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Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

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Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#301

Post by throwaway7281 »

el_dev_hell wrote: post #295
throwaway7281 wrote: post #283

As a German, the idea that mass murder and high tech are different sides of the same coin has shaped my world view forever (after reading Dialectic of Enlightenment and On the Critique of Instrumental Reason). Horkheimer red-pilled me on our western societies and I'm grateful for it.

I mean this sincerely: WTF does that mean? Mass murder is the opposite to technology?

Germans learn about the history of the Third Reich in detail and I always asked myself: how could this happen? Smart, hard-working, intelligent, compassionate, literate people start to plan industrial murder of millions of people on the basis of what exactly?

Now, here's the thing. Progress is not that shiny guiding light. It is an extreme force, especially a force to control things, especially nature. The Third Reich planned mass murder, as it were a railroad track or lunar landing - the form was exactly the same and they did not understood: that this similarity in form revealed and forever merged the idea of progress to the most inhumane behavior and destruction.

If that does not make sense, I encourage you to just read a bit about the concentration camps or the Third Reich in general. Good timing, too - we have 75th anniversary of V-E Day coming up.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#303

Post by rrival »

- Time spent working on myself (exercise, personal development) seems to improve my business

- Adding value for others is the best way I've found to achieve greater success

- (and this is very recent) consider price as a measure of value, like a liter is a measure of volume

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#305

Post by golemiprague »

abetusk wrote: post #137

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil" More and more, I'm realizing this applies more broadly than just for code. Abstraction is a form of optimization and shouldn't be done before the space has been properly explored to know what abstractions should be built. Standardization is a form of optimization and shouldn't be proposed until there's a body of evidence to support what's being standardized. Failure to…

I don't know, it is one of those abstract phrases that don't really add any value, same as "use the right tool for the job" or "you ain't gonna need it". No shit, the problem is that in most cases I don't know what would be a premature optimisation and what would be the right tool for job and what I would need. I have to explore it, usually by making some mistakes along the way using the wrong tools or optimisations and missing others. Sometimes I can learn from the past, sometimes the specific case is different from the past case. It is just the way of life, no valuable insight here.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#306

Post by afpx »

darkerside wrote: post #192

This might be super basic, but... assume positive intent. Your parent is not your enemy. Your teacher is not your enemy. Your boss is not your enemy. The other team at work is not your enemy. The corporation is not your enemy. The other political party is not your enemy. Or, more accurately, YOU are not THEIR enemy. At best, you're an NPC in their game. Many of them probably even want to help you, because you are ano…

My life experiences don't match your mental model, sadly. Maybe it has to do with where and how one grows up? For example, I know with certainty that my parents, teachers, and first bosses were enemies.

A lot of people on HN seem to have grown up in safe, nurturing, loving environments. But, remember that most of the world's people didn't. I don't mean to call you out - just saying that I would love to have had your experiences.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#307

Post by canada_dry »

Mindfulness.

Lately I've been reading/listening to Eckhart Tolle.

I'm a recently retired (IT Exec) and wish I'd have adopted some of these ideals earlier in life e.g. stop fretting over the future and dwelling on the past. Stay firmly routed in the moment and savour it.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#308

Post by pstuart »

brain5ide wrote: post #250
pstuart wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a twist on that: "You are the center of the universe, and so is everybody else"

How's the water today, boys? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI

I love that speech. But I had the notion I shared well before encountering it :-).

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#309

Post by andrey_utkin »

The most important thing to know about your tasks is WHY you need to do them. Connecting my TODO list items all the way to Maslow's categories of needs has resolved all of my task motivation, categorization and prioritization struggles.

Corollary, which you hear sometimes in investors' blog posts: not all problems are worth the effort, only valuable problems are.

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