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The Top Idea in Your Mind

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#121

Post by conesus »

Mz wrote: post #84
grellas wrote: post #55

There is a lesson here about lawsuits, which will drain you of both money and peace of mind all at the same time. Sometimes you can't turn the other cheek, much as you would like to do so, and have no choice but to fight. Having the guts to stand up for yourself (or for your company) is in itself a virtue and there are times when it is best not to walk away. Unless you are in such a spot, though, always consider that…

For many situations, having really good radar so you know how to avoid stepping in it before it puts you on a slippery slope is the only hope of avoiding the necessity to take a stand. I'm fortunate in that I seem to have a natural knack for such things (and have intentionally honed it with both formal and informal study). Of course, one problem with being good at something like that is that it essentially cannot be…

What are the indicators you have identified that you think are responsible for giving you the ability to avoid trouble? In other words, what do you recognize as being the cause of your lack of trouble?

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#122

Post by maxharris »

"Turning the other cheek turns out to have selfish advantages. Someone who does you an injury hurts you twice: first by the injury itself, and second by taking up your time afterward thinking about it. If you learn to ignore injuries you can at least avoid the second half. I've found I can to some extent avoid thinking about nasty things people have done to me by telling myself: this doesn't deserve space in my head. I'm always delighted to find I've forgotten the details of disputes, because that means I hadn't been thinking about them. My wife thinks I'm more forgiving than she is, but my motives are purely selfish."

This is brilliant, ethically (and practically - the two are never at odds in my view).

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#123

Post by Arun2009 »

Jacques Hadamard gives an account of a similar phenomenon (a sudden flash of an idea) in Mathematics in his Psychology of invention in the Mathematical field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Hadamard#On_creativity).

Also, very coincidentally, I have been reading up classical works on "proper conduct" in an attempt to do a spring cleaning of personal attitudes for pretty much the same reason as PG's - it just frees up a lot of mental energy. I'm currently doing a parallel reading of The Dhammapada and the Analects of Confucius. Earlier I read the Thirukkural (English translation, alas! - http://www.scribd.com/doc/20912297/Tirukkural-of-Tiruvalluva...).

If you or I rationally considered affairs and made up quotes ("'Tis easy to achieve an aim, if it be firmly kept in mind"), they wouldn't have the moral authority and rhetorical power they do coming from the world's classics. It just feels nice to work from ready-made axioms of conduct.

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#124

Post by TotlolRon »

anthonyb wrote: post #119
TotlolRon wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It delivers justice. (if you've been taught to turn the other cheek you will not see why, but if you've been taught another way, you will. This is cultural and fundamental)

It delivers revenge . Whether it delivers justice or not depends on the specific situation, but if you have to resort to vigilantism, probably not.

revenge is justice is productive.

I didn't invent it.

The concept of "turning the other cheek" is about 2,000 years old. The concept of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is over twice that old. They represent two different schools of thought that have been debated enough.

PG introduced "turning the other cheek" as a means to resolve "the pain of having ... controversy constantly reintroduced as the top idea ..." and this is biased. There is another way to resolve the issue, it just comes from another culture.

(Or in other words, it is true that "someone who does you an injury hurts you twice: first by the injury itself, and second by taking up your time afterward thinking about it.". You can "at least avoid the second half" - or - you can try and hurt them twice, no matter the cost. Culture choice.)

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#126

Post by Kaizyn »

Mz wrote: post #84
grellas wrote: post #55

There is a lesson here about lawsuits, which will drain you of both money and peace of mind all at the same time. Sometimes you can't turn the other cheek, much as you would like to do so, and have no choice but to fight. Having the guts to stand up for yourself (or for your company) is in itself a virtue and there are times when it is best not to walk away. Unless you are in such a spot, though, always consider that…

For many situations, having really good radar so you know how to avoid stepping in it before it puts you on a slippery slope is the only hope of avoiding the necessity to take a stand. I'm fortunate in that I seem to have a natural knack for such things (and have intentionally honed it with both formal and informal study). Of course, one problem with being good at something like that is that it essentially cannot be…

Good radar or no, you still have to keep an eye out for the unknowable "black swans". In any case, good radar for trouble just means you've traded away most of the peace of mind that comes with obliviousness in exchange for an unquantifiable reduction in hassles.

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#127

Post by MJR »

This hit me like a ton of bricks. It makes so much sense now that this could easily be the grounding principle behind the common saying "Do what you love and the money will follow". If you're doing what you love, your thoughts are focused on that. When what you love is your top idea you have the focus to innovate, solve problems, etc.

If you're too worried about making money, you'll be too preoccupied with that to give any thought to other things. If you're too concerned with a specific outcome, you end up taking energy away from the actions that will ultimately drive any outcome at all. Focus on your top idea and the rest will follow. It's not always as simple as it sounds, but I think there's a lot of truth there.

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#129

Post by raintrees »

OoTheNigerian wrote: post #92
michael_nielsen wrote: post #4

A very closely related idea is that most people have a "ground state": an activity that they naturally gravitate toward when nothing else intervenes. For many people, their ground state is shopping, or talking with friends, or watching tv. Nothing wrong with any of these. For some people, their ground state is aimless coding, or writing, or drifting around some community (e.g., the community of actors, or musicians,…

These days, the ground state of most people is aimless browsing, Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately,I am becoming most people and that has to stop now.

Or becoming enticed in extremely interesting articles on HN when there is billing to be done, or problems to work through...

Edit: This seemed really snarky when I reread it - I do want to state emphatically that I would REALLY miss HN. But I must confess that I have to give myself a mental shove to get back to work sometimes...

And back to the point of the article, I have to keep my eyes on the path _through_ the obstacles - I think the same thing. Like my grandmother's bumper sticker "Look for the good and praise it."

Re: The Top Idea in Your Mind

#130

Post by REALLYHUGENEKO »

johnfn wrote: post #107
OoTheNigerian wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days, the ground state of most people is aimless browsing, Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately,I am becoming most people and that has to stop now.

I challenge you to follow up on it. Block them. Let me give you some anecdotal background story... I realized this was happening to me a few months ago - that I was wasting more and more time just surfing Facebook or Twitter and so forth. So I started adding websites to my /etc/hosts file. (That is, my computer now blocks me from accessing these websites, unless I edit a file, and then restart). It started with Reddi…

A rather inspiring post. I'm currently editing my hosts file.
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