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68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

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Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#251

Post by ashtonkem »

amiga_500 wrote: post #209
ashtonkem wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we can put property taxes aside, you’ll have to pay your landlords property taxes if you rent after all. If you can afford the cost of a down payment (more on that later), then buying a home does have some utility in wealth generation. You’re right that most of the initial mortgage payments go towards interest, but even collecting 25% of your monthly payment towards your own net worth is a big deal compared t…

Incorrect. Property taxes are not part of the price setting. You pay the max you are willing to pay for renting a place. You won because everyone else was willing to pay less. If your rent is 2000 and property taxes are 200, and they go up to 300, are you willing/able to pay more? Land taxes carry no dead weight. http://wealthandwant.com/themes/Not_Passed_On.html In general prices are set by the ability to pay, not b…

Excellent point.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#252

Post by TeMPOraL »

tbugrara wrote: post #239
TeMPOraL wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. I've also been realizing recently that my #1 failure mode with procrastination is this: by the time I stared a distracting activity (e.g. reading HN, watching something on Netflix), the self-negotiation is already lost. My mind will drag the argument ad infinitum while continuing to do the thing it's currently doing, i.e. procrastinating.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think self-negotiation here means: when I put my dishes away after dinner, I attempt to negotiate with myself if I have to do it right now. A habit instead terminates this attempt at negotiating and gets you to just do it without thinking if you should or shouldn't.

What you describe and "should I get back to work or view just one more comment thread on HN" is the same mental process.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#253

Post by m463 »

jstanley wrote: post #71

> Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes. This is very true. Last year I saw a motorcycle stunt display in the Isle of Man. It was all very impressive, and the chap had extremely good control of the bike, but the time that his skill was most apparent was when he had the rear wheel of the bike on a car bonnet and it started sliding off to one side. I thought he was for sure going…

I've seen a couple friends go through a sort of change, it's kind of when they arrive or something.

One friend worked on cars for a couple years as a hobby. I saw him a few years later, and he said to me, "I can do anything here."

It was sort of a statement of mastery, of self-confidence and of happiness. He had maintained things, then diagnosed things, then fixed things, then fabricated things.

It's also not bluster or boneheadedness or hold-my-beer.

Like kk says, gracefully.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#254

Post by m463 »

fergonco wrote: post #32
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #7

> Learn how to take a 20-minute power nap without embarrassment I've found the lockdown great for trying this - a run, lunch then 15 minutes on the sofa. It's like rebooting the day.

Another unsolicited advice, from a 40yo this time: do not use alarm clocks to wake up. The pressure shifts to the evening because you have to go to sleep early if you want to wake up early. And then it magically happens that you sleep as much as you need. Being a long time supporter of naps I find myself not doing them at all. Of course this applies only if you have flexible hours to work, don't have appointments, et…

When I had to be on a rigid morning schedule, what helped me was an alarm clock to go to bed.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#255

Post by renewiltord »

Etheryte wrote: post #141
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #107

Here's one I heard elsewhere, and isn't in the list. If you're searching for something important, search until you find one that satisfies all your requirements. Then, don't stop, keep searching until you find a better one. Then stop. This raises you maybe a whole standard deviation in quality, without taking exponential time. Works for all sorts of things. A new pair of shoes; a favorite dish in a restaurant; a spou…

This is one piece of advice that sound true and insightful, but in my opinion doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. An example of what I mean is the saying "perfect is the enemy of good", which directly conflicts with the above. Since I'm from the north, outdoor gear is a good example of this — there is no hardshell jacket in the world that ticks every box in my checklist. I've been through the lineup of both known and…

Perhaps it works often because it coincides with the Secretary Problem often enough. Maybe running the Secretary Problem approach with a quick upper bound of how many you're willing to consider will work. I'm going to explicitly try that and see.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#256

Post by m463 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #107

Here's one I heard elsewhere, and isn't in the list. If you're searching for something important, search until you find one that satisfies all your requirements. Then, don't stop, keep searching until you find a better one. Then stop. This raises you maybe a whole standard deviation in quality, without taking exponential time. Works for all sorts of things. A new pair of shoes; a favorite dish in a restaurant; a spou…

there was some mathematical proof that was the optimization of your algorithm. I think it had statistical numbers of dates before you did a summary and went to choose a spouse.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#258

Post by m463 »

splatzone wrote: post #12

This page really is a goldmine. In the spirit of not being afraid to ask stupid questions, I don't understand a couple of them - anyone care to explain? > When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation. Is this saying that your reputation dies with you? I don't get this, surely people will remember how you acted when you were alive. I'm probably taking it too literally. > Don’t ever respond…

well, there was that one lady who left an immortal cell line behind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#259

Post by m463 »

asar wrote: post #44

My personal favorite >Following your bliss is a recipe for paralysis if you don’t know what you are passionate about. A better motto for most youth is “master something, anything”. Through mastery of one thing, you can drift towards extensions of that mastery that bring you more joy, and eventually discover where your bliss is.

statements like that are very powerful.

He's teaching people how to teach people, which is like wisdom^2

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#260

Post by m463 »

nunorbatista wrote: post #39

> Optimize your generosity. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away. Not sure if I agree completely. I've seen people regret giving their life to the service of others and not noticing they were not living their own life until too late.

But is service the same as generosity?

one is doing something for others, the other is sharing what you have.

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