551–560 of 874 posts
Some of my biggest regrets are doing what I thought was best when I should have done what everyone else was doing. This ranges from from not buying an overpriced house 20 years ago, to not partying at college, to following some interesting but unpopular technology. Its not all bad doing things your own way but you have to be careful about straying too much.
" Ditto for essayists. An essay that told people things they already knew would be boring. You have to tell them something new. " How come I know exactly where this essay is going? It is yet another "start-up founders are genetically, intellectually, and emotionally superior; the rest of the muggles are so envious." Does Paul think everyone except startup founders works on an assembly line? " You see this especially…
> How come I know exactly where this essay is going? This is the question I've been thinking as I've checked back in on comments here a few times this morning. Why do so many people "know" that this essay is all about aggrandizing pg's own intellect or that of startup founders, when it's almost entirely composed of two parts: (1) discussion on when independent thinking is and isn't valuable, and (2) advice on cultiva…
So who's the independent thinker? You or the poster who reacted negatively to the essay?
I would say that the majority of independent thoughts and ideas are distasteful to the majority. That's why the majority often avoid independent thinking.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its hard to think of a more homogenous industry / group of individuals than the HN / SV startup founder clique. The length that people will go to to pretend that it isnt another rich boys club that leans somewhat conservative (sorry "libertarian") is interesting in itself.
You mean more homogenous right?
"We grow by moving more and more of what is unseen and unexamined in the way we understand the world (those things that are SUBJECT) to a place where they can be examined, questioned and changed (where they become OBJECT)."
According to Keegan, these are the most important ways to move toward stage 5 development:
* Understanding our self: Constant awareness and humility
* Sharing our self: Honest, real conversations with people we trust
* Transcending our self: Experiment with self-transcendent experiences
[0] https://medium.com/@NataliMorad/part-3-how-to-be-an-adult-ke...
[1] diagram of stages 3 through 5: https://miro.medium.com/max/875/1*QKt0kDlG-S65Oz-LBiGNQg.png
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How come I know exactly where this essay is going? This is the question I've been thinking as I've checked back in on comments here a few times this morning. Why do so many people "know" that this essay is all about aggrandizing pg's own intellect or that of startup founders, when it's almost entirely composed of two parts: (1) discussion on when independent thinking is and isn't valuable, and (2) advice on cultiva…
I think the root cause is some “conflicting” mechanism where people associate pg’a writings with a following, which has been carefully cultivated. This article being about “how to not be a follower” in itself is at odds with that, and as such it entices heavy scrutinizing from the audience. In a way, it’s incredibly difficult to establish whether or not this article is conforming to existing ideas or not, when there’…
" Ditto for essayists. An essay that told people things they already knew would be boring. You have to tell them something new. " How come I know exactly where this essay is going? It is yet another "start-up founders are genetically, intellectually, and emotionally superior; the rest of the muggles are so envious." Does Paul think everyone except startup founders works on an assembly line? " You see this especially…
> How come I know exactly where this essay is going? This is the question I've been thinking as I've checked back in on comments here a few times this morning. Why do so many people "know" that this essay is all about aggrandizing pg's own intellect or that of startup founders, when it's almost entirely composed of two parts: (1) discussion on when independent thinking is and isn't valuable, and (2) advice on cultiva…
Great advice for unicorn hunters, for indie hackers, not so much.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nowhere in the essay does he argue that the three qualities of independent thinkers are exclusive to startup founders. You clearly feel some type of way about Paul Graham.
While I may not necessarily be as harsh as the commenter you are responding do, I will say that I am starting to feel a certain way about pg, and it's much less positive than it was 5-10 years ago. I feel like a common thread in his most recent essays has been separating people into, for lack of a better term, "desirables" vs. "undesirables". True, he doesn't use those terms, and he often couches the language he uses…
If PG can write an essay about Contrarianism Is Good and not inspire this reaction in anyone, then he’s not really talking about contrarianism, is he?
