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How to Work Hard

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Work Hard

#641

Post by vl »

karpierz wrote: post #598
ultrasounder wrote: post #546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

howdy. as someone who has followed his career trajectory for the last 15 yars, I can assure You that "Luck" or serendipity or however You want to normalize his abilities has nothing to do with his abilities. Its Sheer Hard-work and Will to win. Being lucky is scoring 50 goals one season and 10 the second. This guys averages 50+ every season. So You might want to read up on it before You hypothesize. Like Spock famous…

GP isn't saying that he is lucky each game, he's saying he was lucky to be born with the body he has and he was lucky to get the coaching opportunities that came with that.

But it's not exactly true. His body statistically is not the best for football. In fact he had a growth problem he had to take hormonal treatment for. Initial coaching opportunities are thanks to the parents, but then he had to work hard to qualify for Barcelona youth program. Then he had to move to Spain as young teenager to be able to continue training at the required level. Amount of hard work and sacrifice he invested is way beyond that most other footballers do, and incomparable to normal population at all.

Re: How to Work Hard

#642

Post by Tycho »

Nursie wrote: post #626
tobltobs wrote: post #592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Computer games are build to make you addicted and waste your time and money. "They can even connect you with a rich tapestry of human life." Tapestry of human life? Seriously?

I could say the same about novels and be just as correct. You’ve never made friends through a shared interest in games, or even through the games themselves? You’ve never been enthralled with the story of a game, and been left richer afterwards? You’ve missed out, and you’ve missed out through snobbery.

True, gaming is a great way to make friends and connect… with a bunch of other losers!

Re: How to Work Hard

#643

Post by bosswipe »

bachmeier wrote: post #570
edanm wrote: post #564

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting aside the fact that the article explicitly agrees with you that just hard work isn't enough, here's the part of your comment I don't understand: > I know the VC thing about the importance of hard work. They love to promote hard work because that's how they make money. Why would they promote hard work if hard work didn't matter? And if it does matter, then what exactly is your problem with what pg is saying?

> the article explicitly agrees with you that just hard work isn't enough It does not in any way agree with me. I am saying luck is important. If that's anywhere in there, I missed it. > Why would they promote hard work if hard work didn't matter? Hard work is not the distinguishing characteristic. Luck is. Why promote hard work? Because someone else is working hard for your benefit.

I think part of what you're calling luck is what pg calls natural ability and part of it is the idea of "luck favors the prepared". I don't see how you can attribute luck to Lionel Messi's success, with his natural ability+hard work there's no way he wouldn't have been discovered and achieved success.

Re: How to Work Hard

#644

Post by pm90 »

> Some of the best work is done by people who find an easy way to do something hard.

This is a pretty good insight. Every time I’ve been somewhat successful it’s been because I discovered a different approach which made the problem approachable.

When I tried to understand math by rote memorization it was boring. When I understood it as a tool to make predictions about systems, it seemed much more useful. Learning the equations became a side effect of another thing I was trying to do.

Re: How to Work Hard

#645

Post by vl »

pauldickwin wrote: post #623
jmrm wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time we read or hear that quote, we have to remember that Gates also lose and win a lot of money playing poker in university, so there was also time for non-work related tasks :-)

Poker can be considered work. If you actually truly learn to play it, it teaches you a lot about people, emotions, thinking ahead several steps, probability, and risk and reward.

Back then poker was way less developed though. Modern constructive approach is relatively a recent phenomenon.

Re: How to Work Hard

#647

Post by aerosmile »

A common tension we experience with PG's recent essays is that they make you wonder if you fit into his world (the way that Patrick Collison, Kyle Vogt, Sam Altman and other well-known founders do). Those stories usually contain elements of above-natural raw talent combined with insane amounts of hard work and the foresight to channel all that talent and effort into development of highly valuable skills. There are a good amount of people like that out there, and his writing deeply resonates with them. At the same time, there are many more people out there who quickly discover that their lives have very few overlaps with PG's narrative.

For example, perhaps they started a startup and got burned (contrary to PG's narrative). Or they never cared for any skills that one traditionally needs to build a digital product (primarily programming, design, and the intercept between the two in form of a well-rounded PM). Or worse yet, their career took them into the analog world, with all the pros and cons of that universe. Last but not least, perhaps they just simply value the benefits of starting a family and providing for them with a low-to-moderate but predictable and stable income.

If you belong to that latter group, no way that PG will resonate with you, similar to how Karl Marx won't be a favorite author for a monarchist or Rush Limbaugh for a Democrat. Or those people right or wrong? It depends on who you ask. It's the same with PG - we just have to come to understand that the startup world is a polarizing ideology that works for some and not for others. I bet you that any founder out there that made money with a startup is quite likely to like PG's writing. Conversely, if you tried and didn't succeed (or never even wanted to give it a shot), it would be more difficult for you to align your thinking with PG's.

Re: How to Work Hard

#648

Post by tomrod »

pdimitar wrote: post #582
heavenlyblue wrote: post #577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why sitting through a movie is a bad thing? Have you tried watching some “harder” movies? Maybe you’re just bored with the specific movies you are watching. I for example know that I have a very specific love for sci-fi genre; but unfortunately a lot of sci-fi is basically trash with good CGI and I can’t help myself but think that I am wasting my time when I watch stuff in that comfort zone. However there’s a lot to…

Severely off-topic to the OP but have you tried watching "Battlestar Galactica" in full? (The remake from the 2004+, not the original -- tried the original and didn't like it at all.) I mean, you don't get much CGI there but the premise is extremely realistic and the actors are absolutely brilliant. Plus, you'll get to cry, a lot, during the long series finale.

Or Downton Abbey, or ST:TNG, or...

Lots of great shows out there to just enjoy.

Re: How to Work Hard

#649

Post by username90 »

lanstin wrote: post #561
david927 wrote: post #206

This falls into the Malcolm Gladwell genre of arguments made on top of specious anecdotal data. Paul's not wrong, per se, but it's not a well-formed argument. Bill Gates made his fortune by being in the right place at the right time with connections from his wealthy family, and software that he first sold and then went out and bought. If hard work helped him grow his empire, great, but I wouldn't use him as a great e…

And I think a strong argument can be made that if Bill Gates had taken a little time to look at the big picture in his early days, Microsoft might have had a more positive effect on the world, rather than become a company that valued crushing opponents over technical quality or real innovation. Imagine the quality of Linux with 10% of the money of Microsoft.

Or the fair play might have meant Microsoft would never have surpassed Intel so we would have no big corporation making hardware decoupled OS.

Re: How to Work Hard

#650

Post by mabub24 »

personlurking wrote: post #586
rakhodorkovsky wrote: post #470

I admire pg; I don't admire his essays, even though in broad strokes I agree with them. I feel his choice of style works against him; that's where I disagree. Write like you talk, but if you talk like pg writes you lose your audience. His essays check out line by line, paragraph by paragraph, but they fail to drive at some deeper, more subtle point that can capture the imagination of an audience. I'm sure pg is nothi…

In the past I read a lot of his essays but I can no longer stomach his obsession with (high) school. He overanalyzes it and relates almost every essay to how things are in school and I'm certain someone has made it into a drinking game by now. Sadly, my tolerance for that kind of game is quite low these days. Due to having enjoyed his essays 5+ years ago, I still open the new ones and start reading them but I can't h…

In the last 20-30 years, American parents and adults have put an enormous amount of focus and pressure on students for educational achievements as indicators for future successes. It's likely because of inequalities in the quality of education between schools, and inequalities of opportunities from schools. Get to a good school -> get good job because went to good school-> get good life. Otherwise, you're a failure. Education is seen as the lynchpin in social mobility.

The lack of social safety net, and a desire for their children to become successful, creates an all or nothing focus on educational achievement.

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