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How to Work Hard

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Work Hard

#961

Post by rgifford »

digislave wrote: post #913
hallway_monitor wrote: post #856

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody's to say. For some reason some people think that statistics dictate reality when obviously they just take an average. The zip code thingy is silly, but on average more expensive zip codes produce children with higher incomes.

Yeah because their parents are better educated and pass on their values to their kids. So what? I am frankly tired of this modern idea that is is somehow unfair if parents pass on their advantages to their kids. That is what nature has always been about. It even starts before people have kids - they seek out partners that maximize the potential for their kids. So if a woman chooses an intelligent (or even just rich)…

Success and wealth tend to compound intergenerationally. That can be a good thing. When societies have economic mobility, wealth tends to enter and leave families over a couple generations.

I love music from Drake, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Justin Bieber and the like. Their music and the fact we live in a society where stars are bred for music -- that's incredible. Fair/unfair isn't a very interesting binary. Natural variance and inequity is an important part of healthy competition. How much inequity is too much? That's a very interesting question.

Re: How to Work Hard

#962

Post by sergiomattei »

noduerme wrote: post #917
sergiomattei wrote: post #878

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone in their early twenties struggling with burnout post startup failure, these bullshit hustle tropes NEED to end (like the Bill Gates quote). I'm going to go against everything I was told and say: don't work hard in your early twenties, don't kill yourself over your work, don't fill your life with anxiety. Phrases like "I wish I was like you in my youth" or keeping young people rolling in their hamster wheel…

PG has turned a good profit selling the same pile of bullshit to two generations of CS grads and wannabe entrepeneurs now. I always thought the subtext was "and if you're really lucky, I can be your mentor/investor/boss and tell you why you're not trying hard enough." Nice to see he's still hustling too. It always struck me as selfish, pompous and sanctimonious all at the same time. He silently banned me from this si…

It's not exclusively PG's problem, entrepreneurship/SV culture as a whole has been a driving factor.

It's a problem we have at a societal level and just blaming someone is reductionist. Our culture values work over everything, and it needs to stop.

Re: How to Work Hard

#963

Post by gfxgirl »

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.

Seriously? The "and they have a plan" which turns out they have no plan and it's just Androids that find religion?

Re: How to Work Hard

#964

Post by pdimitar »

gfxgirl wrote: post #963
pdimitar wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Seriously? The "and they have a plan" which turns out they have no plan and it's just Androids that find religion?

Yeah, that part was a bit weak and not well explained but it was IMO a natural evolution for thinking and feeling beings. I agree it could have been shown better and more gradual -- it was kind of sudden in the series and that's one of the valid negative remarks towards it.

90% of everything else was IMO top notch.

Re: How to Work Hard

#965

Post by Ma8ee »

SilverRed wrote: post #868
selfmodruntime wrote: post #725

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What if most of serious wealth and success is decided at birth? There is no 'what if'. It's just a fact. You can pretty accurately predict what a child will be able to attain in life by looking at their zip code.

It's not even really material inheritance or gifts. It's that successful parents teach their children how to be successful. When I reflect on my life I realize that pretty much everything went right because my parents had explained all the steps. I followed my parents advice to learn programming, I followed my parents advice on how to get a job, I followed my parents advice on how to negotiate how to negotiate higher…

Any idea how anyone who never got any meaningful advice from their parents can learn these things?

Re: How to Work Hard

#966

Post by gfxgirl »

digislave wrote: post #913
hallway_monitor wrote: post #856

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody's to say. For some reason some people think that statistics dictate reality when obviously they just take an average. The zip code thingy is silly, but on average more expensive zip codes produce children with higher incomes.

Yeah because their parents are better educated and pass on their values to their kids. So what? I am frankly tired of this modern idea that is is somehow unfair if parents pass on their advantages to their kids. That is what nature has always been about. It even starts before people have kids - they seek out partners that maximize the potential for their kids. So if a woman chooses an intelligent (or even just rich)…

parents passing on their experience isn't the only part. They also pass on their wealth, their connections, etc. The rich family can send their kids to the top schools. The rich family generally has connections. If your parents are house cleaners or gardeners or plumbers, can they loan you $100-200k to try out your pet startup idea? Can they introduce you to people that as likely to want to invest 5-7 figures in your idea? Are they even likely to know which topics to study or what opportunities exist?

The point is not that any of this is wrong. The point is to recognize all the benefits or luck or privilege or whatever you want to call it that one person might get that another does not and then add that to the sum of things it possibly takes to succeed.

Person A, has taxi drivers for parents, manages to go to a nice school, works hard, maybe has a chance at hitting it big

Person B has rich parents, is sent to the top schools where other top students challenge them, was idea, parents fund it, if not directly at least by knowing that they'll have a fallback should it fail, via top school connections or family connections they are given tutors, advisors, and or access to top talent for their startup, their chances of success are far higher.

Another example: Person A tells parents "I want to make an app". Parents say "that's nice". Person B tells parents "I want to make an app". Parents say "oh, I can introduce you to Ms.X, she designs apps, and Ms.Y, she had a successful startup, on and Mr.Z, he says his daughter just graduated CMU with a CS degree and she might be interested in joining you"

Again, nothing "wrong" with that . Just maybe it would be nice to fine ways to help Person A, not how to hinder Person B.

Re: How to Work Hard

#967

Post by spfzero »

WalterSear wrote: post #617
throwawayboise wrote: post #593

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're just burned out. I hope you have some financial cushion and can take some time to just do nothing. Or try gardening, or woodworking, or something really different that can be personally rewarding with no pressure to meet anyone else's expectations. With time you should heal.

Unfortunately, I've been burnt out too many times now, for too long. Every job now ends in burn out and takes 6+ months to recover from before I can start looking for another job. This time, however, feels different - it never felt insurmountable like this before. I can't work on my own stuff, can't level up my skills, not sure how to get back to that. I suspect that my situation is likely common among aging coders a…

Maybe try finding an open-source project you are interested in and contribute to it? It might energize you and let you re-connect with whatever you originally were looking for in a job.

It might morph into a side-project, but either way its something you can keep going even while working at a regular job, and then the job might be less of a make-or-break proposition.

Re: How to Work Hard

#968

Post by SilverRed »

Ma8ee wrote: post #965
SilverRed wrote: post #868

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even really material inheritance or gifts. It's that successful parents teach their children how to be successful. When I reflect on my life I realize that pretty much everything went right because my parents had explained all the steps. I followed my parents advice to learn programming, I followed my parents advice on how to get a job, I followed my parents advice on how to negotiate how to negotiate higher…

Any idea how anyone who never got any meaningful advice from their parents can learn these things?

My best advice would be to find a friend who is doing well and learn from them. Chat and meet up often. Ask them about work and stuff. Personally I give out as much advice to my friends as possible and have helped them get started in software development careers.

Knowing what you can and should ask for is so important. Recently management suggested that it would be better if I had a formal certification. I then requested that the company pay for me to go to university. They accepted despite it not being an advertised perk. If I had not seen my parents do the same thing previously I would not have known this is even something you can ask for.

Re: How to Work Hard

#969

Post by rgifford »

digislave wrote: post #925
rgifford wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...all successful people are talented and hardworking. I doubt it. Most measures of economic mobility show this is becoming less and less true -- if it ever was. I think believing it is important though.

Well the most important factor of economic mobility has historically been women marrying up. So you might be on to something - it seems doubtful that wives who were able to marry up work that much harder than other wives.

... what? Do you have a source here?

> The major correlates with high economic mobility Chetty identifies are racial segregation, income inequality, school quality, family structure and social capital.

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_articl...

Re: How to Work Hard

#970

Post by rgifford »

SilverRed wrote: post #968
Ma8ee wrote: post #965

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any idea how anyone who never got any meaningful advice from their parents can learn these things?

My best advice would be to find a friend who is doing well and learn from them. Chat and meet up often. Ask them about work and stuff. Personally I give out as much advice to my friends as possible and have helped them get started in software development careers. Knowing what you can and should ask for is so important. Recently management suggested that it would be better if I had a formal certification. I then reque…

This is really good advice.
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