5 ms·

I mean, even the author agrees with you. They start their story with this: > Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. If we live in a Simulation and life is just a Video

I mean, even the author agrees with you. They start their story with this: > Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. If we live in a Simulation and life is just a Video Game, mine was started on difficulty level “Very Easy”: I was born in a developed country in the 80s (Italy), with access to fresh water, very good carbohydrates and a decent education system. So what you're going to read is 99% luck and 1% planets alignment. Please, correct success stories for selection bias.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago
That’s quite a cop-out for a blog post that contains a lot of specific, actionable steps.
- gcheong 5y ago
  I think the qualification is necessary. Even Warren Buffet admits that he got rich in a very specific way using skills that would be all but useless in any other context but him winning the "ovarian lottery". https://www.sloww.co/ovarian-lottery/ https://www.sloww.co/ovarian-lottery/
  - demygale 5y ago
    From the link: Buffett says, "I didn’t get money from my parents, and I really didn’t want it." Which kind of elides the fact that his father was a sitting US Congressman. Investors were willing to give large sums of money to a man in his early twenties so he could flip manufacturing firms. Ovarian lottery doesn't quite cover it.
- brighton36 5y ago
  Because proclaiming oneself 'self made' is immoral. There's no roi on that story anymore. Imo, that's kinda dumb. But, such is the fashion .
- stickfigure 5y ago
  Most people reading this paragraph start with the same luck coefficient. (Not all, so no need to add your personal story here. But most.)
  - jaywalk 5y ago
    I feel like there was more to his luck than simply being born in Italy.
- bryanlarsen 5y ago
  I love the video game metaphor. Just because you're playing at the "easy" level in a video game doesn't mean it is easy to finish the game. You have to put in the time and effort, and the last boss can still be difficult. This might be the origin of the metaphor: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/ https://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-t...
- asciident 5y ago
  It's an obligatory warning, otherwise people (even here on HN) will decry your methods as mainly due to privilege, and irreproducible for the average perso.
- edanm 5y ago
  Not really. Good advice is often specific and actionable. People have to adapt it to their circumstances. OP included a warning to make it clear that this isn't a guarantee and to give specific circumstances in which his advice is sound. What's the alternative? How else could you write an article that conveys the steps you took to achieve a goal, if not to write the steps you took?

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

That’s quite a cop-out for a blog post that contains a lot of specific, actionable steps.

gcheong 5y ago
I think the qualification is necessary. Even Warren Buffet admits that he got rich in a very specific way using skills that would be all but useless in any other context but him winning the "ovarian lottery". https://www.sloww.co/ovarian-lottery/ https://www.sloww.co/ovarian-lottery/
- demygale 5y ago
  From the link: Buffett says, "I didn’t get money from my parents, and I really didn’t want it." Which kind of elides the fact that his father was a sitting US Congressman. Investors were willing to give large sums of money to a man in his early twenties so he could flip manufacturing firms. Ovarian lottery doesn't quite cover it.
brighton36 5y ago
Because proclaiming oneself 'self made' is immoral. There's no roi on that story anymore. Imo, that's kinda dumb. But, such is the fashion .
stickfigure 5y ago
Most people reading this paragraph start with the same luck coefficient. (Not all, so no need to add your personal story here. But most.)
- jaywalk 5y ago
  I feel like there was more to his luck than simply being born in Italy.
bryanlarsen 5y ago
I love the video game metaphor. Just because you're playing at the "easy" level in a video game doesn't mean it is easy to finish the game. You have to put in the time and effort, and the last boss can still be difficult. This might be the origin of the metaphor: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/ https://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-t...
asciident 5y ago
It's an obligatory warning, otherwise people (even here on HN) will decry your methods as mainly due to privilege, and irreproducible for the average perso.
edanm 5y ago
Not really. Good advice is often specific and actionable. People have to adapt it to their circumstances. OP included a warning to make it clear that this isn't a guarantee and to give specific circumstances in which his advice is sound. What's the alternative? How else could you write an article that conveys the steps you took to achieve a goal, if not to write the steps you took?