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Do hard things carefully

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Re: Do hard things carefully

#41

Post by GistNoesis »

nuancebydefault wrote: post #30
GistNoesis wrote: post #7

These kinds of article push me over the edge. They introduce just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be useful in order to sell you a book and course which will be more of the same bad quality content. In the article they define the edge as the transition zone between the comfort zone and the danger zone. And they more or less directly tell you to push it and stretch it with care. The proper underlying concept…

It feels to me like you are comparing/applying hard science knowledge and techniques to psychologic knowledge and techniques, which is fine. However my personal experience is that it mostly doesn't work out like that. Real human interactions with others and with things is so complex that it can't reliably be modeled that way. In reality it is more a combination of gut feeling and rational overthought and afterthought…

The more uncertainty you have in your model of the world, because it is so complex, the more conservative you should be.

I like how https://www.youtube.com/@TechIngredients approach complex problems and risks in a safe way.

Human interaction normal operating mode shouldn't be with one pushing and pulling your buttons to make you react. That's quite the definition of emotional manipulation, and not the basis of sane relations.

If you are operating on the edge on purpose, you are probably creating a toxic workplace for those around you.

Re: Do hard things carefully

#42

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Edges are cool. That's where the action is.

But sometimes, we shouldn't have action.

As I have gotten older, I have learned that "It Depends" is really a mantra for life.

I know of some folks that are dealing with mental health challenges. They are all dirt poor, on SSI/Medicaid, and terrified of losing these.

As a result, they don't try to get jobs, or advance themselves, socially. They don't take risks. Their therapists tend to encourage this stance.

I can't, with sincerity, say that they are all wrong, but I'll bet some of them are. If they pushed themselves, they could probably break free of their chains. But some of the others, would just break. I am not qualified to know which is which. I do my best to support them, and keep my opinions to myself. One thing I know for sure: I have no idea what other people can take, in their edges. Just because I can do something, doesn't mean that someone else can.

We advance, by pushing into our discomfort zone. There's a saying: "Winners do what they need to do. Losers do what they want to do."

I don't know how to do almost every project I take on. It can be terrifying. I write about that, here: https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/thats-not-what-ships...

Re: Do hard things carefully

#43

Post by jumping_frog »

coffeecantcode wrote: post #20
ismail wrote: post #3

The concept he discusses of “the edge” is very similar to “edge of chaos” from physics, but has been studied extensively in complexity sciences, specifically complex adaptive systems. The theory proposes that all complex adaptive systems (CAS) naturally adapt to a state at the “edge of chaos” which is a transition zone between order(stability) and disorder. The theory proposes this is the zone where maximal learning/…

It has also been posed that the hemispheres of our brain operate at this edge of chaos with one hemisphere aligned with the novel and chaotic, and the other hemisphere aligned with routine and order. Then in this theory as we sleep/dream our brains take the novel and chaotic things we experience and transfer them to the routine and orderly side of the brain. Or something along those lines. I’m no psychologist but I f…

Brain Criticality - Optimizing Neural Computations

https://youtu.be/vwLb3XlPCB4

Re: Do hard things carefully

#44

Post by fifilura »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #42

Edges are cool. That's where the action is. But sometimes, we shouldn't have action. As I have gotten older, I have learned that "It Depends" is really a mantra for life. I know of some folks that are dealing with mental health challenges. They are all dirt poor, on SSI/Medicaid, and terrified of losing these. As a result, they don't try to get jobs, or advance themselves, socially. They don't take risks. Their thera…

Edges are cool. But they do have a dark side, often forgotten when talked about in public.

I have once been on the edge of chaos for too long and eventually when it flipped over it took years to recover. Possibly even decades. Or possibly a lifetime.

Re: Do hard things carefully

#45

Post by taneq »

ls65536 wrote: post #32
taneq wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The boundary between predictable and chaotic is always there most interesting place to be.

For some reason this also made me think of the boundary of the Mandelbrot set...that place where all the interesting structure reveals itself.

Yep, you're getting it. That same universal principle where the interesting things all happen in that boundary between boring and random (ie. trivially-predictable, and not-predictable-under-any-conditions).

If you haven't already, I heartily recommend James Gleick's book "Chaos" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos:_Making_a_New_Science) which is, to me, the introduction to both self similarity and sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

Re: Do hard things carefully

#46

Post by taneq »

Jerrrrrrry wrote: post #36
ls65536 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason this also made me think of the boundary of the Mandelbrot set...that place where all the interesting structure reveals itself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_30

Wow, that's really different to rule 34. :P

Re: Do hard things carefully

#47

Post by Suppafly »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #42

Edges are cool. That's where the action is. But sometimes, we shouldn't have action. As I have gotten older, I have learned that "It Depends" is really a mantra for life. I know of some folks that are dealing with mental health challenges. They are all dirt poor, on SSI/Medicaid, and terrified of losing these. As a result, they don't try to get jobs, or advance themselves, socially. They don't take risks. Their thera…

> know of some folks that are dealing with mental health challenges. They are all dirt poor, on SSI/Medicaid, and terrified of losing these.

That's why we need UBI, SSI ends up being an indirect UBI anyway but at least with a real UBI system people wouldn't be afraid to try to work during the time periods they were feeling better.

Re: Do hard things carefully

#48

Post by rors »

David Bowie said it better

“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”

Re: Do hard things carefully

#50

Post by chankstein38 »

fifilura wrote: post #44
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #42

Edges are cool. That's where the action is. But sometimes, we shouldn't have action. As I have gotten older, I have learned that "It Depends" is really a mantra for life. I know of some folks that are dealing with mental health challenges. They are all dirt poor, on SSI/Medicaid, and terrified of losing these. As a result, they don't try to get jobs, or advance themselves, socially. They don't take risks. Their thera…

Edges are cool. But they do have a dark side, often forgotten when talked about in public. I have once been on the edge of chaos for too long and eventually when it flipped over it took years to recover. Possibly even decades. Or possibly a lifetime.

Agreed. Crunch times at work, 10+ hour days for years left me burnt out even after being out of that for 5 years. Too much edge of your comfort zone can ruin your life!
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