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The Right Kind of Stubborn

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#181

Post by BeetleB »

sitkack wrote: post #72
dvt wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would probably kill it on Instagram ads honestly. Price point is a tad high, but it's like the perfect "not sure what to get someone" gift.

Price point is high? Based on what? I'd say the price is too low for the expected volume.

Resolution is fairly low. You can get cheaper Kobo's with higher resolution. Here's a 7" one:

https://us.kobobooks.com/collections/ereaders/products/certi...

Kobos are fairly hackable, and I suspect one could program a Kobo to do the same as what he is doing.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#182

Post by r0s »

Suppafly wrote: post #71
arp242 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old anecdote where I think Pascal, but I'm not sure, argued the existence or non-existence of God in front of the king with another philosopher. Maybe-Pascal exclaimed loudly and with great confidence "A plus C equal B squared! Therefore God exists! COUNTER!" The other philosopher didn't know much about mathematics, had no idea to reply, got flustered, and "lost" the argument.[1] And honestly, I'm not sure…

>I found that no, it really is that dumb, and I had understood it correctly months ago, and all the jargon was just meaningless bollocks word salad. My brother is an artist and absolutely refused to believe that the hype around NFTs was just bullshit. I'm sure if I called and asked right now, he'd still give me some word salad about how it's going to start paying off any day now. Now if anyone talks to me about NFTs,…

Totally agree about NFTs, but any artist gets a full pass from me.

Artists have it rough and I don't blame them for being charmed by con artists.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#183

Post by baxtr »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #64

I used to work for a corporation that was legendary for their Quality (note the capital "Q" -I got used to denoting it that way). They have been making precision optical gear for over a hundred years, and fetch many thousands, for their consumer (really, professional) kit. Thousands of successful people have built their entire careers around this company's gear. If you want to see "stubborn," look no further than the…

> They wouldn't be wrong. Making superb-Quality stuff is not a big moneymaker. You want lots of money, make lots of cheap, crappy things, and sell them at a small margin.

Or sell small amounts at a crazy margin. Getting rich is about profits not about sheer revenue.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#184

Post by Yodel0914 »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #88
wkcheng wrote: post #44

This is a great article on the difference between an obstinate person and a persistent person, but I'm not sure the general public perceives them the same way that Paul does. What I've found is that many times, people like the perceived confidence that obstinacy can bring. For example, let's say that someone points out a flaw in a plan. Person A responds by saying "That's not a real problem. It doesn't matter." Perso…

There are certain areas where the popular opinion is irrelevant. Warren Buffet said this in a more folksy way, “It’s very important to live your life by an internal yardstick,” he told us, noting that one way to gauge whether or not you do so is to ask the following question: “Would you rather be considered the best lover in the world and know privately that you’re the worst — or would you prefer to know privately th…

I mean, considered by whom? I'd like my partner's assessment of my ability as a lover to be more positive than my self-assessment. The reverse just sounds sociopathic.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#185

Post by throwaway173738 »

yellowapple wrote: post #109
stcredzero wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I've found is that many times, people like the perceived confidence that obstinacy can bring. The problem with that method of evaluation, is that it's not First Principles. Basically, pg's essay in this case just reduces down to, "Is that person steered by First Principles thinking?"

Most people ain't steered by first-principles thinking, though, and that's the problem. To most people, first-principles-driven thinking lacks sufficient actionability; they just want definite answers, and first-principles-driven thinking tends to produce answers that are anything but definite.

First principles are great in principle, but what really makes for greater thinking is focusing on the reality and details of a problem, then picking applicable first principles. Often when I hear principled stances they’re entirely devoid of links between the real world and the utopia in the person’s head.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#186

Post by Barrin92 »

One world that should be in capital letters at the top is hidden in the footnotes at the bottom, luck. A much simpler theory is, the difference between stubbornness and persistence is that losers are labeled as stubborn and winners are labeled as persistent, simply as a post-hoc rationalization based on outcome rather than any grandiose internal differences.

Fame plays also a big role in this, in that some people are simply rewarded by others for their stubbornness or even stupidity while most are not, the infamous "reality distortion field" effect when some people have amassed so much clout their mistakes don't even register and they can even bring stubbornly bad ideas into reality.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#187

Post by deanputney »

hi_dang_ wrote: post #136
munificent wrote: post #58

I like this article a lot. I think a lot of the distinction between persistence and obstinance comes down to identity, attachment, and self esteem. Almost everyone who is persistent or obstinant has something to prove. They have some deep-seated feeling that they need to demonstrate something to their community, a sense that maybe their value is in some ways conditional on what they provide. Content people who feel a…

Bob, Since you’re the GPP author - as someone who recently published a Steam title and has glowing community reviews, I wish your comment was the article. pg just doesn’t do it for me. It’s a nonsensical word salad of half-baked conjectures and aphorisms. There’s nothing to discuss because there’s nothing thought provoking in there. I am however glad it spurred you to write something worth reading (again).

I read your comment, then looked at Bob's and thought "Ah, he's from Seattle." And I was right.

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#188

Post by [deleted] »

Barrin92 wrote: post #186

One world that should be in capital letters at the top is hidden in the footnotes at the bottom, luck. A much simpler theory is, the difference between stubbornness and persistence is that losers are labeled as stubborn and winners are labeled as persistent, simply as a post-hoc rationalization based on outcome rather than any grandiose internal differences. Fame plays also a big role in this, in that some people are…

[deleted]

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#189

Post by naveen99 »

ninetyninenine wrote: post #179
naveen99 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s just bad luck and survival instinct. Stubborn genes end up in a position of power and then they cling to it. For a stupid, stubborn king, it’s sometimes easier (more selfish, evolutionary fit) to just kill the intelligent court advisor or jester than to acknowledge mistakes and give up power for the benefit of the state. In a game of thrones, absolute reason gives in to back stabbing. Also beauty and strength so…

doubtful. Stubbornness is so common that's it's unlikely to have a roundabout reason for why it exists.

Royalty used to have lot of children…

Re: The Right Kind of Stubborn

#190

Post by sitkack »

BeetleB wrote: post #181
sitkack wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Price point is high? Based on what? I'd say the price is too low for the expected volume.

Resolution is fairly low. You can get cheaper Kobo's with higher resolution. Here's a 7" one: https://us.kobobooks.com/collections/ereaders/products/certi... Kobos are fairly hackable, and I suspect one could program a Kobo to do the same as what he is doing.

Exactly, the market he is trying to serve has the customer as his own competitor. That is a bad position to be in. I wouldn't want to be my own customer, would you?

Two recommendations.

1) Go wireless with enough power for like 500 screen updates for 6 weeks between recharges.

2) Find a market where your customers can't make the product

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