5 ms·

Crazy or Disciplined?

252 points by imgabe 17y ago

kmt 17y ago
I'm quoting the last paragraph which is a summary: "The best you can hope for in this life is that your delusions are benign and your compulsions have utility." In my mind, the whole post is very much worth reading. "This life" is basically here and now since times and societies change. Reminds me of how back in the day I chose to do software although I had other talents and passions as well. It was not an easy choice but here I am now.
- haroldp 17y ago
  You could turn it into a salute or blessing like, "May your delusions be benign and your compulsions have utility"
  - minalecs 17y ago
    I like it.. sign me up .. almost like vulcan "live long and prosper" .. we can be known as the adamites
hrabago 17y ago
I have this problem as well. I keep getting the urge to code. I keep hoping it becomes practical and that I get something (meaning $) out of it, but the truth is that's just an excuse I use to justify spending so much of my free time to code. The problem is that once I've solved the core coding problems, progress stalls. I'm still worried about the day my wife gives up on the idea and I lose the coding time I get now.
- allenp 17y ago
  I know what you mean. I did that a lot (hard coding problems, hoping to get money, just an excuse to code). What I ended up realizing was that for me coding is like mountain climbing, and that I really enjoy each new peak. There is some research into the problem space, the ascent, the feeling of victory, but the descent (aka the supporting code around the core problem) while possibly challenging just isn't satisfying. If you're able (hourly pay/equity/whatever) and want to see some of your things get off the ground, find someone else that hasn't climbed those boring/supporting peaks and give them a chance to help and to do some climbing of their own.
  - eelco 17y ago
    Better yet, find someone that can ship. (And watch Seth Godin talk: http://vimeo.com/5895898 http://vimeo.com/5895898)
byrneseyeview 17y ago
Reminds me of the MIT guide to avoiding burnout: http://www.zianet.com/wpickens/jokes/mit.html http://www.zianet.com/wpickens/jokes/mit.html
- dctoedt 17y ago
  You ought to post this link separately.
  - byrneseyeview 17y ago
    http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162832
freshfunk 17y ago
Meh. Interesting juxtapositions but it doesn't really do it for me. There is a fine line between barking at the moon and a 5% chance of success? Really? I think a more apt comparison would be barking at the moon and selling all your possessions to buy as many lottery tickets as you can. OCD is compared to disciplined exercise? If Warren Buffet were born in medieval times, I doubt he would be considered crazy. He'd probably end up being seen and resourceful (having read his biography). Lastly, I resent the comparison of religion to insanity. Where I do agree is the notion that entrepreneurship requires some leap of faith that tends to go against the typical career route most professionals are ingrained with. However, I think most sane entrepreneurs (heh) usually have some background and expertise that will increase their chances of success in their venture. Taking measured risk is not that close to crazy. People do it when they switch jobs or careers.
- boredguy8 17y ago
  "Lastly, I resent the comparison of religion to insanity." For what it's worth, he's not comparing religion to insanity by saying they're the same thing. He's saying all three people (or the fourth with the atheist) can't each be right. Which is true.
  - jackfoxy 17y ago
    "Which is true." Not so fast. There are propositons in arithmetic which are unprovable, Even getting the 3 (or 4) individuals to come up with a common set of boolean propositions is probably difficult, to say the least. Then coming up with a means to prove...
- lotharbot 17y ago
  "Taking measured risk is not that close to crazy." Depends on how carefully measured the risk is, what the possible payouts are, what the fallback plan is... and it depends on whose perspective is being taken. Where do you draw the line between "taking a good risk", "taking a bad risk", and "taking a crazy stupid risk"? What happens when you think a risk is good and everyone around you think it's stupid and you're crazy for taking it? I'd never buy a lottery ticket, but I have long-term disability insurance. Both have a negative expected value and a rare but high possible payout. The only thing that makes insurance "smart" and the lottery "crazy" is that with insurance the payoff happens exactly in the circumstance you need it to. Sometimes the line between smart and crazy is really, really thin.
joez 17y ago
I like the quote about Warren Buffet. I sometimes wonder about how useful my current skill set would be in a world war. But I think zombie apocalypse (or, more realistically, the possibility of a startup) are reasons the to stay curious and have hobbies.
zende 17y ago
being a workaholic is having an addiction. It just happens that the thing you're addicted to can have a positive outcome, but it is an addiction nonetheless
- robryan 17y ago
  As far as addictions go it is one of the more positive ones. I think it's great that I can sit here and get excited about spending 12 hours of a day doing thesis work or programming.
yread 17y ago
I guess he wrote it when drawing this: http://dilbert.com/2010-02-28/ http://dilbert.com/2010-02-28/
DenisM 17y ago
If you want to start doubting your own sanity install screen recorder software and play it back at the end of the day. Every now and again you will discover things you do you had no recollection you were doing.
metamemetics 17y ago
60% of Americans believe the Noah's Ark story to be literally true. Assuming you don't believe 2 members of every terrestrial species fit in a wooden boat and repopulated the entire Earth from complete extinction during man's lifetime, you are probably more sane than average. EDIT: source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/US/views_of_bible_poll_040216.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/US/views_of_bible_p...
- sown 17y ago
  I hypothesize that a large number of those people cannot bring them selves to believe that Obama is a citizen, too.
halffinn 17y ago
don't we generally need to be both crazy and disciplined?
zasz 17y ago
The light switch and moon examples are really bad. There's no good practical reason for either of those. Running your own startup can be a lot more fun than working at a big company, and running five miles every day is just good for you. The drawing example is good, though. Reminds me of moral luck: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/

252 points by imgabe 17y ago

kmt 17y ago

I'm quoting the last paragraph which is a summary: "The best you can hope for in this life is that your delusions are benign and your compulsions have utility." In my mind, the whole post is very much worth reading. "This life" is basically here and now since times and societies change. Reminds me of how back in the day I chose to do software although I had other talents and passions as well. It was not an easy choice but here I am now.

haroldp 17y ago
You could turn it into a salute or blessing like, "May your delusions be benign and your compulsions have utility"
- minalecs 17y ago
  I like it.. sign me up .. almost like vulcan "live long and prosper" .. we can be known as the adamites

hrabago 17y ago

I have this problem as well. I keep getting the urge to code. I keep hoping it becomes practical and that I get something (meaning $) out of it, but the truth is that's just an excuse I use to justify spending so much of my free time to code. The problem is that once I've solved the core coding problems, progress stalls. I'm still worried about the day my wife gives up on the idea and I lose the coding time I get now.

allenp 17y ago
I know what you mean. I did that a lot (hard coding problems, hoping to get money, just an excuse to code). What I ended up realizing was that for me coding is like mountain climbing, and that I really enjoy each new peak. There is some research into the problem space, the ascent, the feeling of victory, but the descent (aka the supporting code around the core problem) while possibly challenging just isn't satisfying. If you're able (hourly pay/equity/whatever) and want to see some of your things get off the ground, find someone else that hasn't climbed those boring/supporting peaks and give them a chance to help and to do some climbing of their own.
- eelco 17y ago
  Better yet, find someone that can ship. (And watch Seth Godin talk: http://vimeo.com/5895898 http://vimeo.com/5895898)

byrneseyeview 17y ago

Reminds me of the MIT guide to avoiding burnout: http://www.zianet.com/wpickens/jokes/mit.html http://www.zianet.com/wpickens/jokes/mit.html

dctoedt 17y ago
You ought to post this link separately.
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162832

freshfunk 17y ago

Meh. Interesting juxtapositions but it doesn't really do it for me. There is a fine line between barking at the moon and a 5% chance of success? Really? I think a more apt comparison would be barking at the moon and selling all your possessions to buy as many lottery tickets as you can. OCD is compared to disciplined exercise? If Warren Buffet were born in medieval times, I doubt he would be considered crazy. He'd probably end up being seen and resourceful (having read his biography). Lastly, I resent the comparison of religion to insanity. Where I do agree is the notion that entrepreneurship requires some leap of faith that tends to go against the typical career route most professionals are ingrained with. However, I think most sane entrepreneurs (heh) usually have some background and expertise that will increase their chances of success in their venture. Taking measured risk is not that close to crazy. People do it when they switch jobs or careers.

boredguy8 17y ago
"Lastly, I resent the comparison of religion to insanity." For what it's worth, he's not comparing religion to insanity by saying they're the same thing. He's saying all three people (or the fourth with the atheist) can't each be right. Which is true.
- jackfoxy 17y ago
  "Which is true." Not so fast. There are propositons in arithmetic which are unprovable, Even getting the 3 (or 4) individuals to come up with a common set of boolean propositions is probably difficult, to say the least. Then coming up with a means to prove...
lotharbot 17y ago
"Taking measured risk is not that close to crazy." Depends on how carefully measured the risk is, what the possible payouts are, what the fallback plan is... and it depends on whose perspective is being taken. Where do you draw the line between "taking a good risk", "taking a bad risk", and "taking a crazy stupid risk"? What happens when you think a risk is good and everyone around you think it's stupid and you're crazy for taking it? I'd never buy a lottery ticket, but I have long-term disability insurance. Both have a negative expected value and a rare but high possible payout. The only thing that makes insurance "smart" and the lottery "crazy" is that with insurance the payoff happens exactly in the circumstance you need it to. Sometimes the line between smart and crazy is really, really thin.

joez 17y ago

I like the quote about Warren Buffet. I sometimes wonder about how useful my current skill set would be in a world war. But I think zombie apocalypse (or, more realistically, the possibility of a startup) are reasons the to stay curious and have hobbies.

zende 17y ago

being a workaholic is having an addiction. It just happens that the thing you're addicted to can have a positive outcome, but it is an addiction nonetheless

robryan 17y ago
As far as addictions go it is one of the more positive ones. I think it's great that I can sit here and get excited about spending 12 hours of a day doing thesis work or programming.

yread 17y ago

I guess he wrote it when drawing this: http://dilbert.com/2010-02-28/ http://dilbert.com/2010-02-28/

DenisM 17y ago

If you want to start doubting your own sanity install screen recorder software and play it back at the end of the day. Every now and again you will discover things you do you had no recollection you were doing.

metamemetics 17y ago

60% of Americans believe the Noah's Ark story to be literally true. Assuming you don't believe 2 members of every terrestrial species fit in a wooden boat and repopulated the entire Earth from complete extinction during man's lifetime, you are probably more sane than average. EDIT: source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/US/views_of_bible_poll_040216.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/US/views_of_bible_p...

sown 17y ago
I hypothesize that a large number of those people cannot bring them selves to believe that Obama is a citizen, too.

halffinn 17y ago

don't we generally need to be both crazy and disciplined?

zasz 17y ago

The light switch and moon examples are really bad. There's no good practical reason for either of those. Running your own startup can be a lot more fun than working at a big company, and running five miles every day is just good for you. The drawing example is good, though. Reminds me of moral luck: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/