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Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

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Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#41

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

yeeetz wrote: post #18
blendo wrote: post #16

He's quite religious: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2011/07/geektheologian/

Many successful American tech founders and entrepreneurs have strong religious or spiritual beliefs — I believe it's part of the unique competitive advantage and edge in this industry

I wonder what the correlation / causation is on that versus having a supportive family and community.

That is, if you took someone who's an atheist, would making them religious (left as an exercise to the reader) make them measurably more successful? Or is it that people who already have supportive families tend to come from religious families, and tend to inherit their parents' religion?

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#42

Post by spyckie2 »

jebarker wrote: post #36

I too would like to hear more from people with similar approaches to work, career and technology to KK. However, it seems like there’s a large amount of survivorship bias at play when people talk about just following their interests and it leading to financial security and work freedom.

It’s not quite about following your interest. It’s learning how to take an interest in your interests, IMO.

Basically if you pursue your interest half heartedly or without the rigor and discipline that you would under pressure of work, you would probably never do anything interesting with your interests. But if you held yourself to the same standard of excellence in your interests that you do in work, then your interests will take on a quality that allows it to stand on its own.

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#44

Post by jollyllama »

egypturnash wrote: post #10

Is this a story about Kevin Kelly or is this an autobiography? It purports to be the former but it's largely about the author's work history. It sort of gestures vaguely at being an interview with Kevin but there's only about four paragraphs in the entire article that contain quotes from him in response to things the author asked, and most of these are about his collection of knick-knacks. I kept on waiting for a ser…

He seems like a really cool guy but I also was hoping for a definition of "flounder mode".

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#45

Post by joshdavham »

I really appreciated hearing about the author’s journey and relating it to my own so far.

It was only about two years ago that I was obsessed with the idea of starting my own ambitious startup and “conquering the world”, but I’m now moreso considering the idea that I can have a significant positive impact on the world through building and contributing to software in a more “pro-bono” way.

As kk said in the article:

> “I think one of the least interesting reasons to be interested in something is money,”

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#46

Post by zub-twin »

Aurornis wrote: post #40
kaiwenwang wrote: post #21

As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty: food derived from vegetable oils and chemically bleached wheat, apartments of grey laminate flooring and concrete, crime, people who derive their actions from social media, a 60 minute commute---as the real world: nature, people who are present, quality f…

> As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty In psychology there’s a concept called splitting, or dichotomous thinking, where a person only thinks of things in concepts of their extremes. Either the most extreme good outcome, or the most extreme bad outcome. They might see people or public figures…

It is not a new outlook, soylent green—is people.

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#47

Post by iddan »

kaiwenwang wrote: post #21

As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty: food derived from vegetable oils and chemically bleached wheat, apartments of grey laminate flooring and concrete, crime, people who derive their actions from social media, a 60 minute commute---as the real world: nature, people who are present, quality f…

I’m not from the US, but from my visits there and continuous reading of the living conditions in America this comment seems painfully true. As someone living in Israel I’m grateful we don’t live in those extremes.

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#48

Post by iddan »

Quarrel wrote: post #37
yeeetz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many successful American tech founders and entrepreneurs have strong religious or spiritual beliefs — I believe it's part of the unique competitive advantage and edge in this industry

Many successful American tech founders and entrepreneurs don't have strong religious or spiritual beliefs. Both are true. I think finding self-motivation in life is important, particularly for entrepreneurs, but there are many sources. I've never thought the SV / San Fran scene was particularly religious. I'd have guessed religion was under-represented there compared to the rest of the US.

Spirituality doesn’t have to be religion and most certainly not an Abrahamic religion.

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#49

Post by alexslobodnik »

Aurornis wrote: post #40
kaiwenwang wrote: post #21

As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty: food derived from vegetable oils and chemically bleached wheat, apartments of grey laminate flooring and concrete, crime, people who derive their actions from social media, a 60 minute commute---as the real world: nature, people who are present, quality f…

> As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty In psychology there’s a concept called splitting, or dichotomous thinking, where a person only thinks of things in concepts of their extremes. Either the most extreme good outcome, or the most extreme bad outcome. They might see people or public figures…

The binary perspective gives an excuse to give up.

The reasonable perspective does not. It demonstrates that though agency is limited it does exist.

Our life outcomes are connected to our actions. For many their circumstances make this an unpleasant thought, thus binary thinking protect their self-image. For some that's all they have left.

Re: Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

#50

Post by coderatlarge »

pragmatic wrote: post #29
kaiwenwang wrote: post #21

As a young person in the United States, the main concern is that if you aren't one of the greatest at what you do, you'll be doomed to a life of increasing poverty: food derived from vegetable oils and chemically bleached wheat, apartments of grey laminate flooring and concrete, crime, people who derive their actions from social media, a 60 minute commute---as the real world: nature, people who are present, quality f…

Woah that’s bleak. You don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the other people the bear is chasing. The bar is so low in corporate America you could trip on it. Just try to be halfway competent, do something useful at work, read a book or two about your industry. You’re already way ahead. Don’t fall for the hacker news bs. Lots of millionaires out here that never had a successful startup.

> Lots of millionaires out here that never had a successful startup.

what do you mean by this?

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