I strongly dislike the productivity-maximizing ethos that drives people to quantify and optimize every aspect of their lives. The author acknowledges that POV. But at its worst, it’s both pernicious and privileged.
Measuring personal growth
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Re: Measuring personal growth
#12> I now know many things that I didn’t know before, and I have access to more resources than I ever did.
Those are also measurable axes.
My single-bit ADC: if things that used to be stretches for me are now easy, and things that used to be impossible are now stretches, I'm still growing.
(I pushed strength and reflexes earlier in life; those areas are now no longer an option but on the other hand I've learned how to steadily progress in disciplines where one may take years to work through plateaus)
Re: Measuring personal growth
#13A decade each feels much too conservative for the things on Quynh's list, but I like the list itself as an anchoring point for what would make a content life for a great many people. Myself included, because I'm following it successfully!
Re: Measuring personal growth
#14[deleted]
Re: Measuring personal growth
#15Does maximizing options maximize empowerment? I've found I feel much more empowered in a situation where I've already deeply committed to some specific thing than when I have dozens of options but haven't chosen one. Intentionally closing the door on thousands of options is actually the only path I've found that's made it possible for me to grow at all. If I maximize options, I can just escape when faced with a growt…
I think it's not so much as having many options but more so of having a lot of backup plans for when things eventually go wrong. There's analysis paralysis after all. It would be better to say that empowerment is maximized when there is a definitively best choice and there are several good backup choices (complete with sensible rankings down the chain of backups, ideally definitive) if the original choice suddenly be…
I've also found that sometimes, to maximize options, I have to first commit to an option. I've had situations before where I deliberated too long and missed the opportunity altogether.
Re: Measuring personal growth
#16Does maximizing options maximize empowerment? I've found I feel much more empowered in a situation where I've already deeply committed to some specific thing than when I have dozens of options but haven't chosen one. Intentionally closing the door on thousands of options is actually the only path I've found that's made it possible for me to grow at all. If I maximize options, I can just escape when faced with a growt…
I think it's not so much as having many options but more so of having a lot of backup plans for when things eventually go wrong. There's analysis paralysis after all. It would be better to say that empowerment is maximized when there is a definitively best choice and there are several good backup choices (complete with sensible rankings down the chain of backups, ideally definitive) if the original choice suddenly be…
Knowing when to optimize for optionality and when to burn the boats is key. Some things in life improve markedly when you let go of optionality and instead lean in to the constraint: significant relationships, jobs, parenting. Everyone's disposition biases them toward one side or the other.
Recognizing when each approach is useful, and being able to do it (even poorly) is a great skill.
Re: Measuring personal growth
#17>Some friends told me they find this blog post mildly sociopathic
These are likely tech friends I suppose? I would say non-tech people would drop the mildly.
This is leaking the productivity frenzy mindset through the cracks, but appreciate the attempts through the text to push back against it.
Re: Measuring personal growth
#18I strongly dislike the productivity-maximizing ethos that drives people to quantify and optimize every aspect of their lives. The author acknowledges that POV. But at its worst, it’s both pernicious and privileged.
What does "privileged" mean in this setting? Do unprivileged people not have the option to maximize their productivity? How so?
Re: Measuring personal growth
#19I strongly dislike the productivity-maximizing ethos that drives people to quantify and optimize every aspect of their lives. The author acknowledges that POV. But at its worst, it’s both pernicious and privileged.
What does "privileged" mean in this setting? Do unprivileged people not have the option to maximize their productivity? How so?
"Indulgent" might better capture what I think OP is describing than "privileged." There is a certain navel-gazing quality to endlessly pushing for higher personal records past the point where they particularly even benefit you, especially when some of that attention might be spent helping other people.
And while that can be true, I think it only applies once you do really have your life together. Most of us, growing up, had lots of areas where we really struggled, hurting both ourselves and others, and it WAS important for us to reflect on those areas and consciously try to improve. I think it's only indulgent when done well past the point of need.
Re: Measuring personal growth
#20Nice post. With respect to maximizing future options, I find the ideas expressed in the following quotes are interesting counter-points.
From '4,000 weeks': "Not only should you settle; ideally you should settle in a way that makes it harder to back out, such as moving in together, or having a child. The irony of all our efforts to avoid facing finitude -- to carry on believing that it might be possible not to choose between mutually exclusive options -- is that when people finally do choose, in a relatively irreversible way, they're usually much happier as a result."
From 'Zero to One': "When people lack concrete plans to carry out, they use formal rules to assemble a portfolio of various options. ... A definite view, by contrast, favors firm convictions. Instead of pursuing many-sided mediocrity and calling it "well-roundedness," a definite person determines the one best thing to do and then does it."