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Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

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Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#231

Post by Johanx64 »

submeta wrote: post #228
Johanx64 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not what a Japanese swordsmith or any craftman does, they obsess over the end result, polishing it until it reaches perfection. Riced out Neovim/emacs setup doesn't and hasn't ever led to quality software in any shape or form, neither it ever will. If it did, world would be full of polished, high quality software, what instead we have is endless sea of garbage produced by these cough , cough "craftsmen" - tha…

Well, very valid points you made. I must admit. Edit: But why do you believe that my super polished and streamlined WezTerm is less worth than a japanese sword? :) Which value has a perfectly made sword in a world today? Which value has a perfecly made machs tea? And other things only the maker or a few select people value?

> why do you believe that my super polished and streamlined WezTerm is less worth than a japanese sword?

Because people are willing to pay roughly 0$ for your riced terminal and dot files.

A polished japanese sword made by a master craftsmen on the other hand - people are willing to pay good money for.

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#232

Post by submeta »

Johanx64 wrote: post #231
submeta wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, very valid points you made. I must admit. Edit: But why do you believe that my super polished and streamlined WezTerm is less worth than a japanese sword? :) Which value has a perfectly made sword in a world today? Which value has a perfecly made machs tea? And other things only the maker or a few select people value?

> why do you believe that my super polished and streamlined WezTerm is less worth than a japanese sword? Because people are willing to pay roughly 0$ for your riced terminal and dot files. A polished japanese sword made by a master craftsmen on the other hand - people are willing to pay good money for.

So you think money is the indicator? I have to disappoint you: There's a ton of things that have zero monteray value, yet an enourmous value for the person who creates it. One example: Open source software. Another: Art you create for the fun of it.

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#233

Post by williamdclt »

tetha wrote: post #183
stavros wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I played with a $15 racket for years. I only got a $150 one when I could tell the difference between them.

This is how I have it with my guitar. It's a simple Ibanez Gio from a starter kit, probably coming in at 150 Euros - 200 Euros or so, with another 40 Euros spent on a guitar tech to set it up properly. I'll replace it once I know how it is holding me back. At least that's the plan I've had for the last 4-5 years. But it has low action, fairly low-noise pickups, holds tuning. So no need so far.

> with another 40 Euros spent on a guitar tech to set it up properly

that's probably the best decision you could have made, much better than putting an extra 40euros in a slightly more expensive guitar!

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#235

Post by Johanx64 »

submeta wrote: post #232
Johanx64 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why do you believe that my super polished and streamlined WezTerm is less worth than a japanese sword? Because people are willing to pay roughly 0$ for your riced terminal and dot files. A polished japanese sword made by a master craftsmen on the other hand - people are willing to pay good money for.

So you think money is the indicator? I have to disappoint you: There's a ton of things that have zero monteray value, yet an enourmous value for the person who creates it. One example: Open source software. Another: Art you create for the fun of it.

I'm sorry to disappoint you. Money is proxy for value. Or atleast the closest thing to it.

In fact, it has so much value, that people will bend over, creep and crawl just to get it. And sell their waking hours for it.

Yes, you can have a lucky-pet-rock that you've always had with you, that holds value for anyone but you. For everyone else though - it's just a rock.

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#236

Post by celurian92 »

tb8424 wrote: post #229
Brian_K_White wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never enjoyed shitty coffee. I never enjoyed shitty chocolate or chocolate flavored things like cakes. Until I was 30-something I thought I just didn't like coffee or chocolate. Then one day I had actually proper coffee, and I discovered that good coffee isn't just some imperceptably theoretically better version of regular coffee that snobs are basically just faking being sophisticated for show. They are two entire…

+1 on this. There's a big difference for some between the 15 dollar whiskey and the 35 dollar whiskey, probably another jump between 35 and 80 dollar whiskey, and then after that it starts getting into crazy marginal gains. If you drink 15 dollar whiskey you'd get 90% of your gains from just bumping it up to 35 versus going straight for the 300 dollar bottle. Same it was with me for coffee, I enjoy single origin vs s…

can it be like perceiving the value is higher making your taste as good as it is the value of it? can it be a placebo effect?

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#237

Post by ubercore »

tb8424 wrote: post #229
Brian_K_White wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never enjoyed shitty coffee. I never enjoyed shitty chocolate or chocolate flavored things like cakes. Until I was 30-something I thought I just didn't like coffee or chocolate. Then one day I had actually proper coffee, and I discovered that good coffee isn't just some imperceptably theoretically better version of regular coffee that snobs are basically just faking being sophisticated for show. They are two entire…

+1 on this. There's a big difference for some between the 15 dollar whiskey and the 35 dollar whiskey, probably another jump between 35 and 80 dollar whiskey, and then after that it starts getting into crazy marginal gains. If you drink 15 dollar whiskey you'd get 90% of your gains from just bumping it up to 35 versus going straight for the 300 dollar bottle. Same it was with me for coffee, I enjoy single origin vs s…

Once you get into that high end ($100+ whiskeys for instance), I feel like it often doesn't get _better_, it just gets more interesting. People seek out unique flavors or experiences, but you start max out the pure quality aspect.

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#238

Post by 4gotunameagain »

LandR wrote: post #227
franciscop wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently tried to play a bit of tennis, which I've already stopped. My friend was appalled when I proudly announced that my tennis racket costed $15. "But we are in tech!" he cried. But for a couple of games, I know I won't be able to tell the difference between a $15 one and a $150 one (I know because I've played tennis in the past). And true to my predictions, I no longer play tennis and I'm only $15 poorer. I do…

This is my thinking with photography, I love photography but I'm still not very good at it. So I use a D7100, which is probably considered a shitty relic nowadays compared to more modern stuff. But right now, the camera isn't the bottleneck for me getting good photos, it's me. The camera is still way better a camera than I am a photographer. I'll get a better camera, when I'm a better photographer and the camera is a…

Photography is an edge case. The camera is virtually never the limiting factor. Case in point, Daido Moriyama.

Re: Tinkering is a way to acquire good taste

#240

Post by uncletoxa »

30minAdayHN wrote: post #31
CuriouslyC wrote: post #11

The irony of an article about taste displaying little of it.

The fact that the author went out his way and styled it very uniquely displays that he does have taste :) It is just that your taste is different. Like another commenter pointed out, I liked the style (though I hated the pixelated font to begin with)

I don't mind any color palette or font or anything as long as it keeps text readable. But this choice is just user unfriendly. These horizontal black lines across the display just render text unreadable. Not to mention that sans serif for a longread is also a bad taste
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