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What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

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Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#301

Post by pretoriusB »

neumann_alfred wrote: post #243
pretoriusB wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You keep using this word, "strawmen". I don't think it means what you think it means. The thing is, we're describing historical figures. Our "subjective opinions" are not really helpful guides. Or, to be more accurate, they don't matter at all. You keep repeating it's your "subjective opinion" as if that somehow makes it OK. A subjective opinion can be wrong. It's not like one can get away with saying "In my subjecti…

You keep using this word, "strawmen". I don't think it means what you think it means. It means you make up stuff about my position and respond to that, instead of responding to my actual position. And now you just Dunning-Kruger on and on about generalities in a shallow way, as if I didn't know all of that and more of what you post. WTF. it's totally another thing to say "Hitler was evil" No, it's a shorthand for say…

>No, it's a shorthand for saying "I disapprove of his actions".

It's the worst possible way to say that you "disapprove of his actions".

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#302

Post by pretoriusB »

bokonist wrote: post #246
pretoriusB wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You keep using this word, "strawmen". I don't think it means what you think it means. The thing is, we're describing historical figures. Our "subjective opinions" are not really helpful guides. Or, to be more accurate, they don't matter at all. You keep repeating it's your "subjective opinion" as if that somehow makes it OK. A subjective opinion can be wrong. It's not like one can get away with saying "In my subjecti…

I agree that it is very important to understand the context and history behind awful events. But the concept of "evil" is still very useful. The point of defining evil is so that you can teach people not to be evil. Humans may not have a "conscience" that comes from God, but our brains have evolved for a sense of conscience that can be cultivated via the social pressure of parents, family, friends, teachers, and lead…

>But the concept of "evil" is still very useful. The point of defining evil is so that you can teach people not to be evil.

>But the rise of Hitler was not inevitable. Had Hitler been raised with a stronger, better moral compass, had the people who enabled his rise possessed a better moral compass, the war and the Holocaust would not have happened.

Things could have happened differently, but the war was more or less unavoidable due to the Versaille treaty. Hilter was just one man -- millions of Germans wanted "war" and were enraged with the treaty even before Hitler became known.

>After the war, the American occupiers rebuilt the education system to teach people that what Hitler did is evil, in order to install a moral compass that would prevent a repeat of the Holocaust from happening again.

What? This is extremely condescending to the German people. They knew very well what they did, and the rebuilding of the educational system has nothing to do with their "moral compass". You really believe that they needed ...Americans to instill a "moral system" onto them?!!! As if Americans are ...morally superior people?!!!

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#303

Post by tatsuke95 »

derleth wrote: post #294
tatsuke95 wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "do things like deliberate starvation." So putting pressure on international bodies to enforce crippling sanctions should count, right? > my rule of thumb is, when you're feeling morally conflicted about who 'should have' won the Normandy invasion in 1944, your morality is a bit off-kilter. My rule of thumb is: when you assume that all "our" killing is for "good" and "their's" is for "evil" your morality (as well a…

> So putting pressure on international bodies to enforce crippling sanctions should count, right? You really want that moral equivalence, don't you? OK, OK, Bill Clinton is Literally Stalin. Next, we equate Gandhi and Pol Pot. Happy?

>"You really want that moral equivalence"

Strawman.

>"as do things like deliberate starvation."

How do you think economic sanctions have affected populations in Cuba, Iran and Iraq over the years? Why do you think the rest of the world sees the US as a bully?

People like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot are easy. But when people trot around on their moral high horse like "our" own countries haven't done despicable (read: "evil") things is where the real problem lies.

In case you hadn't heard, we got rid of Hitler. But that took people on the outside to recognize what was happening on the inside.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#304

Post by huherto »

reinhardt wrote: post #174
edw519 wrote: post #67

The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki There are many inputs that affect success: intelligence, hard work, work ethic, emotional balance, determination, and even luck. I believe that the single most important of these over which we have the most control is determination. This book is provides a pretty good recipe to cultivate your own determination. I'm even going to tell you t…

Too bad most such catch-the-carrot self help books don't address "I have no idea what I want" situations, let alone "I don't really want anything" or worse.

In my opinion "Be so good they can't ignore you" is helpful with the first question.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#305

Post by sillysaurus »

thezoid wrote: post #299
sillysaurus wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's important for budding programmers to build confidence in themselves. Forcing them to work with other programmers at the very beginning destroys confidence and makes them hate the work.

How exactly would programming for themselves in a vacuum build any sort of positive confidence? Open source builds up that portfolio everyone wants to see, and working on a project provides mentors to help give new developers guidance.

How exactly would programming for themselves in a vacuum build any sort of positive confidence?

Because there's no one to criticize you, and figuring something out on your own is a rewarding experience which gives you confidence.

Open source builds up that portfolio everyone wants to see

If you're into programming for the reason of "building a portfolio", then you're not into programming. You're into making money.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#306

Post by [deleted] »

javajosh wrote: post #279
pretoriusB wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The secret is: "I am willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want." Like step over people? Screw the ones who love me? Be unethical? Ignore other parts of my life? Plus, who said that (a) I know what I want, (b) what I want is good for me (c) what I want is good for society in general, anyway? Not to mention that the whole premise is BS. As if by knowing this "secret" will help anybody. A regression to miracl…

>Like step over people? Screw the ones who love me? Be unethical? Ignore other parts of my life? Most people have quite a lot of room for action before these even become options. The point is to stay determined, focused, with unwavering attention. Your morality will tend to take care of itself. If you run into a conflict between getting ahead and doing the right thing, do the right thing. Morality is fine, but it ten…

[deleted]

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#308

Post by groby_b »

jakubp wrote: post #292
ampersandy wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VAK(T): Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, (Tactile). It's been argued that tactile and kinesthetic learners can be lumped into the same group, hence the parentheses. It's also hard to define exactly what the differences between the two are.

[this is a digression on learning styles] Ah. The VAK model. I looked briefly for scientific support for this "theory" on the Internet, but I couldn't really find any. Wikipedia suggested it's a theory with little to no support, and other locations didn't show ANYTHING that would convince me such a thing as "visual" or "auditory" learners exist. Below is a bit of my thinking on the subject. I am inclined to think tha…

I can definitely confirm the existence of visual/kinesthetic learners (in the limited realm of dancing). I've worked as a dance coach, and there's a distinct grouping into people who need to see steps demonstrated, and people who need to be guided through steps.

I can also confirm that people communicate in a way that describes the world in visual/auditory/kinesthetic terms, and people often have a preferred mode of communication. As a result, it is often helpful to choose a similar mode of communication. (My personal speculation: Not because that's their learning style, but because it is a more familiar kind of speech. What you say becomes more relatable)

But I certainly do agree with you that the "learning style" model is oversimplified, and can't be applied as such in many settings. (How on earth do you teach computer science in a kinesthetic way? ;)

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#309

Post by jakubp »

groby_b wrote: post #308
jakubp wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[this is a digression on learning styles] Ah. The VAK model. I looked briefly for scientific support for this "theory" on the Internet, but I couldn't really find any. Wikipedia suggested it's a theory with little to no support, and other locations didn't show ANYTHING that would convince me such a thing as "visual" or "auditory" learners exist. Below is a bit of my thinking on the subject. I am inclined to think tha…

I can definitely confirm the existence of visual/kinesthetic learners (in the limited realm of dancing). I've worked as a dance coach, and there's a distinct grouping into people who need to see steps demonstrated, and people who need to be guided through steps. I can also confirm that people communicate in a way that describes the world in visual/auditory/kinesthetic terms, and people often have a preferred mode of…

Very interesting information about dancing, thanks for sharing that!

I can see how people have _preferences_. If something is new & hard (a possible definition for learning), I would imagine we instinctively look for ways to make progress with minimum amount of effort. So in that sense we may have learning styles, but that wouldn't mean permantent or exclusive style. Other ways could work for us, too, but over the years we practiced certain style more than others and so we choose whenever we can (it's efficient/pleasant).

So perhaps simple familiarity of a way to learn might be the source of the whole idea and its appeal.

I can see how poorly designed scientific research would even validate learning styles in that sense without uncovering that everyone can actually learn in every way, they just choose not to for local efficiency.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#310

Post by danabramov »

thezoid wrote: post #262
canttestthis wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why must it be a free software project?

Free software never dies.

“programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unable to run at all in a few more.”

_why

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