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The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the usefulness of HN. If merit counts for little, i.e., if reading about and doing all the things that are d

by miked 16y ago

The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the usefulness of HN. If merit counts for little, i.e., if reading about and doing all the things that are discussed on HN is a waste of time, then why is this site here and why are you reading it? If you save and invest $40 a day for the next 35 years you can retire comfortably, though you won't normally be rich. Deferral of gratification will conquer a lot in a reasonably free society. That's harder now, as inflation punishes those who save and we're seeing rising prices everywhere except housing prices.

A1kmm 16y ago
> The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the > usefulness of HN. If merit counts for little, i.e., if > reading about and doing all the things that are discussed > on HN is a waste of time, then why is this site here and > why are you reading it? I don't think the article is trying to say that work (or entrepreneurship) is independent of wealth, just that it is not nearly are correlated as people would like to think. The article is probably not useful to an individual trying to optimise their own wealth; it is, however, useful when it comes to the evaluation of public policy (which is a duty of all citizens in democratic countries).
gnosis 16y ago
Even if reading HN didn't help you "get ahead" doesn't mean it has no value. It has lots of value for me as a procrastination tool and simply because I find a lot of the articles and the discussions here interesting, stimulating and educational. Whether or not it helps me to "succeed" is quite far down the list for me of the reasons I value it.
brudgers 16y ago
>"The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the usefulness of HN." The usefulness of HN is that it provides information relevant to those towards the top of the income distribution. To assume that the the income of HN readership approximates the income distribution of the US population strains credulity.
donaldc 16y ago
That's harder now, as inflation punishes those who save and we're seeing rising prices everywhere except housing prices. Inflation is currently very low, at least in the U.S. In fact, it has only been recently that fears of deflation have subsided.

by miked 16y ago

A1kmm 16y ago

> The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the > usefulness of HN. If merit counts for little, i.e., if > reading about and doing all the things that are discussed > on HN is a waste of time, then why is this site here and > why are you reading it? I don't think the article is trying to say that work (or entrepreneurship) is independent of wealth, just that it is not nearly are correlated as people would like to think. The article is probably not useful to an individual trying to optimise their own wealth; it is, however, useful when it comes to the evaluation of public policy (which is a duty of all citizens in democratic countries).

gnosis 16y ago

Even if reading HN didn't help you "get ahead" doesn't mean it has no value. It has lots of value for me as a procrastination tool and simply because I find a lot of the articles and the discussions here interesting, stimulating and educational. Whether or not it helps me to "succeed" is quite far down the list for me of the reasons I value it.

brudgers 16y ago

>"The article is largely trying to, in effect, refute the usefulness of HN." The usefulness of HN is that it provides information relevant to those towards the top of the income distribution. To assume that the the income of HN readership approximates the income distribution of the US population strains credulity.

donaldc 16y ago

That's harder now, as inflation punishes those who save and we're seeing rising prices everywhere except housing prices. Inflation is currently very low, at least in the U.S. In fact, it has only been recently that fears of deflation have subsided.