How to Work Hard • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Work Hard

#691

Post by kmnc » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:45 PM UTC

vl wrote: post #641

karpierz wrote: post #598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 inv…

So he was lucky to go through a system that had him competing against higher level talent while at a physical disadvantage. By far the best way to train at a young age. His statistically good body for football counterparts meanwhile competed at amongst themselves and with lower talent. He was lucky enough to be good enough to push past the barrier of being able to be in a situation of advantageous training. It is a very rare position that often leads to exceptional players.

Re: How to Work Hard

#692

Post by wfme » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:49 PM UTC

devchix wrote: post #565

nonbirithm wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same. I can hardly sit through an entire two-hour movie or play a video game without feeling like I should be doing something else. I cannot feel good about myself if I cannot sense that I'm making progress learning a skill, and am stuck for hours looking down at a blank page as a result. But what's dangerous for me is that this alarm system does not trigger consistently. I might spend too much time on HN,…

> I can hardly sit through an entire two-hour movie or play a video game without feeling like I should be doing something else. One summer we rented a beach house, I had delusions of lazing on the beach under a big umbrella, drinks, books, dogs, netflix, music, a endless orgy of entertainment and sunny weather. I went stir-crazy in about half a day, there's only so much lazing about I can do, after 2 movies I thought…

I had a very similar experience a few years ago after travelling to Rarotonga for a holiday. There was little reception for mobile data without a new sim - this turned out to be an absolute blessing. The first day or so was easy, but the next few were restless. We had explored the island, snorkelled, swam in the pool, and tried lots of the local food. We had run out of things to do.

The funny thing is, it took there being nothing to do, no phone to idly turn to, to truly start to unwind and relax. I didn't initially realise it at the time, but my body and mind had been in this constant state of stress. After pushing through that initial restlessness and that constant need to be actively doing or reading about something productive, my whole body began to feel noticeably more relaxed. The invisible state of constant stress was finally parting. Waking up later than usual, grabbing some tropical fruits and enjoying them around the pool with a light fictional book at the ready started to feel more natural and enjoyable. It started to feel like I could truly enjoy doing "nothing" and just bathe in the relaxation.

After returning home, there were many noticeable improvements to my creative thinking, productivity, and my general feeling of wellbeing.

My take away from this experience is that it is so incredible difficult to fully disconnect from day-to-day life when your phone can provide constant access to information. It's oh so easy to go on holiday but still turn to your phone and hn or reddit when idle. I highly highly recommend taking a holiday either without your phone, or without any easy access to the internet.

Re: How to Work Hard

#693

Post by eutropia » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:50 PM UTC

jjice wrote: post #23

> ...because even in college a lot of the work is pointless; there are entire departments that are pointless. I loved all of my CS courses in college. They were my bread and butter. I also liked a lot of my math courses and even an English class or two. I just wish I didn't take 5 history courses (three as part of an elective set that had to be liberal arts), three unrelated sciences (bio 1+2, and astronomy - imaging…

What you want exists: it's called a vocational school -- and no, as of now, many don't teach higher level academic subjects to the exclusion of all others, but they do provide a focused training for a specific line of work and nothing else. A Code bootcamp, for example.

Universities have their historical origins in educating the children of elites in the ways of the world: which by definition is a varied education consisting of many different subjects. I can only guess at the reasons why one can't commonly attend a Computer Science University in the U.S; but there are a handful of institutions in the world that are more focused (The Max Planck Institutes in Germany come to mind)

Re: How to Work Hard

#694

Post by luffapi » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:51 PM UTC

Domenic_S wrote: post #683

luffapi wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way did PG work hard? His job seems incredibly cushy to me. He even had the leisure to write his own lisp! VCs don’t work hard. They sit there and watch people grovel.

Is this a joke I'm not getting? Do you think he hopped off his skateboard at 19 and became a VC?

That’s a great way to describe it. He sold Viaweb in the dot com bubble to a hyper ignorant Yahoo!

Literally a stoke of luck and being in the right place at the right time.

Re: How to Work Hard

#695

Post by pm90 » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:55 PM UTC

borroka wrote: post #682

void_mint wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Repeatedly you see "influencers" be overly generous with their own retelling of history. The problem with this style of retelling is there's generally not very much humbleness or self reflection involved - they want you to _believe_ this is how it was, even if it wasn't. You can't really fix it, I don't think. Famous influencers are going to tell their narrative however they want, lots of people are going to say "Wel…

Hard agree on this. People lie all the time and in the direction that can make them virtuous and a bit contrarian. How come that they all love their wife and family is important thing they have (although work is important along with their sacred responsibility of producing jobs and wealth) and then we find out they either treat their partners as inferiors in the relationship, have affairs, have been living in separat…

If you're in a position where you benefit financially from the extra labor of others, you would probably be incentivized to proselytize the value of "hard work".

Re: How to Work Hard

#696

Post by quickthrower2 » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:56 PM UTC

nineplay wrote: post #317

One of my greatest regrets is how much time I wasted on 'work' in my 20s and 30s. I was an engineer, I made a comfortable salary, but I rarely took a vacation, I never traveled outside the UI, I took days off reluctantly with a vague feeling that I was letting someone down. "Later", I told myself. When I'm successful, when I'm stable, when I have the money to travel in style and not backpack around and stay at hostel…

I feel for you there as I’m sick myself in a way that means even working is a challenge.

My suggestion for you and possibly advice for myself is if you can’t “travel” then move.

For me I imagine working 2 years from New Zealand outside of a city, somewhere beautiful to be a cool thing to do. You need to travel to get there but then you can stay put for the most part, doing short trips when it suits.

I think world trips are overrated. I did some backpacking in SE Asia and in some ways it feels like IKEA: a bunch of sheep following the same path around doing the same things trading money for a buzz. It’s interesting to see places but boring at the same time, everyone wants to “party”

If I had the time again I’d trade those 3 months travelling for a year in NZ, Tasmania, some parts of Eastern Europe or US and very slowly travel while working remote. Really wish I could have had that idea planted in my head.

Final thought: if you are a coder it can feel quite bad looking back on your years because most of the code you write has probably been replaced! So I cope with this by thinking of it like I am a gardener and most of my veggies have been eaten. So what? My work was useful and helped people.

Re: How to Work Hard

#697

Post by vl » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:57 PM UTC

kmnc wrote: post #691

vl wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 inv…

So he was lucky to go through a system that had him competing against higher level talent while at a physical disadvantage. By far the best way to train at a young age. His statistically good body for football counterparts meanwhile competed at amongst themselves and with lower talent. He was lucky enough to be good enough to push past the barrier of being able to be in a situation of advantageous training. It is a v…

He also was lucky enough to be born. If you take to absurd, you can attribute anything to luck. A lot of kids where in position like him, and none made it to number one.

Re: How to Work Hard

#698

Post by aabajian » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:58 PM UTC

Paul Graham makes a few points that show why medical training needs reform. There's a disconnect between hard work and income in medicine:

i. You work hard throughout residency, yet your salary is fixed. The hardest-working neurosurgery resident gets the same check as the coasting primary care trainee.

ii. Trainees are praised for their academic knowledge and their academic output, yet the highest-earning physicians are in private practice.

iii. Physician jobs in desirable areas are scarce, and they pay the least. Hard-work improves your chances of getting a job in a competitive market, but at a lower salary.

Re: How to Work Hard

#699

Post by pm90 » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:59 PM UTC

void_mint wrote: post #536

I came here to rip apart this post and PG for propping up hustle culture bullshit, but am actually pleasantly surprised at his takes. I would reword most of his post to be more about "being engaged" instead of "working hard", because "work" has so many flavors and misconceptions. > My limit for the harder types of writing or programming is about five hours a day. Whereas when I was running a startup, I could work all…

This is a beautifully written post and definitely not a ramble, thanks for sharing this.

I would take this a bit further that being happy or feeling fulfilled is really the best way to have an open mind to do things differently. If you're stressed out from working all the time, you have little chance of appreciating "problems" as more than things that must be dealt with rather than as opportunities for learning.

Re: How to Work Hard

#700

Post by vl » Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:59 PM UTC

tomjakubowski wrote: post #687

vl wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 inv…

Shorter people have a lower center of gravity which is an advantage for players maneuvering the ball through the midfield. There is certainly a trade off with strength and vision but Messi's body type is hardly unusual in top flight football. Xavi and Iniesta, who played with Messi on Barcelona, were superstars and all three are 5'7".

Messi is 169, average height at the World Cup is 182.4, this is quiet a difference. In fact he is in the lowest percentiles. Ronaldo is 187, Neymar is 175.