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I flagged this because it's way too clickbaitey/buzzfeedy in both _form_ and _content_, but to solve the form problem at least Better title: "If you see your m

I flagged this because it's way too clickbaitey/buzzfeedy in both _form_ and _content_, but to solve the form problem at least Better title: "If you see your mid-sixties parents once per year you'll see them 15 more times" The actual tweet (3 down from the first one which is all just suspense building) ``` The moment of vulnerability sparked an interaction that changed my life: George: “How often do you see your parents?" Me: “Maybe once a year now.” George: “And how old are they?" Me: “Mid-sixties." George: “Ok, so you’re going to see them 15 more times before they die.” ``` Nitter link without login wall [0]. [0] https://nitter.net/SahilBloom/status/1571137341997318147 https://nitter.net/SahilBloom/status/1571137341997318147

sgallant 4y ago
Thank you!
kreetx 4y ago
Same here, and also from the twitter thread: "Follow me @SahilBloomfor more writing like this."[1] I think waitbutwhy (or someone) had a blog post about this a long time ago. This thread doesn't add to that thought, and then asks to follow him.. [1] https://twitter.com/SahilBloom/status/1571137376969453575 https://twitter.com/SahilBloom/status/1571137376969453575
- ethanbond 4y ago
  Surely someone has commentated that “life is short” in one form or another before waitbutwhy, right? IMO it’s good for these sentiments to be rephrased and restated repeatedly. The reason is that these things have to hit you at the right time and in the right way to make the impact that they’re “supposed to.” The first 999 times someone says life is short, you shrug it off and walk straight into another day in zombie-mode (nothing wrong with that!). But the 1000th time someone says it, and you happen to have just gotten off the phone with your mother telling you she has some illness… that’s the time you need to hear it. So you pack up and move across the country.
- phtrivier 4y ago
  That's the idea behind "The tail end" https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html
bborud 4y ago
Given the number of upvotes I think you may have been a bit quick to pull the trigger. It seems enough people appreciated this that it probably shouldn't be flagged.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  I don’t disagree it’s clickbaity. It was just interesting even so. I now now dislike the author, but like the point.
- polio 4y ago
  It's mostly an issue with the title; the content is valuable.
mcphage 4y ago
> The actual tweet (3 down from the first one which is all just suspense building) I believe that’s called “telling a story”.
- paulcole 4y ago
  This never fails to crack me up. You should check out the comments on any New Yorker link posted on HN. “The author seemed to use a lot of words and took a long time to get to her point in a very roundabout way. This could’ve been 90% shorter.” It’s the literary equivalent of Twitter-is-a-weekend-project.
  - OJFord 4y ago
    Good writing in a good format doesn't make you feel like that though. You could also say someone rambling on about something, repeating themselves, using lots of uh, like filler words and stuff and that sort of thing and just generally not really..not really getting to the point is 'called a conversation'; sure, doesn't mean it couldn't be done better.
    - simmerup 4y ago
      Good communicators welcome the chance to get on the same wavelength as the writer. It helps you understand them better.
- Grustaf 4y ago
  There is a difference between optimising engagement by padding a trivial one sentence story, and writing good literature. Sahil Bloom is not Henry James.
  - Bakary 4y ago
    The people who spend a lot of time pointing out the signal to noise ratio aren't going to be reading material similar ot that of Henry James either, because they'll interpret it as mostly noise and see the plot as the most important part.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jerpint 4y ago
I personally enjoyed the human aspect of the narrative
thesausageking 4y ago
Twitter has become full of vacuous "gurus" like Sahil. I know he does it so he can build his brand and sell his book, but why do people "like and follow" him?
- joenot443 4y ago
  He's not a genius, a guru, a visionary, or an icon, he's just a dude. People find his content relatable and enjoyable, it's not really much more complicated than that.
Bakary 4y ago
I'd say there is something faintly ironic about the actions you just described relative to the subject matter.

sgallant 4y ago

Thank you!

kreetx 4y ago

Same here, and also from the twitter thread: "Follow me @SahilBloomfor more writing like this."[1] I think waitbutwhy (or someone) had a blog post about this a long time ago. This thread doesn't add to that thought, and then asks to follow him.. [1] https://twitter.com/SahilBloom/status/1571137376969453575 https://twitter.com/SahilBloom/status/1571137376969453575

ethanbond 4y ago
Surely someone has commentated that “life is short” in one form or another before waitbutwhy, right? IMO it’s good for these sentiments to be rephrased and restated repeatedly. The reason is that these things have to hit you at the right time and in the right way to make the impact that they’re “supposed to.” The first 999 times someone says life is short, you shrug it off and walk straight into another day in zombie-mode (nothing wrong with that!). But the 1000th time someone says it, and you happen to have just gotten off the phone with your mother telling you she has some illness… that’s the time you need to hear it. So you pack up and move across the country.
phtrivier 4y ago
That's the idea behind "The tail end" https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html

bborud 4y ago

Given the number of upvotes I think you may have been a bit quick to pull the trigger. It seems enough people appreciated this that it probably shouldn't be flagged.

Aeolun 4y ago
I don’t disagree it’s clickbaity. It was just interesting even so. I now now dislike the author, but like the point.
polio 4y ago
It's mostly an issue with the title; the content is valuable.

mcphage 4y ago

> The actual tweet (3 down from the first one which is all just suspense building) I believe that’s called “telling a story”.

paulcole 4y ago
This never fails to crack me up. You should check out the comments on any New Yorker link posted on HN. “The author seemed to use a lot of words and took a long time to get to her point in a very roundabout way. This could’ve been 90% shorter.” It’s the literary equivalent of Twitter-is-a-weekend-project.
- OJFord 4y ago
  Good writing in a good format doesn't make you feel like that though. You could also say someone rambling on about something, repeating themselves, using lots of uh, like filler words and stuff and that sort of thing and just generally not really..not really getting to the point is 'called a conversation'; sure, doesn't mean it couldn't be done better.
  - simmerup 4y ago
    Good communicators welcome the chance to get on the same wavelength as the writer. It helps you understand them better.
Grustaf 4y ago
There is a difference between optimising engagement by padding a trivial one sentence story, and writing good literature. Sahil Bloom is not Henry James.
- Bakary 4y ago
  The people who spend a lot of time pointing out the signal to noise ratio aren't going to be reading material similar ot that of Henry James either, because they'll interpret it as mostly noise and see the plot as the most important part.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jerpint 4y ago

I personally enjoyed the human aspect of the narrative

thesausageking 4y ago

Twitter has become full of vacuous "gurus" like Sahil. I know he does it so he can build his brand and sell his book, but why do people "like and follow" him?

joenot443 4y ago
He's not a genius, a guru, a visionary, or an icon, he's just a dude. People find his content relatable and enjoyable, it's not really much more complicated than that.

Bakary 4y ago

I'd say there is something faintly ironic about the actions you just described relative to the subject matter.