Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An Unreasonable Amount of Time

allenpike.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 91 posts

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#81

Post by gsf_emergency »

numpad0 wrote: post #65
notnaut wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Practice now, realize later, feels deeply dualistic to me.

Isn't it just saying, a gain realized from compound interest over long-enough time is crazy yet short term gains is practically zero, yet total gain is anything but zero, and also there really isn't a magical zero effort quick and easy jackpot skill gain IRL

It isn't. Because when they put it much more sensuous & yet concrete terms, than the one of numbers & cents, the reader's mind might be primed to apply the idea to more general problems if & whenever they do arise, such as the problem of finding the right problem to solve.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#82

Post by soulofmischief »

robocat wrote: post #79
soulofmischief wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's art if the artist decides it is. You don't have to agree with them, but art is not some objective form you can define, it's entirely subjective. > Is the bow used by a violin player in itself a piece of art A pencil is a work of art.

It's art if the viewer decides it is What the artist thinks or desires is often irrelevant. (Edited)

And what committee decided this? Who gave them the authority to decide how an artist should feel about their own work?

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#83

Post by soulofmischief »

JadeNB wrote: post #59
soulofmischief wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good and often useful generality, however it's important to recognize how vast the difference can be in the amount of energy needed to achieve inner peace from one person to the next. For example, I had absent drug addict parents, was instead raised by extremely abusive and restrictive guardians. I was homeless since 16 and I spent my 20's undertaking the self-actualization that I should have been doing in my teens…

> Meanwhile, my typical peer has a functioning family unit, and has enjoyed a relatively struggle-free existence. Are you sure about this? I know that I enjoyed a relatively struggle-free existence, and assumed that most other people did. But, whenever I have taken the time to get to know someone really well, I have found that they had struggles beyond anything I had to handle, and that do not reveal themselves at al…

That's a valid question, but I don't know how to answer it without going into great depth rehashing stuff I've said on here before as well as stuff I haven't. Suffice to say that my Adverse Childhood Experiences score is quite high, and that my life has been marked by a series of unfortunate experiences which I have found myself unable to relate with the vast majority of my peers over.

And I have tried. The older I get, the more it just looks like PTSD when I do try and relate with people. That doesn't mean that each of them haven't had their share of struggles, it just seems like a magnitude or more less for the majority of folk I know.

The difference in current struggle has dropped off a bit in the last few years because life has been getting rough for everyone outside the wealthy class, but the majority of my life was absolute hell. The first time I put a gun in my mouth and sat with a finger on the trigger, I was nine years old.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#85

Post by nejsjsjsbsb »

koiueo wrote: post #32
nejsjsjsbsb wrote: post #14

Except for software engineering where doing for 25 years doesn't make me feel like I am doing magic. It feels like the art keeps moving and I need to keep up. Like the card tricks I did back when are now obsolete so I need to learn human cannonball as table stakes.

Another great person said something like: sometimes 5 years of experience is just 1 year repeated five times. I'd guess, less than 1% of engineers in the industry have an opportunity to learn something drastically new at least once a year. Most are doing the same in terms of engineering and just occasionally learn new (not better) tools (that's the only thing that pops in my mind in response to your observation about…

I think 99% of what I learn is temporary intracacies of how closed source codebases work lol!

I am doing some deeper dives on reusable knowledge though now. On my list is learn etcd (at a code level) for some reason I am drawn to it. It feels like a microcosm of what bigger complex systems like Kubernetes would be like.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#86

Post by soulofmischief »

romesmoke wrote: post #28
soulofmischief wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good and often useful generality, however it's important to recognize how vast the difference can be in the amount of energy needed to achieve inner peace from one person to the next. For example, I had absent drug addict parents, was instead raised by extremely abusive and restrictive guardians. I was homeless since 16 and I spent my 20's undertaking the self-actualization that I should have been doing in my teens…

I see your point. I've had my fair share of trouble as well. Talking about this stuff on HN after the storm has passed, from a financially stable place, is a luxury on its own. Nevertheless, I don't see any value on acknowledging the delta between me and peers that happened to be luckier. It'd be useful were I on the other side: for instance, if I hadn't seen my father sink into dementia, if he was still with me, I'd…

Yeah, I should have been clearer that my intent is that the delta should be used to increase empathy, not decrease it. Anyone out there could be dealing with anything.

I've lashed out at people before while under a great deal of stress. I've been the recipient of such as well. I've seen and experienced what poverty, illness and depression can do to the mind, how it warps habits and motivations. How things that some people might see as no-brainers for fixing a situation might simply not be options for others at that moment, at least not without assistance. A good support network makes all the difference in someone's life.

There is some truth to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and in addition to not being jealous of those dealt a better hand, we should be supportive and attentive to those who weren't, and resist applying our own heuristics to their lives.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#87

Post by tasuki »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #26

A good example (in my twisted mind) is the folks that set up concerts and sports games. I have a friend, who runs setup of major venues. Like, stadiums and conference centers, for big-time events (thousands of people). The deal is, that a whole lot of moving parts, need to come together, for one event, and there can be no screwups[0]. Takes a lot of planning, prep work, validation, and, most importantly, experience (…

> Not many people can actually do it, but almost everyone thinks they can do it.

I think so, too!

I organise a yearly two week long event for about a hundred people. I do it for free. I have a couple volunteers helping me. I believe that doing this as a job, with heaps of money and teams of paid professionals isn't all that astonishing...

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#88

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

tasuki wrote: post #87
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #26

A good example (in my twisted mind) is the folks that set up concerts and sports games. I have a friend, who runs setup of major venues. Like, stadiums and conference centers, for big-time events (thousands of people). The deal is, that a whole lot of moving parts, need to come together, for one event, and there can be no screwups[0]. Takes a lot of planning, prep work, validation, and, most importantly, experience (…

> Not many people can actually do it, but almost everyone thinks they can do it. I think so, too! I organise a yearly two week long event for about a hundred people. I do it for free. I have a couple volunteers helping me. I believe that doing this as a job, with heaps of money and teams of paid professionals isn't all that astonishing...

A week-long conference is a long one. Three people is a small team. Kudos!

I have been involved with setting up weekend-long or one-day-long events, for decades.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#89

Post by tylerchr »

velcrovan wrote: post #35
treetalker wrote: post #2

This was a pleasant surprise and a pleasant read. Its message reminds me of the words of Shunryu Suzuki: > As to progress -- we don’t know how much progress we made, actually, but if you practice it you will realize -- some day you will realize that our progress is not -- it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, you cannot actually make progress. The progress you make i…

My favorite imagery of this idea comes from the last two stanzas of a poem: For while the tired waves, vainly breaking Seem here no painful inch to gain, Far back through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright. — Arthur Hugh Clough https://w…

You’ve just introduced me to a good poem. Thanks!
Post reply on HN