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The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

paulgraham.com

241–250 of 500 posts

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#241

I agree with his theory, but what I find particularly interesting is that I think most people do not have an obsessive interest in anything at all. And as someone who has obsessive interests in a lot of things (some “useful”, some not), that seems really odd to me: how can you just be satisfied to go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed each day? (Not saying that’s the wrong way to live, just saying it is surp…

People are interested in their (extended) family and their kids, not to mention their spouse.

Someone who has or takes the time to tinker with stuff for 12 hours straight seems to have a problem with priorities from this point of view. In that time you could have helped your grandma, your kid with his homework and your uncle with the shop.

If you think people work, watch TV and go to sleep that there tells me you utterly underestimate the complexity of others' lives and completely overestimating your own. There's a lot more to it, cowboy.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#242

I agree with his theory, but what I find particularly interesting is that I think most people do not have an obsessive interest in anything at all. And as someone who has obsessive interests in a lot of things (some “useful”, some not), that seems really odd to me: how can you just be satisfied to go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed each day? (Not saying that’s the wrong way to live, just saying it is surp…

It’s not that bad. I just had twin girls and I’m still managing to draw for ~3 hours a day in between feeding and diaper changes. If you like your hobby enough you’ll find the energy and time somewhere ;P

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#243
My take on genius is that it's akin to insanity, and for some of us, insanity doesn't seem to be so insane (which itself is an insane thing to say). Nikola Tesla ended his life alone, with a box of scrap parts as collateral for his rent (https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about...). Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "The Parable of the Madman" (http://historyguide.org/europe/madman.html), and apocryphal stories indicate he may have written it from his own experience.

Beyond some point, being smart really isn't a good thing. You can't relate to people. Nobody understands you. Your value structure is messed up. Parents point to you and tell their children to not be like you. You live on top of a cold, windy, snowy mountain while everybody else lives in a warm and fertile valley. Yet you choose to live on the mountain anyways, because after you lose everything, you realize that's just who you are, and there's really nothing you can do about it beyond accepting it.

And so you are insane. You don't care about being comfortable, or about being paid well, or about people liking you, or having fewer problems in life, or anything else that makes sense. You just care about obsessing over that something.

People always talk about genius like it's some good thing. Maybe sometimes, if you obsess over something society values. But few people talk about the price of genius, probably because we're taught from an early age that being smart is a good thing and so few people go that far off the deep end anyways. I think it should be said, especially for HN types, that there can always be too much of a good thing. That it's healthy to relax, not take things so seriously, have a sense of humor, and relate to other people. That a good life is worth living. Because to forget that is a life lost.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#244
post #2

Side note: there might be coming more new essays from pg again: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1198189199641452544

Thank you for this info! I was just checking and he hasn't published any new essays in the last 2 years! I am really happy about new wisdom :-)

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#245
post #16

I think this is correct. The bad news is we are creating systems which minimise the number of geniuses entering each field. In the past, science was an eccentric hobby, not particularly valued and certainly not a viable career option. Today it's all of these things - like becoming a doctor. Telling your mother you want to be a scientist is far better than saying you want to be a musician. A hundred years ago that wou…

> The consequence of this is that these fields are filled up with careerists - people who are socially driven rather than curiosity driven.

I think it's worse than this: school and academia is no longer the sole option for the ultra curious. Curiosity is better fed by the internet, which means we end up lacking a social institution which captures and unifies people like this.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#247
post #16

I think this is correct. The bad news is we are creating systems which minimise the number of geniuses entering each field. In the past, science was an eccentric hobby, not particularly valued and certainly not a viable career option. Today it's all of these things - like becoming a doctor. Telling your mother you want to be a scientist is far better than saying you want to be a musician. A hundred years ago that wou…

The BIGGEST problem with research is this: it's HARD, not easy, to understand. Most papers written are absolute trash. Not because the content is. Because it's written in a shitty, overly braggy way (especially mathematics and physics), that's mostly shouting "I'm better than you and if you don't get it, you're an idiot". They are not written with any USER, let alone, READER, in mind. Anyone would immediately be fire…

That's one very interesting observation. I've commented in that vein a short while ago where I noticed that once I finally understood what some paper was about my usual response (definitely not always) would be 'That's it?'.

Wikipedia has been a godsend for me, to be able to understand core principles without having to wade through what seems to be obfuscated English in order to hide something relatively trivial at the heart of the document.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#248
I have an obsessive personality and often become passionately absorbed by different things. I have worked as an artist and as a metallurgist and many things between. I have always (rightly) feared is that my constant switching has left me stretched.A Jack of all Trades but a master of none. I am OK with that.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was actively discouraged from writing readable text in my thesis. That kind of behavior would erode the power of the guild.

Your advisors were acting in your best interest. There is a time and place for readable science, and your thesis is not it. It has nothing to do with the power of the guild, and everything to do with assessing your knowledge and preparation. The purpose of your thesis is to demonstrate to them (and perhaps the larger scientific community) that you can communicate to other scientist in the language of the field, that…

Well, so sorry. If things are as bad as you sketch them then there may as well be a guild.

Science is first and foremost about understanding, and writing in a way that purposefully obfuscates and makes it harder to understand what is communicated is anathema to true science.

Re: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I probably should have specified “besides tptacek.” He’s a fascinating outlier. He once claimed he was worried some Russians were going to harm him due to his HN comments. I still wonder if he was just saying that to sound cool, but truth is often strange. That average does put things into perspective though.

he sounds paranoid but hate sells well

Hey, please don't swerve into personal attack here. Friendly banter needn't turn ugly.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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