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- if you are powerful, even enemies will respect you. If you go powerless, your own family will not be with you. - Purandara Daasa Life is Boxing Arena, not a

- if you are powerful, even enemies will respect you. If you go powerless, your own family will not be with you. - Purandara Daasa Life is Boxing Arena, not a Dance-Party - Marcus Aurelius Man must never be attached to anything that can be lost in a ship-wreck. - Upanishads We are stronger than what we think we are - Swaminomics Never make small plans. - Atanu Dey If Government is made in-charge of Sahara Desert, within 5 years, there will be shortage of sand - Milton Friedman It is better to rust out than rest-out. Specialisation is for Insects. Man must be able to do many things - Bob Heinlen

partycoder 8y ago
Imagine you had to harvest your own food, build your own shelter and manufacture your own clothes... you would not have time to be in Hacker News. Then, if everyone had to do it, the technology to make computers and HN possible would not exist. Our society is what it is because of specialized roles. Then, whenever everyone competes against each other, a group of people takes advantage and ends up prevailing against them all. Finally, planning is not everything. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson
- dasmoth 8y ago
  Imagine you had to harvest your own food, build your own shelter and manufacture your own clothes... you would not have time to be in Hacker News. Don’t be so sure about this one — there are a fair number of people who do grow much or all of their own food, and often at least some of the other necessities as well. Those who are good at it seem to end up with some leisure time as well (although whether they read HN, I don’t know). There are always arguments around the corner cases — nobody gets to be 100% self sufficient, there are usually bought in tools or something — but it seems to be possible to get quite close. Rejecting specialisation completely is perhaps a bit extreme for me, but I can certainly see a lot of advantages to not allowing oneself to be defined by ones speciality.
  - partycoder 8y ago
    And what tools and supplies do they use to grow their own food? Are they fully self-reliant? I doubt so.
    - dasmoth 8y ago
      I already conceded the “tools” issue. That’s not necessarily a huge input though — good tools last a long time. Can you find a blacksmith who would trade tools for food? I’ve never had cause to find out but it wouldn’t shock me if you could...
      - Balero 8y ago
        Also where did they get the money to start out. Land, buildings etc. And to read hacker news a screen, an internet connection, all of which made, by specialist people using specialist tools, made by other specialist people using specialist tools. All of which were developed by specialist people relying on other specialist people. Philosophically I like the idea of being a generalist. It's good to know. at least rudimentarily how to build simple things and look after yourself. But lets not kid ourselves, if we all did this we'd be back to the stone/iron age.
        partycoder 8y ago
        Well said. Even a "generalist" is [from a high-level perspective] a specialist.
      - hinkley 8y ago
        I think the point is that good tools that last a long time are a specialization. As is the distribution network for those tools, the infrastructure to deliver them, the equipment and the raw materials to make them.
      - cimmanom 8y ago
        Can you find a blacksmith, period?
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  Then, if everyone had to do it Those sort of universal arguments can mislead. What if everybody worked as a programmer, then we would all starve. That doesn't make programming a morally bad career choice.

partycoder 8y ago

Imagine you had to harvest your own food, build your own shelter and manufacture your own clothes... you would not have time to be in Hacker News. Then, if everyone had to do it, the technology to make computers and HN possible would not exist. Our society is what it is because of specialized roles. Then, whenever everyone competes against each other, a group of people takes advantage and ends up prevailing against them all. Finally, planning is not everything. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson

dasmoth 8y ago
Imagine you had to harvest your own food, build your own shelter and manufacture your own clothes... you would not have time to be in Hacker News. Don’t be so sure about this one — there are a fair number of people who do grow much or all of their own food, and often at least some of the other necessities as well. Those who are good at it seem to end up with some leisure time as well (although whether they read HN, I don’t know). There are always arguments around the corner cases — nobody gets to be 100% self sufficient, there are usually bought in tools or something — but it seems to be possible to get quite close. Rejecting specialisation completely is perhaps a bit extreme for me, but I can certainly see a lot of advantages to not allowing oneself to be defined by ones speciality.
- partycoder 8y ago
  And what tools and supplies do they use to grow their own food? Are they fully self-reliant? I doubt so.
  - dasmoth 8y ago
    I already conceded the “tools” issue. That’s not necessarily a huge input though — good tools last a long time. Can you find a blacksmith who would trade tools for food? I’ve never had cause to find out but it wouldn’t shock me if you could...
    - Balero 8y ago
      Also where did they get the money to start out. Land, buildings etc. And to read hacker news a screen, an internet connection, all of which made, by specialist people using specialist tools, made by other specialist people using specialist tools. All of which were developed by specialist people relying on other specialist people. Philosophically I like the idea of being a generalist. It's good to know. at least rudimentarily how to build simple things and look after yourself. But lets not kid ourselves, if we all did this we'd be back to the stone/iron age.
      - partycoder 8y ago
        Well said. Even a "generalist" is [from a high-level perspective] a specialist.
    - hinkley 8y ago
      I think the point is that good tools that last a long time are a specialization. As is the distribution network for those tools, the infrastructure to deliver them, the equipment and the raw materials to make them.
    - cimmanom 8y ago
      Can you find a blacksmith, period?
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
Then, if everyone had to do it Those sort of universal arguments can mislead. What if everybody worked as a programmer, then we would all starve. That doesn't make programming a morally bad career choice.