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Powerful Thoughts from Paul Graham (Notes from Hackers and Painters)

74 points by InfinityX0 16y ago

tamarindo 16y ago
Anyone else find the opening image reminiscent of Da Vinci's Last Supper? http://media.photobucket.com/image/last%20supper/thecathoderaychoob/Blog%2520Pics/last_supper_davinci.jpg http://media.photobucket.com/image/last%20supper/thecathoder...
- dreur 16y ago
  Wow, nice find - Was it intended ?
  - InfinityX0 16y ago
    The image is from the Inc article on Paul Graham. It had to be on purpose - http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham.html http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-com....
- kmano8 16y ago
  I made the connection as soon as I saw the bread on the table.
- parenthesis 16y ago
  pg himself: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644137 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644137
- philelly 16y ago
  it's ironic that a blog post like this would use an image that appears to be poking fun at the fervor with which people record and analyze paul graham's teachings
  - pg 16y ago
    Inc isn't that sort of magazine.
osivertsson 16y ago
It is a good _book_. Far more enjoyable and memorable to read than only these notes.
tjmaxal 16y ago
Great advice as usual.
endlessvoid94 16y ago
I think taking his essays and making them bullet points loses quite a bit of the enjoyment. He gives examples with some prose in his essays that just drive the points further home. Plus, lists of things suck. EDIT: Does anyone else see the irony in the score of this comment?
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Don't you really mean -- Things that suck: * Lists of things ...
kunjaan 16y ago
They were nice observations but in no way would I consider those thoughts powerful. Maybe I should read the book instead.
ssn 16y ago
Amazing photo.
BrandonM 16y ago
How much material can you pull from a book without getting into copyright issues? Is the post's author providing enough new ideas to warrant a "commentary" argument?
- prewett 16y ago
  Copyright doesn't protect ideas so much as the expression of them. There are also fair use provisions, which include the discussing the copyrighted material. A list is given at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html (there is a link to the whole law, use the Chapter 1 link). Judging by those factors, he was clearly summarizing, it was for non-profit use, he did not appear to be quoting directly, and even if he was, the quotes comprise a very small part of the whole work, and the summary does not diminish the value of the original work, I would say he is on very safe legal grounds. (IANAL, though)
  - BrandonM 16y ago
    Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't trying to accuse him of anything... He is obviously providing value while also indirectly encouraging people to read the book. Besides, pg had posted in this submission before I did without having a negative attitude toward the article. I was mainly curious just how much is allowed. In a time when multimedia companies claim copyright infringement left and right, it's interesting to note the difference between print and audio/video copyrighted materials.
Scott_MacGregor 16y ago
This might be fun, and it could generate a little more industry coverage (free advertising) for the book. Maybe there could be a small competition of some sorts within the forum to win 3 copies of the book. It could involve something that is not coding, and that the forum members can judge (vote on). Like a best discussion topic / article submitted on Saturday the 26th between 9am and 2pm PST. All votes must be in by 7pm PST. Ten finalists could be selected, and the vote totals submitted to a separate random number generated for each one--highest 3 numbers win books. 1 entry per forum member who wants to participate.
Groxx 16y ago
75. The pointy-haired boss miraculous combines two qualities that are common by themselves, but rarely seen together: (a) he knows nothing whatsoever about technology, and (b) he has very strong opinions about it. Not in my experience. In general, people who know the least are the most vocal. I'm about 90% in agreement with the thoughts as a whole. There are some statements I find patently false / seen through rose-tinted glasses, like 48: I think there are three reasons we treat making money as different: the misleading model of wealth we learn as children; the disreputable way in which, till recently, most fortunes were accumulated, and the worry that great variations in income are somehow bad for society. As far as I can tell, the first is mistake, the second outdated, and the third empirically false. In what way is money accumulation today different than the past? Another quote cites that spammers spam because their cost is nothing, but it incurs a cost of ~5 man-weeks per million emails on those they spam. Isn't that a perfect example of accumulating money in a "disreputable way"? And how about all the recent exposures of questionable banking practices? And pork-barrel legislation? Bribery? Monopolistic practices? Money-making today is no cleaner than yesterday. Just because you (pg / anyone believing this) may accumulate money and use it ethically does not imply others do the same.
- kiba 16y ago
  Money-making today is no cleaner than yesterday. Just because you (pg / anyone believing this) may accumulate money and use it ethically does not imply others do the same. Modern civilization and its achievement is certainly not the result of lazy bureaucracy accumulating money on the back of hardworking pleasant. It's certainly a result of some amount of "rules of law". For prosperity to be widespread, you need incentive to accumulate capitals, build stuff that people actually want to buy, etc. The world is pretty fair. Just that humans can be too unfair and short-sighted.(Like caring more about relative status instead of total wealth) Poor nations just have more corrupt bureaucracy, unethical businessmen, and lawlessness than wealthy nations. Yes, the bureaucracy in American and Europe aren't certainly helping matters, but relatively speaking, they're still less corrupt than what you would find in third world countries.
  - Groxx 16y ago

74 points by InfinityX0 16y ago

Anyone else find the opening image reminiscent of Da Vinci's Last Supper? http://media.photobucket.com/image/last%20supper/thecathoderaychoob/Blog%2520Pics/last_supper_davinci.jpg http://media.photobucket.com/image/last%20supper/thecathoder...

dreur 16y ago
Wow, nice find - Was it intended ?
- InfinityX0 16y ago
  The image is from the Inc article on Paul Graham. It had to be on purpose - http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham.html http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-com....
kmano8 16y ago
I made the connection as soon as I saw the bread on the table.
parenthesis 16y ago
pg himself: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644137 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644137
philelly 16y ago
it's ironic that a blog post like this would use an image that appears to be poking fun at the fervor with which people record and analyze paul graham's teachings
- pg 16y ago
  Inc isn't that sort of magazine.

osivertsson 16y ago

It is a good _book_. Far more enjoyable and memorable to read than only these notes.

tjmaxal 16y ago

Great advice as usual.

endlessvoid94 16y ago

I think taking his essays and making them bullet points loses quite a bit of the enjoyment. He gives examples with some prose in his essays that just drive the points further home. Plus, lists of things suck. EDIT: Does anyone else see the irony in the score of this comment?

stcredzero 16y ago
Don't you really mean -- Things that suck: * Lists of things ...

kunjaan 16y ago

They were nice observations but in no way would I consider those thoughts powerful. Maybe I should read the book instead.

ssn 16y ago

Amazing photo.

BrandonM 16y ago

How much material can you pull from a book without getting into copyright issues? Is the post's author providing enough new ideas to warrant a "commentary" argument?

prewett 16y ago
Copyright doesn't protect ideas so much as the expression of them. There are also fair use provisions, which include the discussing the copyrighted material. A list is given at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html (there is a link to the whole law, use the Chapter 1 link). Judging by those factors, he was clearly summarizing, it was for non-profit use, he did not appear to be quoting directly, and even if he was, the quotes comprise a very small part of the whole work, and the summary does not diminish the value of the original work, I would say he is on very safe legal grounds. (IANAL, though)
- BrandonM 16y ago
  Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't trying to accuse him of anything... He is obviously providing value while also indirectly encouraging people to read the book. Besides, pg had posted in this submission before I did without having a negative attitude toward the article. I was mainly curious just how much is allowed. In a time when multimedia companies claim copyright infringement left and right, it's interesting to note the difference between print and audio/video copyrighted materials.

Scott_MacGregor 16y ago

This might be fun, and it could generate a little more industry coverage (free advertising) for the book. Maybe there could be a small competition of some sorts within the forum to win 3 copies of the book. It could involve something that is not coding, and that the forum members can judge (vote on). Like a best discussion topic / article submitted on Saturday the 26th between 9am and 2pm PST. All votes must be in by 7pm PST. Ten finalists could be selected, and the vote totals submitted to a separate random number generated for each one--highest 3 numbers win books. 1 entry per forum member who wants to participate.

Groxx 16y ago

75. The pointy-haired boss miraculous combines two qualities that are common by themselves, but rarely seen together: (a) he knows nothing whatsoever about technology, and (b) he has very strong opinions about it. Not in my experience. In general, people who know the least are the most vocal. I'm about 90% in agreement with the thoughts as a whole. There are some statements I find patently false / seen through rose-tinted glasses, like 48: I think there are three reasons we treat making money as different: the misleading model of wealth we learn as children; the disreputable way in which, till recently, most fortunes were accumulated, and the worry that great variations in income are somehow bad for society. As far as I can tell, the first is mistake, the second outdated, and the third empirically false. In what way is money accumulation today different than the past? Another quote cites that spammers spam because their cost is nothing, but it incurs a cost of ~5 man-weeks per million emails on those they spam. Isn't that a perfect example of accumulating money in a "disreputable way"? And how about all the recent exposures of questionable banking practices? And pork-barrel legislation? Bribery? Monopolistic practices? Money-making today is no cleaner than yesterday. Just because you (pg / anyone believing this) may accumulate money and use it ethically does not imply others do the same.

kiba 16y ago
Money-making today is no cleaner than yesterday. Just because you (pg / anyone believing this) may accumulate money and use it ethically does not imply others do the same. Modern civilization and its achievement is certainly not the result of lazy bureaucracy accumulating money on the back of hardworking pleasant. It's certainly a result of some amount of "rules of law". For prosperity to be widespread, you need incentive to accumulate capitals, build stuff that people actually want to buy, etc. The world is pretty fair. Just that humans can be too unfair and short-sighted.(Like caring more about relative status instead of total wealth) Poor nations just have more corrupt bureaucracy, unethical businessmen, and lawlessness than wealthy nations. Yes, the bureaucracy in American and Europe aren't certainly helping matters, but relatively speaking, they're still less corrupt than what you would find in third world countries.
- Groxx 16y ago