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“Don’t Try”: The Philosophy of the Hardworking Charles Bukowski
- MS90 7y agoMaster Yoda put it pretty succinctly. "Do, or do not. There is no try."
- dijit 7y agoBut only the sith deal in absolutes. So, work that one out.
- wwweston 7y ago"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." "But wait, isn't that statement itself abs-" "ONLY a Sith, you hear me? NOBODY. ELSE."
- perl4ever 7y agoI like this explanation: "First, what was NOT said. Obi Wan did NOT say, "There are no absolutes." And, he did NOT say only a Sith believes in absolutes. Second, what he DOES say is "Only a Sith DEALS in absolutes." Dealing in absolutes has more to do with the unilateral nature of the correspondence. Once you make unilateral proposals, you aren't negotiating, you aren't even really "dealing" at all. Instead, you're dominating the other party/person. Third, think of the context. Anakin is saying things like you're either with him or against him. Not, "let me hear what you think" or "give me your perspective on this matter." He's dealing in an absolute manner. It's not a contradiction to say Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Making an absolute statement such as "There are no absolutes" would, however, be a contradiction."
- metalrain 7y agoBukowskis work really struck me when I was in my twenties. I'm not sure it would now.
- platoscubicle 7y agoAgreed. I just feel bad for him now, it appears he was very depressed and that's nothing to romanticize.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 7y agoMost people do not romanticize or seek to emulate Bukowski although I know at least one person who does. Bukowski lived a life that I wouldn't like to trade places with which is what makes him interesting. I can only read about so many scientists and thinkers who lived their lives beyond reproach all day every day.
- dvtrn 7y agoMost people do not romanticize or seek to emulate Bukowski Sounds like you’ve never experienced the joys of online dating. Be thankful for this
- tengbretson 7y agoCharles Bukowski was a man-child and a grifter.
- TurkishPoptart 7y agoMaybe, but he is one of the best American poets, and will remain so.
- edoo 7y ago“Art is what you can get away with.” - Andy Warhol
- dang 7y agoMaybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News.
- asdfman123 7y agoI just listened to an episode of The Happiness Podcast and it made it clear that obsession over goals and other people's validation kills our natural passion. I don't know about you, but passion is what I'm really after -- the kind of state where you get lost in your work and love what you do. It may be easy to dismiss Bukowski's advice because his abrasive and cynical delivery style, but I think he has a point. Follow your interests, and try to forget about your ego and the rest of the world. (However, at the same time, I think it's important to be consistent and develop good habits that will prevent you from quitting at the first roadblock.)
- nathan_compton 7y agoWhat do you think this insight tells you about macro-economic policy and the structure of our current society? Isn't the whole idea of capitalism to force most people to align themselves to exterior goals?
- asdfman123 7y agoI'm not sure what you mean. Could you explain your question in more depth?
- pmichaud 7y agoYes, and we're reaping the rewards. I mean that in both the sincere and the cynical sense.
- greggyb 7y ago> Isn't the whole idea of capitalism to force most people to align themselves to exterior goals? No more than a subsistence living as a hunter-gatherer, and in fact, likely less so. If you live absolutely primitively, then your circumstances force you to align your life and habits to those behaviors that sustain life. There is something external to yourself which constrains the actions that contribute to your continued survival. The whole idea of capitalism is this: If you want something you do not have, then you must offer to those who have it something that those people value. There is something external to yourself which constrains the actions that contribute to your continued survival. This may force you to align your life and habits differently than in the subsistence scenario, but not necessarily more so. In each scenario, there are things you can control, namely your actions and behavior. You can take actions which convert into shelter, water, and food. Whether there is nature or human volition on the other side doesn't matter so much. There are actions you can take which support your survival, and actions which don't. That the actions are different is not germane to the question as posed - there are external constraints that determine which of your own actions contribute to life. As a side note, there is nothing inherently uncapitalistic about the subsistence scenario[0]. If you build yourself a shelter, do you consider that you own the shelter and get to control its use? If you do, this is capitalistic. [0] This is phrased as a negative on purpose. I am not claiming that the subsistence scenario is inherently capitalistic.
- guender 7y agoSurprised that Buck hasn’t yet been canceled from woke HN...
- vmchale 7y agoSounds kind of Taoist, some parts like Catherine of Siena. Also yoda lol
- muhammadusman 7y agolink is down, anyone have an alternative link?
- DaveSapien 7y agoHis quote (my favourite) may help understand this value: “If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”
- bullen 7y agoI was going to say "Do. Or do not. There is no try." but your quote was better!
- throwawayhhakdl 7y agoThis sounds like the kind of thing that appeals to wide eyed 20 year olds but is in fact terrible advice. Live a healthy, happy life, otherwise you will be unhealthy and unhappy.
- nsxwolf 7y agoJeez. I don't feel that way about anything.
- keenmaster 7y agoLiterally anything? You’ve never thought about an unsolved market problem and felt a rush trying to solve it in your head? Wouldn’t you feel an elevated sense of purpose working for a company solving that problem, or starting a company and solving the problem yourself? You’ve never had fun doing something that can be commercially useful, even if you have to cross it with other domains to make money?
- ogou 7y agoMorpheus : What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.
- kabacha 7y agoPursuit of Wonder on youtube did a beautiful rendition of this[1]. That being said I'm not sure how well this holds up in modern world, especially when it comes to technology. A lot of initial barriars are really difficult to wrap your head around and often can only be overcome only by sheer will. That's the most important thing I've learned studying CS - sometimes you need to push through. I'd really like to see some big data science on this. We all know the memes of Einsten flopping math or something but in reality most of the world changing actors seem to be quite predetermined, as in they didn't try. Do we have any cases where someone _did_ try and succeed in changing the world? 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMTDAHK-tkE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMTDAHK-tkE
- system2 7y agoI love Bukowski but "don't try, let it go, it will happen" doesn't make so much sense. He lived most of his life not too happy. Being successful after 50-60 doesn't justify suffering for something you want so much. Especially in today's world with high tech and fast-paced competitive environment, it is not as easy as before. It is much harder to sit in a motel room, drink all day and type so you might get published someday and make money. His lifestyle and approach really wouldn't (doesn't) work today.
- serf 7y ago>It is much harder to sit in a motel room, drink all day and type so you might get published someday and make money. His lifestyle and approach really wouldn't (doesn't) work today. color me surprised; that kind of dedicated labor and isolationism sounds a lot like the startup world, to me. pick the right specimen and they probably imbibe as much booze doing it, too.
- baby 7y agoEverybody should read Factotum from Bukowski, it taught more about work than any other book.
- atentaten 7y agoThis is a lesson in what the Taoist call wu wei, which can approximately be described as inaction, effortless action or non-doing. In the context of the parent post, wu wei would imply unconflicted, spontaneous action wherein a person is not "trying" they are simply doing what comes natural to them.