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Why not? I think this type of educational content for betterment is quite a desirable trait of HN. If you want an alphabet soup of what’s hot, corpo PR or click

Why not? I think this type of educational content for betterment is quite a desirable trait of HN. If you want an alphabet soup of what’s hot, corpo PR or clickbait content there’s many other places on the internet, like Reddit just for that. I view the intellectual and thoughtfulness of HN as a feature, not a bug.

coldtea 4y ago
>I think this type of educational content for betterment is quite a desirable trait of HN I think one complaint can assume the opposite: that it's trite, snake-oil, or vacuous content, usually chased compulsively one-after-another, by people far from actually improving (or, in lieu of improving).
- __jambo 4y ago
  Yeah, I mean some of it is interesting but you hit diminishing returns after like two talks because it's so personal, vague, vast, and complex to give meaningful advice when the speaker/writer isn't there with the audience. I think it can become detrimental procrastination content quite quickly because it gives the illusion of "doing something about a problem", without really doing anything. I also find it can keep you from moving on from things, if you don't yet know "how to think" why are you thinking? Therefore you should stop and read the article. lol. Bit abstract there, but there is an assumption that you don't already know pretty well how to think that's being thrown at you, and this bugs me.
muzani 4y ago
Self help is a bit like fad diets. It's a painkiller for a burning problem. It works instantly, and often for a few months, but suddenly you're at a point where you're no better off than not following it. It's still useful to have all the comments around to judge the pros and cons of a technique, but HN leans cynical, so it's often not that useful either.
- rg111 4y ago
  > It's a painkiller for a burning problem. Erm, not really. 1. Deep Work by Cal Newport has made a long-lasting effect in my life. My life is significantly better because I read it. 2. I got to know about The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa through HN. Literally changed my life. Self-help is too broad. There are master marketers with shallow content like Robin Sharma, blog-post-inflaters like Mark Manson, and genuinely helpful content like Prsgmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt. Like novels, movies, and anything else, there are many kinds of self-help.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

coldtea 4y ago

>I think this type of educational content for betterment is quite a desirable trait of HN I think one complaint can assume the opposite: that it's trite, snake-oil, or vacuous content, usually chased compulsively one-after-another, by people far from actually improving (or, in lieu of improving).

__jambo 4y ago
Yeah, I mean some of it is interesting but you hit diminishing returns after like two talks because it's so personal, vague, vast, and complex to give meaningful advice when the speaker/writer isn't there with the audience. I think it can become detrimental procrastination content quite quickly because it gives the illusion of "doing something about a problem", without really doing anything. I also find it can keep you from moving on from things, if you don't yet know "how to think" why are you thinking? Therefore you should stop and read the article. lol. Bit abstract there, but there is an assumption that you don't already know pretty well how to think that's being thrown at you, and this bugs me.

muzani 4y ago

Self help is a bit like fad diets. It's a painkiller for a burning problem. It works instantly, and often for a few months, but suddenly you're at a point where you're no better off than not following it. It's still useful to have all the comments around to judge the pros and cons of a technique, but HN leans cynical, so it's often not that useful either.

rg111 4y ago
> It's a painkiller for a burning problem. Erm, not really. 1. Deep Work by Cal Newport has made a long-lasting effect in my life. My life is significantly better because I read it. 2. I got to know about The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa through HN. Literally changed my life. Self-help is too broad. There are master marketers with shallow content like Robin Sharma, blog-post-inflaters like Mark Manson, and genuinely helpful content like Prsgmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt. Like novels, movies, and anything else, there are many kinds of self-help.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]