Related (a proposed mechanism for this effect): Expecting Short Inferential Distances [1]
1: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HLqWn5LASfhhArZ7w/expecting-...
You can't tell people anything (2004)
11–20 of 201 posts
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#12I often think of this as "it's hard to tell people the solution to a problem they don't have", or don't know they have. I think it's one of the major problems in the entire structure of the educational system... it's all telling people solutions to problems they don't have yet. Sometimes this is just unavoidable; I'm not sure how to turn geography into a problem you have. (I mean, you can fake it, but people's brains…
> it's all telling people solutions to problems they don't have yet
This is why I think really getting started on an activity is so important. Those imagined problems become real problems.
Traditional education tries to take a stab at this with “project based learning”. But the huge problem is actually trying to apply the skills you learned in a class will probably just show you how terrible the class is. So the projects get all twisted up or dropped.
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#13> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have s…
I recommend the book or the blog posts of JL Collin. His posts are all about how to achieve financial independence
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#14> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have s…
How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#15> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have s…
How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?
My way involves a lot more risk that nothing useful will be produced.
I basically want a higher risk / reward than what working in this field as an employee would provide. I wouldn’t be able to try far out ideas if I wanted to keep my job, because it may be the case that one avenue of research never goes anywhere for years.
Peter Higgs has some interesting thoughts on how he would probably not have produced anything valuable if his work had occurred in the current academic environment that prioritizes frequent publications in high impact factor journals (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-...)
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#16The Dao that can be told is not the true Dao.
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?
My way involves a lot more risk that nothing useful will be produced. I basically want a higher risk / reward than what working in this field as an employee would provide. I wouldn’t be able to try far out ideas if I wanted to keep my job, because it may be the case that one avenue of research never goes anywhere for years. Peter Higgs has some interesting thoughts on how he would probably not have produced anything…
I share your goals.
I'd put it this way: your way involves a lot more risk of dead ends, but also offers a lot more of focused, productive deep work.
In general sense, companies are set up to derisk work. It's a trade-off - we get consistency, but also mediocrity.
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#18For me this has happened with business advice. I was a teenager when people told me variants of:
* Validate quickly
* Know your customer
and eventually that became
* Fail fast
* Test your idea
And I didn't even realize what it _meant_. I didn't grok it. The first time I encountered the concept of a Painted Door in product design in practice I suddenly understood pieces of these. And the first time I failed to really understand the customer, and failed to fail fast, and so on, I understood those things. But I had to experience it to know it.
It did help to have the vocabulary so I could spot where I failed, though.
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#19> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have s…
I recommend the book or the blog posts of JL Collin. His posts are all about how to achieve financial independence https://jlcollinsnh.com/
Websites that aim to help people become wealthier, and yet are sprinkled with ads, inevitably give an impression that their owners consider ad revenue a viable source of income.
If that is so, I’d be reluctant to follow any advice given on such a site, as I do not want to be in a position where I rely on ads for own financial independence.
Re: You can't tell people anything (2004)
#20> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have s…
How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?
In my case I just want to follow the rabbit hole to wherever it takes me without worrying about showing results to anybody.