4 ms·

OFFTOPIC: avoid it at all cost. Energy, time, attention, focus = the most valuable resources out there. Valuable content will find you anyway.

jazoom 9y ago
I don't know how valuable content would find me if I didn't have a routine for looking for it. Am I doing something wrong?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- coldtea 9y ago
  Yes, probably expecting too much content to find you, all being valuable. Valuable content will be a very small minority of content. What the parent means, is that you really need to know, will end up rising from the pile. Take React as an example. A fine technology, which some might have known about them from 2015 or so, by reading HN every day etc. But you really don't have too catch them that early -- nor is there that much of a benefit in doing so. Even with cursory and rare glimpses on technology news sites, or conversations with colleagues, you'll end up learning about React at some point or another. The "routine looking for valuable content" on the other hand, would just bring in tons of noise (short term fads that die off, useless fanboyism, etc).
  - jazoom 9y ago
    Maybe I have a different life to you, but content doesn't just find me in this way. Would you believe, I have never actually met another serious programmer since I started coding about 5 years ago? I don't have "colleagues" to have conversations with. I feel ridiculous even writing that.
    - magic_beans 9y ago
      I'm a web dev, been doing it for 5 years, and I've literally NEVER met another soul who reads HN. This might say more about the companies I choose to work for and the people I choose to hang out with, though...
  - npsimons 9y ago
    > Even with cursory and rare glimpses on technology news sites, or conversations with colleagues, you'll end up learning about React at some point or another. > The "routine looking for valuable content" on the other hand, would just bring in tons of noise (short term fads that die off, useless fanboyism, etc). This is the exact same reason I don't watch or read the news: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/01/the-low-information-diet/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/01/the-low-informatio...
billconan 9y ago
I joined hackernews in 2010. I always thanks hn for broadening my view, thinking I would have chosen a different path if there was hn when I was in high school. and yet, after surfing hn daily for 7 years, I'm still pretty much the same, tons of half baked prototypes. maybe it's time to focus.
- mycat 9y ago
  You may need a friend or partner of some sort to finish stuff together. Make your effort accountable to each other. Doing things alone almost always have that kind of risk.
  - billconan 9y ago
    I tried this for few times. but none of them ended well. either I helped my friends on their ideas or my friends helped on mine. and one of us will lose interest first. there has been no single case where we, as a team, are interested in the same thing.
    - magic_beans 9y ago
      Maybe you need to work with non-friends.
pjc50 9y ago
Valueless content finds you. Worthwhile content you really have to go looking for, or have a good social network funneling stuff to you. My own answer is mostly HN, Twitter (including a couple of people/bots who are great link sources), and a mailing list of some old friends for this purpose. The latter is very good and low volume; eg latest post was from 18 July on org structure for software projects and lists https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/ https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-cult... https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/10/no-spotify-model# https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/10/no-spotify-model# https://www.slideshare.net/AliKheyrollahi/microservice-architecture-at-asos https://www.slideshare.net/AliKheyrollahi/microservice-archi...
- _delirium 9y ago
  I agree you need to seek out worthwhile content, but I think it's a mistake (one I admittedly often make) to have a daily routine of browsing stuff like Twitter/HN/etc. to idly seek out such content. It's easy to feel this is productive when it wastes huge amounts of time and turns up a lot of low-quality content. Imo the low-volume mailing list you mention, and maybe a weekly routine of seeking out other information, is a better approach. Also, I've started going to the library at least once a week, and have been very happy with this new addition. A good book is weirdly refreshing after reading a lot of the kind of quasi-technical blogs linked on HN. There's so much info! Going back to a Medium post feels like someone found one piece of information from a book (maybe two) and is drip-drip feeding it to you painfully slowly with a clickbait title. At least in the two areas where I most often read books (computer science, and tech history).
- amelius 9y ago
  > My own answer is mostly HN But why should valuable content always be centered around "Hackers"? What news sources would we be reading if we were physicists, or medical doctors, and wouldn't those be interesting even if we don't have these professions?
  - npsimons 9y ago
    > What news sources would we be reading if we were physicists, or medical doctors, and wouldn't those be interesting even if we don't have these professions? It is incredibly fascinating to delve into other professions' rich data sources. It's also sometimes hard to do. I'm very fortunate in my current job that I am surrounded by PhDs in the hard sciences, and I've been richly rewarded by looking at what they are reading at work, not least of which because being a simple software engineer, I need to have at least a basic fluency in their domains to be effective at implementing their ideas in code. Much as I'm not a fan of print media or transient data, there is value in a piece of advice I heard years ago: every month, go somewhere with a wide variety of magazines and pick one at random, preferably something you know nothing about or have never heard of before, and read it (libraries are underrated for this). Online is nice and convenient, but we tend to get locked into echo chambers and have search algorithms (and just natural human linking habits) create bubbles that don't force us to think about new and different things.
boardmad 9y ago
Rubbish confirmation bias. Your experience does not represent a trend
- coldtea 9y ago
  That "energy, time, attention, focus" are the most valuable resources out there is not really arguable -- nor does it have anything to do with confirmation bias. Nor is there much doubt that valuable content tends to trump shorter term fads and trends and find you in the end, even if you don't actively look for it. In fact, that's almost by definition, valuable content = stuff that endures over time, not the latest fad or nth "interesting" article that one can do without.
npsimons 9y ago
> avoid it at all cost. Energy, time, attention, focus = the most valuable resources out there. "Attention is scarce. Information is not. Do the math." That being said, I've found valuable book recommendations here on HN and other select boards. I've found that switching from short-form reading, videos and podcasts to longer form reading not only leaves me feeling happier, but is also far superior for quality of information taken in. TL;DR - stop wasting your time with "daily content discovery" and instead focus on gaining a deeper, richer understanding of the world through reading well written books.
- kerbalspacepro 9y ago
  I disagree. There are two types of content consumption/creation in the modern age. There is "flow" and "stores". Flow of content creation/consumption is seen in Twitter feeds or quickly updated blogs. This content isn't meant to last a long time, but corrects and updates minor facts about the world. In other words, it is good to allow quick Bayesian updating of your worldview. The other type, "storage" of content through creation/consumption is through books, static webpages, or other historical sets of information. This is important because instead of updating former beliefs to be more true, it tends to open up vistas of information. You can't function without either. As in all things, moderation is the key. Moderation is easiest if you set limits. For example, never set a "flow rate" thats higher than your consumption rate. So, if you use Twitter, make sure that you aren't following 1000 people. Be very careful. If you use an RSS reader, make sure that your feeds update at a reasonable rate (I give myself ~30 minutes in the morning to read them). The same with books! Don't get sucked into the cult-of-reading. It is a cult, and reading "books" isn't actually useful unless you have a structured or semi-structured reading plan.

jazoom 9y ago

I don't know how valuable content would find me if I didn't have a routine for looking for it. Am I doing something wrong?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
coldtea 9y ago
Yes, probably expecting too much content to find you, all being valuable. Valuable content will be a very small minority of content. What the parent means, is that you really need to know, will end up rising from the pile. Take React as an example. A fine technology, which some might have known about them from 2015 or so, by reading HN every day etc. But you really don't have too catch them that early -- nor is there that much of a benefit in doing so. Even with cursory and rare glimpses on technology news sites, or conversations with colleagues, you'll end up learning about React at some point or another. The "routine looking for valuable content" on the other hand, would just bring in tons of noise (short term fads that die off, useless fanboyism, etc).
- jazoom 9y ago
  Maybe I have a different life to you, but content doesn't just find me in this way. Would you believe, I have never actually met another serious programmer since I started coding about 5 years ago? I don't have "colleagues" to have conversations with. I feel ridiculous even writing that.
  - magic_beans 9y ago
    I'm a web dev, been doing it for 5 years, and I've literally NEVER met another soul who reads HN. This might say more about the companies I choose to work for and the people I choose to hang out with, though...
- npsimons 9y ago
  > Even with cursory and rare glimpses on technology news sites, or conversations with colleagues, you'll end up learning about React at some point or another. > The "routine looking for valuable content" on the other hand, would just bring in tons of noise (short term fads that die off, useless fanboyism, etc). This is the exact same reason I don't watch or read the news: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/01/the-low-information-diet/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/01/the-low-informatio...

billconan 9y ago

I joined hackernews in 2010. I always thanks hn for broadening my view, thinking I would have chosen a different path if there was hn when I was in high school. and yet, after surfing hn daily for 7 years, I'm still pretty much the same, tons of half baked prototypes. maybe it's time to focus.

mycat 9y ago
You may need a friend or partner of some sort to finish stuff together. Make your effort accountable to each other. Doing things alone almost always have that kind of risk.
- billconan 9y ago
  I tried this for few times. but none of them ended well. either I helped my friends on their ideas or my friends helped on mine. and one of us will lose interest first. there has been no single case where we, as a team, are interested in the same thing.
  - magic_beans 9y ago
    Maybe you need to work with non-friends.

pjc50 9y ago

Valueless content finds you. Worthwhile content you really have to go looking for, or have a good social network funneling stuff to you. My own answer is mostly HN, Twitter (including a couple of people/bots who are great link sources), and a mailing list of some old friends for this purpose. The latter is very good and low volume; eg latest post was from 18 July on org structure for software projects and lists https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/ https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-cult... https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/10/no-spotify-model# https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/10/no-spotify-model# https://www.slideshare.net/AliKheyrollahi/microservice-architecture-at-asos https://www.slideshare.net/AliKheyrollahi/microservice-archi...

_delirium 9y ago
I agree you need to seek out worthwhile content, but I think it's a mistake (one I admittedly often make) to have a daily routine of browsing stuff like Twitter/HN/etc. to idly seek out such content. It's easy to feel this is productive when it wastes huge amounts of time and turns up a lot of low-quality content. Imo the low-volume mailing list you mention, and maybe a weekly routine of seeking out other information, is a better approach. Also, I've started going to the library at least once a week, and have been very happy with this new addition. A good book is weirdly refreshing after reading a lot of the kind of quasi-technical blogs linked on HN. There's so much info! Going back to a Medium post feels like someone found one piece of information from a book (maybe two) and is drip-drip feeding it to you painfully slowly with a clickbait title. At least in the two areas where I most often read books (computer science, and tech history).
amelius 9y ago
> My own answer is mostly HN But why should valuable content always be centered around "Hackers"? What news sources would we be reading if we were physicists, or medical doctors, and wouldn't those be interesting even if we don't have these professions?
- npsimons 9y ago
  > What news sources would we be reading if we were physicists, or medical doctors, and wouldn't those be interesting even if we don't have these professions? It is incredibly fascinating to delve into other professions' rich data sources. It's also sometimes hard to do. I'm very fortunate in my current job that I am surrounded by PhDs in the hard sciences, and I've been richly rewarded by looking at what they are reading at work, not least of which because being a simple software engineer, I need to have at least a basic fluency in their domains to be effective at implementing their ideas in code. Much as I'm not a fan of print media or transient data, there is value in a piece of advice I heard years ago: every month, go somewhere with a wide variety of magazines and pick one at random, preferably something you know nothing about or have never heard of before, and read it (libraries are underrated for this). Online is nice and convenient, but we tend to get locked into echo chambers and have search algorithms (and just natural human linking habits) create bubbles that don't force us to think about new and different things.

boardmad 9y ago

Rubbish confirmation bias. Your experience does not represent a trend

coldtea 9y ago
That "energy, time, attention, focus" are the most valuable resources out there is not really arguable -- nor does it have anything to do with confirmation bias. Nor is there much doubt that valuable content tends to trump shorter term fads and trends and find you in the end, even if you don't actively look for it. In fact, that's almost by definition, valuable content = stuff that endures over time, not the latest fad or nth "interesting" article that one can do without.

npsimons 9y ago

> avoid it at all cost. Energy, time, attention, focus = the most valuable resources out there. "Attention is scarce. Information is not. Do the math." That being said, I've found valuable book recommendations here on HN and other select boards. I've found that switching from short-form reading, videos and podcasts to longer form reading not only leaves me feeling happier, but is also far superior for quality of information taken in. TL;DR - stop wasting your time with "daily content discovery" and instead focus on gaining a deeper, richer understanding of the world through reading well written books.

kerbalspacepro 9y ago
I disagree. There are two types of content consumption/creation in the modern age. There is "flow" and "stores". Flow of content creation/consumption is seen in Twitter feeds or quickly updated blogs. This content isn't meant to last a long time, but corrects and updates minor facts about the world. In other words, it is good to allow quick Bayesian updating of your worldview. The other type, "storage" of content through creation/consumption is through books, static webpages, or other historical sets of information. This is important because instead of updating former beliefs to be more true, it tends to open up vistas of information. You can't function without either. As in all things, moderation is the key. Moderation is easiest if you set limits. For example, never set a "flow rate" thats higher than your consumption rate. So, if you use Twitter, make sure that you aren't following 1000 people. Be very careful. If you use an RSS reader, make sure that your feeds update at a reasonable rate (I give myself ~30 minutes in the morning to read them). The same with books! Don't get sucked into the cult-of-reading. It is a cult, and reading "books" isn't actually useful unless you have a structured or semi-structured reading plan.