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

Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

fourmilab.ch

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 186 posts

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#91

Post by jameslk »

Mahn wrote: post #67

It's interesting how flat human nature stays over time, how advice given 136 years ago is still perfectly applicable today. Over the course of centuries life has changed dramatically, but we still think, worry, feel and act like our ancestors did from a millennium ago. I'd bet you could easily find advice given in the roman empire times that would still be relevant today.

I've thought about this a lot on a philosophical level. A person goes through life repeating the same mistakes their parents made and their grandparents made before them, and so on. We spend so much time re-learning things that have already been learned. And doing things that have already been done. Imagine how life could be different if we didn't have to start over each time.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#92

Post by chc »

StephenConnell wrote: post #90
marcosdumay wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moral is that redistribution won't bring prosperity Except that it does - up to a certain point. That's one of the few repeatable, tested, and validated economical principle from the XX century. Counter intuitive as it is, there's just no point denying it.

If prosperity is "having wealth", then redistributing wealth does bring prosperity. But then you could also say that stealing brings prosperity. Could you not?

AFAIK places with high rates of crime don't tend to be very prosperous on average. The same is not true for places with systems that help the poor.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#93

Post by hluska »

iQuercus wrote: post #84
marcosdumay wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moral is that redistribution won't bring prosperity Except that it does - up to a certain point. That's one of the few repeatable, tested, and validated economical principle from the XX century. Counter intuitive as it is, there's just no point denying it.

Source?

The IMF makes the same argument.

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1513.pdf

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#94

Post by zouhair »

kamaal wrote: post #85
lr4444lr wrote: post #8

I love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"

The fact that socialists feel entitled to free cash is hardly a surprise. In India which went though decades of socialist rule, its quite common among people to expect others to provide for them all their life. I know a lot of people from my circles, especially older people in the late 50's and 60's who have spent their lives in the socialist era endlessly expect elder brothers/relatives to provide for them. Any refu…

Socialists feel entitled to free money? Do you have some sources on this?

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#95

Post by zouhair »

wildmusings wrote: post #11
lr4444lr wrote: post #8

I love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

At least the witch is dead, we won't have to suffer her stupidity.

She managed alone to prove that women can be as hateful and live destroyers as any men.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#96

Post by gnarbarian »

Here's my favorite bit:

I was recently reading in a London paper an account of a like philosophic pauper who was kicked out of a cheap boarding-house because he could not pay his bill, but he had a roll of papers sticking out of his coat pocket, which, upon examination, proved to be his plan for paying off the national debt of England without the aid of a penny.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#97

Post by bbcbasic »

You are given the TL;DR then the fleshed out story after, which is of a manageable size. The English style is very readable for something so old. There was presumably no word-count pressure.

I loathe books like How to Win Friends and Influence People that have some meandering and boring story before it gets to the point.

This is the 'how to start a startup' for business of the regular type, i.e. no ambition to get loads of capital and become the next Google. Read this once the tech bubble has burst!

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#98

Post by anaolykarpov »

chc wrote: post #92
StephenConnell wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If prosperity is "having wealth", then redistributing wealth does bring prosperity. But then you could also say that stealing brings prosperity. Could you not?

AFAIK places with high rates of crime don't tend to be very prosperous on average. The same is not true for places with systems that help the poor.

Like north Korea, venezuela and Vietnam?

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#99

Post by skosuri »

jameslk wrote: post #91
Mahn wrote: post #67

It's interesting how flat human nature stays over time, how advice given 136 years ago is still perfectly applicable today. Over the course of centuries life has changed dramatically, but we still think, worry, feel and act like our ancestors did from a millennium ago. I'd bet you could easily find advice given in the roman empire times that would still be relevant today.

I've thought about this a lot on a philosophical level. A person goes through life repeating the same mistakes their parents made and their grandparents made before them, and so on. We spend so much time re-learning things that have already been learned. And doing things that have already been done. Imagine how life could be different if we didn't have to start over each time.

Basically no one would dream foolhardy dreams anymore, which would make society horrible.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#100

Post by ScottBurson »

clishem wrote: post #21

The author of 'So Good They Can't Ignore you' ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can... ) basically argues that the first rule he mentions ("Don't mistake your vocation") is a false myth: "In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed-preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how mos…

Telling people not to follow their passion ... seems to be Cal Newport's passion.
Post reply on HN