessly resourceful category?
A good friend once told me that a big barrier to my success would be that I tended to be a loner. He was right and it's a reason I force myself to be more social and outgoing. People are interesting in their own right, and at some time in the future, someone you met briefly a long time ago might be just the person you need to break through a barrier.
> I doubt it ["relentlessly resourceful"] could be made more precise.
PG, I would be really interested in your experiences teaching people to relentlessly resourceful. How have you brought out resourcefulness in your startup founders?
Me: Why don't you just do x? Founders: Could we really do x? Me: Sure, why not? Can't hurt to try. How hard can it be to do at least version 1 of x? Founders: Ok [dubiously] we'll try it. A few days later: Founders: Pg, check out this demo of x. It was a lot harder than we expected, but we just got it working. While we were working on it, we thought "what if we did y..."
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Bear in mind some countries still use those 'obsolete' definitions ;) Maybe it's a US/UK thing.
That's a very good point. Might be a US/UK thing. I definitely tend to use "hapless" as "unlucky"... "hapless souls" != "helpless souls".
I find the dictionary definition very surprising.