Learn to ignore good advice, it's the same skill used to ignore bad :)
Things I Should Have Known at 20
111–120 of 163 posts
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#112I thought this was going to be BS, as I do all numbered lists [1], but it's actually pretty good. Here's a TLDR, but the elaborations on each point are worth reading: 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. 3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. 4. Connect with everyone, all the time. 5. Don’t waste time being shy. 6. If you feel we…
> 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. No it doesn't. Quite the opposite. While the idea that less educated are easier to manipulate is true the item on the list says expresses a different idea. > 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. You can only educate yourself. However institutions can help a lot. As for outdated curriculum: guess how old Newtonian physics and calculus is. Now think how many…
Most of your why? can be answered by reading the actual post.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#113I thought this was going to be BS, as I do all numbered lists [1], but it's actually pretty good. Here's a TLDR, but the elaborations on each point are worth reading: 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. 3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. 4. Connect with everyone, all the time. 5. Don’t waste time being shy. 6. If you feel we…
> 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. No it doesn't. Quite the opposite. While the idea that less educated are easier to manipulate is true the item on the list says expresses a different idea. > 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. You can only educate yourself. However institutions can help a lot. As for outdated curriculum: guess how old Newtonian physics and calculus is. Now think how many…
> 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid.
No it doesn't. Quite the opposite. While the idea that less educated are easier to manipulate is true the item on the list says expresses a different idea.
He is actually right, in several ways. For example, how do you find the average joke posted by a friend on Facebook? Also TV is called the idiot box for a reason. And its not easy to break the addictive traps. And this is just one way.
Similarly if one _thinks_ there is a lot of weight in other points as well. But of course one has to interpret them in one's own context.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#114The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
A positive person extracts what he or she finds useful and dumps the rest. It's pretty obvious these "commands" worked for him, and you should take them with your own judgement. Getting annoyed by this is a waste of time, look at point 20. and see if it makes your life easier.
look at point 20
That's a fully general counterargument.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#115How do I learn to read with high retention? I'd love to do that. Currently I feel like the words I read are falling out of the back of my head :-(
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#116Any book worth reading is worth reading slowly.
I read a lot, but only on internet, blogs, tech docs, passionate ideas. It has been like this way for years, It seems that I do not have time for big books that worth reading slowly. I am not sure if this is healthy.
When I was younger, I read a little Confucius with a lot of time, that's very different life.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#117The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
Obviously, it did not work even for the author - he has learned these wisdoms while being on his way through life. Learning is achieved by doing, and not by reading through commandment lists. Try to follow more than 3 points at once - you won't manage. For most people, doing so would also go against their current state of mind (their nature). I don't get why this link has been upvoted so high.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#118The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
Sounds like he's talking to his younger self, not commanding a gang of people on the the internet whom he doesn't even know.
This is just another one of the endless lists of N things posts that proliferate on the intarwebs. Take it if it benefits you or leave it if it doesn't.
... oops, was that a command? ;)
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many adults talk about Alice being cooler than Bob? Furthermore ambitious and laid back? am·bi·tious (adjective) 1. Having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed. 2. Intended to satisfy high aspirations and therefore difficult to achieve. laid back (adjective) 1. Relaxed or unhurried. 2. Free from stress; easygoing; carefree.
That apparent contradiction is really what makes cool so hard. It's not just about being amped up at 10 or being a bump on the log at 0. It's about being a 10 at where you're going while you make it look like you're at 0. You kick ass, but you make it look like it's easy and you're not trying. One of the best entrepreneurs I've ever worked with had that quality. The guy was focused like a laser on where he was going,…
Good point, crusso.
It's not about "cool" in terms of having the right sneakers or knowing the best band on the cusp of fame that only a couple hundred people listen to ("I listened to them before they were big, man ..."). That's hipster cool, teenager cool, and it's ephemeral and ultimately has almost nothing real at stake.
Instead, it's "cool" in terms of "cool under fire" - having self-assurance and confidence to know whatever happens, no matter what that is, I'll handle it. Or I'll handle the consequences of not handling it.
That latter kind of cool is what you need to lead men into combat, win an Olympic medal, or start a meaningful and profitable company. It's coolness dedicated to a mission, a purpose.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#120"You will become more conservative over time"
Could not agree more with this. When I was 20, man I was crazy. Now, everything scares me. I am only 30.