5 ms·

My adventures in cheap and expensive ideas, and why this is changing

39 points by vitabenes 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
rambambram 4y ago
- Brian_K_White 4y ago
  deep
  - rambambram 4y ago
    My downvotes for this comment are going pretty deep, indeed. Probably people who would like to still hate on that man. Or people who think that not being against Trump must mean I'm for him, but these people missed my point.
    - codeflo 4y ago
      I think if you had swapped Trump with Obama, the downvotes wouldn’t change.
    - cinntaile 4y ago
      It's probably because your comment is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with what was said in the article.
    - leksak 4y ago
      Or people that don't think your comment applies very well at all or is a meaningful tangent to the subject matter of the article.
      - rambambram 4y ago
        Could be. Without proper comments on my comment it's hard to tell.
    - iamacyborg 4y ago
      I think people just find your point stupid. Whatever your opinion of Trump he was the President of the United States, it’s generally useful to at least have some sort of understanding of the man behind the title and what he may be looking to achieve. Preaching wilful ignorance isn’t something to be lauded.
      - rambambram 4y ago
        I understood very quickly that it was meant to polarize. Which it did. I can't take that seriously and I chose for peace of mind. While the whole world went crazy.
    - Brian_K_White 4y ago
      "This uninteresting and logically inconsistent thing I'm gonna say is gonna get downvoted by all the biased sheeple. Proves I'm right."
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- outsidetheparty 4y ago
  You’re proud of this?
  - rambambram 4y ago
    Proud is not the right word, call it calm and collected.
- SemanticStrengh 4y ago
  As long as you don't go vote, that's perfectly fine.
  - rambambram 4y ago
    Voting is even cheaper than having ideas or opinions, so don't worry. ;)
    - quickthrower2 4y ago
      Not for everyone apparently
  - Findecanor 4y ago
    I'd say, it would be fine only if you couldn't vote, and you are unlikely to be affected by any of his actions. However, every US president has such a significant position that the person's actions practically always affects the whole world, no matter where you live.
- tjr225 4y ago
  And yet here you are, talking about him, when nobody asked you to.
- pfarrell 4y ago
  1. Downvoted because totally off topic and trolling flamebait 2. “If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice”
codeflo 4y ago
There’s something between having random ideas (easy) and implementing ideas (hard, but learnable) that I find very difficult: the ability to pick a promising idea — which includes having the confidence to stick to it. I don’t think that’s entirely captured by the word “executing”, and I think it’s also vital.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  This is a case where practice improves results. Most of the ideas you pursue will be unsuccessful, but should have interesting results and learning experiences that you can apply to the next ideas. The worst thing you can do in that case is wait to come up with the best idea, it’s a hill that you need to start climbing by grinding through ideas even if they have lots of problems.
  - cj 4y ago
    > you need to start climbing by grinding through ideas even if they have lots of problems. The best ideas typically have a lot of problems (if it didn't, someone else would have ran with it before you). The secret to picking "the right" idea to work on, in my opinion, is picking an idea that 1) is hard and has lots of problems, and 2) your background, skills, and experience give you a unique ability to solve those problems. Knowing that you're working on a problem that you're uniquely poised to solve can give you the grit / confidence needed to see the idea through.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jimmydeans 4y ago
PebblesRox 4y ago
Aww, someone had a cool comment about only having a good idea after the project was over and it was too late, but when I tried to reply, the comment had been deleted. Here was my response anyway. The question was how to get better at generating ideas when they're actually relevant instead of after the fact: I wonder if it would help to taking a deliberate break in the middle of all the action, in order to give some space for your subconscious to bring relevant ideas to the surface. I guess a short break might not be long enough and a long break might be hard to justify. It reminds me of the discussion yesterday about slack. Also this is another reason why "the worst place to stop is a good stopping place" - if you wrap everything up before you stop, you don't leave your mind any loose ends to ponder.
jacknews 4y ago
Bah another one of these. Sure, the vast majority of 'ideas' are cheap, as they are too vague, or not very original, unique, pertinent, practical, whatever. Just like most diamonds, perhaps. But once in a while a really good, novel, pertinent idea will appear, and that is actually valuable. Of course it does have to be reified to deliver that value, but a lot of the value is in the idea itself, not just the execution. This 'ideas are cheap, execution is expensive' narrative often comes from VCs etc, and you only have to follow the money to understand why.

39 points by vitabenes 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

rambambram 4y ago

Brian_K_White 4y ago
deep
- rambambram 4y ago
  My downvotes for this comment are going pretty deep, indeed. Probably people who would like to still hate on that man. Or people who think that not being against Trump must mean I'm for him, but these people missed my point.
  - codeflo 4y ago
    I think if you had swapped Trump with Obama, the downvotes wouldn’t change.
  - cinntaile 4y ago
    It's probably because your comment is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with what was said in the article.
  - leksak 4y ago
    Or people that don't think your comment applies very well at all or is a meaningful tangent to the subject matter of the article.
    - rambambram 4y ago
      Could be. Without proper comments on my comment it's hard to tell.
  - iamacyborg 4y ago
    I think people just find your point stupid. Whatever your opinion of Trump he was the President of the United States, it’s generally useful to at least have some sort of understanding of the man behind the title and what he may be looking to achieve. Preaching wilful ignorance isn’t something to be lauded.
    - rambambram 4y ago
      I understood very quickly that it was meant to polarize. Which it did. I can't take that seriously and I chose for peace of mind. While the whole world went crazy.
  - Brian_K_White 4y ago
    "This uninteresting and logically inconsistent thing I'm gonna say is gonna get downvoted by all the biased sheeple. Proves I'm right."
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
outsidetheparty 4y ago
You’re proud of this?
- rambambram 4y ago
  Proud is not the right word, call it calm and collected.
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
As long as you don't go vote, that's perfectly fine.
- rambambram 4y ago
  Voting is even cheaper than having ideas or opinions, so don't worry. ;)
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Not for everyone apparently
- Findecanor 4y ago
  I'd say, it would be fine only if you couldn't vote, and you are unlikely to be affected by any of his actions. However, every US president has such a significant position that the person's actions practically always affects the whole world, no matter where you live.
tjr225 4y ago
And yet here you are, talking about him, when nobody asked you to.
pfarrell 4y ago
1. Downvoted because totally off topic and trolling flamebait 2. “If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice”

codeflo 4y ago

There’s something between having random ideas (easy) and implementing ideas (hard, but learnable) that I find very difficult: the ability to pick a promising idea — which includes having the confidence to stick to it. I don’t think that’s entirely captured by the word “executing”, and I think it’s also vital.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
This is a case where practice improves results. Most of the ideas you pursue will be unsuccessful, but should have interesting results and learning experiences that you can apply to the next ideas. The worst thing you can do in that case is wait to come up with the best idea, it’s a hill that you need to start climbing by grinding through ideas even if they have lots of problems.
- cj 4y ago
  > you need to start climbing by grinding through ideas even if they have lots of problems. The best ideas typically have a lot of problems (if it didn't, someone else would have ran with it before you). The secret to picking "the right" idea to work on, in my opinion, is picking an idea that 1) is hard and has lots of problems, and 2) your background, skills, and experience give you a unique ability to solve those problems. Knowing that you're working on a problem that you're uniquely poised to solve can give you the grit / confidence needed to see the idea through.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jimmydeans 4y ago

PebblesRox 4y ago

Aww, someone had a cool comment about only having a good idea after the project was over and it was too late, but when I tried to reply, the comment had been deleted. Here was my response anyway. The question was how to get better at generating ideas when they're actually relevant instead of after the fact: I wonder if it would help to taking a deliberate break in the middle of all the action, in order to give some space for your subconscious to bring relevant ideas to the surface. I guess a short break might not be long enough and a long break might be hard to justify. It reminds me of the discussion yesterday about slack. Also this is another reason why "the worst place to stop is a good stopping place" - if you wrap everything up before you stop, you don't leave your mind any loose ends to ponder.

jacknews 4y ago

Bah another one of these. Sure, the vast majority of 'ideas' are cheap, as they are too vague, or not very original, unique, pertinent, practical, whatever. Just like most diamonds, perhaps. But once in a while a really good, novel, pertinent idea will appear, and that is actually valuable. Of course it does have to be reified to deliver that value, but a lot of the value is in the idea itself, not just the execution. This 'ideas are cheap, execution is expensive' narrative often comes from VCs etc, and you only have to follow the money to understand why.