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Proof you can do hard things

blog.nateliason.com

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Re: Proof you can do hard things

#321

Post by robertlagrant »

arolihas wrote: post #320
robertlagrant wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stereotype that if someone disagrees it must be because they're offended.

That's not what a stereotype is. And I didn't even make the claim that everyone who disagrees with me is offended. I just said it can be hard to understand something if you are offended by it. In this case it seemed likely, because the obvious point was that different people have different preferences towards subjects and look down on others. For example, some people in tech have a disdain for literature or other "so…

> And I didn't even make the claim that everyone who disagrees with me is offended

When you say:

> when someone is more interested in being offended

Because I disagree, that is the stereotype I'm talking about. You weren't making an abstract point; you were stereotyping me based on nothing other than my questioning of paulcole's point.

Technically it's true that you never claimed that everyone who disagrees with you is offended, but that's you getting confused: you were commenting on something I said to disagree with someone who isn't you.

> The fact that the OP simplified their point and you still refuse to understand it because it's a "made-up category" supports this notion.

Please quote where the OP simplified their point and I replied?

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#322

Post by arolihas »

robertlagrant wrote: post #321
arolihas wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what a stereotype is. And I didn't even make the claim that everyone who disagrees with me is offended. I just said it can be hard to understand something if you are offended by it. In this case it seemed likely, because the obvious point was that different people have different preferences towards subjects and look down on others. For example, some people in tech have a disdain for literature or other "so…

> And I didn't even make the claim that everyone who disagrees with me is offended When you say: > when someone is more interested in being offended Because I disagree, that is the stereotype I'm talking about. You weren't making an abstract point; you were stereotyping me based on nothing other than my questioning of paulcole's point. Technically it's true that you never claimed that everyone who disagrees with you…

They simplified here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940

You didn't reply directly to that but you responded here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940

Maybe you disagree with this stereotype, but you didn't counter it. You just said it's too hard to understand. It can be hard to understand things when your emotions are clouding your judgement, but that is just one possibility. I listed a couple other possibilities in my previous comment. I guess you can call it a stereotype, I would call it an inference. You just seem butthurt about a fairly innocuous term, because clearly you have the reasoning skills to understand what is being said. Feigning ignorance is not a good look. Best of luck to you!

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#323

Post by robertlagrant »

arolihas wrote: post #322
robertlagrant wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I didn't even make the claim that everyone who disagrees with me is offended When you say: > when someone is more interested in being offended Because I disagree, that is the stereotype I'm talking about. You weren't making an abstract point; you were stereotyping me based on nothing other than my questioning of paulcole's point. Technically it's true that you never claimed that everyone who disagrees with you…

They simplified here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940 You didn't reply directly to that but you responded here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940 Maybe you disagree with this stereotype, but you didn't counter it. You just said it's too hard to understand. It can be hard to understand things when your emotions are clouding your judgement, but that is just one possibility. I…

You pasted the same link twice, so I don't know what you mean. However I can guess that you've realised I didn't respond badly to a clarification, but don't want to retract what you said.

You keep guessing emotional reasons: "butthurt", "emotions clouding judgment", "being offended".

If this is the way you view the world, and how you perceive motivations that's fine, but please don't pretend that this constant insinuation is reasonable or anything but lazy, or in any way useful to any discussion.

It's purely subtractive, and the discussion would've been better (other than any benefit you got out of talking to someone this way) if you hadn't made these comments.

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#324

Post by arolihas »

robertlagrant wrote: post #323
arolihas wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They simplified here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940 You didn't reply directly to that but you responded here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36712940 Maybe you disagree with this stereotype, but you didn't counter it. You just said it's too hard to understand. It can be hard to understand things when your emotions are clouding your judgement, but that is just one possibility. I…

You pasted the same link twice, so I don't know what you mean. However I can guess that you've realised I didn't respond badly to a clarification, but don't want to retract what you said. You keep guessing emotional reasons: "butthurt", "emotions clouding judgment", "being offended". If this is the way you view the world, and how you perceive motivations that's fine, but please don't pretend that this constant insinu…

That's a poor guess mate, since the link I posted twice was your own response. I have nothing to retract. I guessed other reasons too in previous comments, like maybe you are being disingenuous.

The other one comment I meant to paste there was the simplified point he made. You couldn't figure out this is the one I meant to share? He only made two comments, I find it hard to believe you couldn't figure out what I was referencing, seems like you are just being disingenuous again. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674076#36698701

If you want to add something to the conversation, maybe you can explain why the stereotype is completely ungrounded in reality. You would have a tough time doing so, since in other comments you're talking to other tech-inclined people who are downplaying the utility of learning ancient history and literature.

You claiming you don't understand the point paulcole is making at all is ludicrous. None of your comments have added anything at all of value, whether you had an emotional motive behind them or not. You saying his point is hard to understand is just undermining yourself.

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#325

Post by WesleyJohnson »

kalid wrote: post #63
WesleyJohnson wrote: post #46

I lost interest in school around the 10th or 11th grade. I never took any math classes beyond what was required to graduate way back in '96 in Florida. I also didn't go to college. I've been a professional web developer since 2005 and a development manager (who still codes) since 2017. I don't understand the first thing about Calculus or even logarithms. I'm sure if I did, I'd probably be a better developer. I've had…

You probably understand logs intuitively. Don’t worry about notation, here’s the idea: sometimes we count digits, not values. When we say someone has a 6 figure salary, we are counting how many 0’s (10s) to takes to get there. For memory, we say something has 32 bits and can have 2^32 possible values. It’s more graspable to talk about the “address size” vs the “number of possible values”, especially for things that g…

Thanks. I'll take a look!

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#326

Post by WesleyJohnson »

yCombLinks wrote: post #64
WesleyJohnson wrote: post #46

I lost interest in school around the 10th or 11th grade. I never took any math classes beyond what was required to graduate way back in '96 in Florida. I also didn't go to college. I've been a professional web developer since 2005 and a development manager (who still codes) since 2017. I don't understand the first thing about Calculus or even logarithms. I'm sure if I did, I'd probably be a better developer. I've had…

Khan Academy is great, but there are also an incredible number of great youtube videos. I would watch this 3blue1brown video to see if you like his style : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUvTyaaNkzM

Thanks for the recommendation. Bookmarked

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#327

Post by WesleyJohnson »

gniv wrote: post #115
WesleyJohnson wrote: post #46

I lost interest in school around the 10th or 11th grade. I never took any math classes beyond what was required to graduate way back in '96 in Florida. I also didn't go to college. I've been a professional web developer since 2005 and a development manager (who still codes) since 2017. I don't understand the first thing about Calculus or even logarithms. I'm sure if I did, I'd probably be a better developer. I've had…

Just a meta comment: Don't think of calculus as hard in the same way learning a language or learning to paint is hard. Calculus is more of a gotcha moment. You fumble in the dark for a few focused hours (or minutes) and then you Get It. From then on it's relatively easy.

If I had to sort those - painting, learning a language, calculus. So, yeah, it seems hard to me. But I've never truly given it a lot of attention. That there is an "aha" moment for some, is promising.

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#328

Post by WesleyJohnson »

ivansavz wrote: post #110
WesleyJohnson wrote: post #46

I lost interest in school around the 10th or 11th grade. I never took any math classes beyond what was required to graduate way back in '96 in Florida. I also didn't go to college. I've been a professional web developer since 2005 and a development manager (who still codes) since 2017. I don't understand the first thing about Calculus or even logarithms. I'm sure if I did, I'd probably be a better developer. I've had…

> go back to the basics and work my way up; I've lost a lot of it. Where do I start? You might want to check out my book "No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics," which starts with a high school math review, and goes up to calculus. It's specifically written for adult learners (self contained + lots of practice exercises). You can see a PDF preview here https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSmathphys_v5_pr... The…

Nice. I like the idea of bridging coding skills with math operations. Definitely will take a look. Thank you.

Re: Proof you can do hard things

#330

Post by jebarker »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #188
jebarker wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's the justification for many PhDs. If you don't go into academia then chances are the content isn't that relevant, but the experience of having to problem solve in uncharted territory is a great confidence booster and skill to have.

> but the experience of having to problem solve in uncharted territory is a great [...] skill to have. While I do love to solve such problems, in many business areas there are hardly any hard problems to solve as part of your job: either because they don't exist, or because hardly any boss would be willing to let you work focusedly for years to potentially solve one the hard problems that do exist (which is what a Ph…

That's true. I am fortunate to work in an applied research team that exists to take on unsolved problems.

Although I'd argue that just having the ability to press on in the face of challenges is a closely related and widely useful skill.

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