For me, I now believe that hypnosis is a real phenomenon: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392595
Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
1–10 of 112 posts
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#2The best way to implement health care in the United States.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#3I changed my mind on event models in stateless protocols. I used to think, "Oh, that sounds nifty. I bet it works really well, and simplifies the wiring."
Now I think, "Wait, how can an event work in a stateless... Oh, that's just sneaky Microsoft."
Not by choice, rather by circumstance, I have been writing Web Forms apps in ASP.NET for the last year. Took me that long to realize that something about the whole idea just doesn't make sense.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#4My biggest mental shift recently is an appreciation for ambiguity in language. Three months ago, if someone would have asked me, "Can you gain important topical insights from the ambiguous use of language?" I'd have said, "No, of course not: if you aren't precise in what you discuss, that creates a barrier to communication and makes things more confusing rather than clarifying. Intelligence is, in a large part, the ability to make fine distinctions and precise language helps make those distinctions."
I still see the value in precise language, but I now see it far more as one more tool in my toolbox rather than "THE WAY THINGS MUST BE!" And I've also come to see that my near-totalitarian enforcement of precision was prohibiting me from using other tools.
By analogy: suppose you want to know more about butterflies. Certainly catching them and pinning them to a spreading board is one way to study them: you can measure them exactly, you can count their spots and identify their coloration precisely. But you don't capture all that it is to observe a butterfly that way--you don't comprehend its flight, its movement, its way of being in motion.
Now, clearly I understand that, in a sense, I've only become 'more precise' in my language, willing to 'evoke ambiguity' when precisely necessary. But I can only protest that this fails to understand what I've gained from a willingness to recognize the value of ambiguity.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#5Seat belt laws.
For years, my inner Libertarian would cringe at the idea that the government could force someone to do something they didn't want to when it was their own life at risk. But then my inner Republican realized that if I were to be at fault in an accident, I would be financially and possibly criminally liable for a much steeper offense if the other party wasn't buckled up.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#6My biggest mental shift recently is an appreciation for ambiguity in language. Three months ago, if someone would have asked me, "Can you gain important topical insights from the ambiguous use of language?" I'd have said, "No, of course not: if you aren't precise in what you discuss, that creates a barrier to communication and makes things more confusing rather than clarifying. Intelligence is, in a large part, the a…
"By analogy: suppose you want to know more about butterflies. Certainly catching them and pinning them to a spreading board is one way to study them: you can measure them exactly, you can count their spots and identify their coloration precisely. But you don't capture all that it is to observe a butterfly that way--you don't comprehend its flight, its movement, its way of being in motion."
Nicely said.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#7My biggest mental shift recently is an appreciation for ambiguity in language. Three months ago, if someone would have asked me, "Can you gain important topical insights from the ambiguous use of language?" I'd have said, "No, of course not: if you aren't precise in what you discuss, that creates a barrier to communication and makes things more confusing rather than clarifying. Intelligence is, in a large part, the a…
Could you please elaborate on what led you to change your mind? I'm probably not far from where you were, and would like to see what I may be missing. :)
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#8I now believe that C++ is a language worth learning (I haven't yet figured out if it's also worth using for anything dependable).
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#9I've been thinking a lot about happiness, learning, and experiences.
When you get right down to it, we only have a few short years in the sun. 80 years is less than nothing when compared to the age of the earth - let alone the solar system or universe - so it would appear rational to maximize your experiences, knowledge, and relationships because they would seem to lead to an increase in happiness.
One real-world consequence of this thinking is that I've found myself much more likely to consider switching jobs than my risk-averse persona would predict, especially if I see a new offer as a challenging opportunity to improve myself.
Re: Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?
#10My biggest mental shift recently is an appreciation for ambiguity in language. Three months ago, if someone would have asked me, "Can you gain important topical insights from the ambiguous use of language?" I'd have said, "No, of course not: if you aren't precise in what you discuss, that creates a barrier to communication and makes things more confusing rather than clarifying. Intelligence is, in a large part, the a…
So you've just discovered poetry?