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Ask HN: What advice would you give your younger self?

3 points by achenet 4y ago

What advice would you give your younger self?

beardyw 4y ago
20 to 30 is 10 years 30 to 40 is 8 years 40 to 50 is 6 years 50 to 60 is 4 years 60 to 70 is 2 years After that it's just a blur Don't sleepwalk into being old
nathants 4y ago
prioritize physical and mental health. deprioritize anything that threatens it. bonus points for saving space for curiosity and play.
indoorskier 4y ago
Take risks, say yes to all opportunities, try to fail often. I don't mean risks in the sense of things that put you physically or mentally in harm's way, but trying ideas, learning new things, new activities etc. Some reasons: the explore/exploit tradeoff is massively in favour of exploring when you're young, you have almost nothing to lose, very few responsibilities and so much time (relatively speaking to later in life).
- jjgreen 4y ago
  Try everything once, except folk dancing and incest. ― Sir Thomas Beecham
ninethirty 4y ago
I would give myself an understanding of status. Women are attracted to high-status (doctor, lawyer) and thus men spend time attaining status. But status is affected by subcultures; if I spend 6-months learning how to write an NES emulator or speed-running N64 GoldenEye or reaching 2200 elo in chess -- I'll get status from a small group of gaming enthusiasts but in the larger context its (probably) not a good use of my time. For example, I got a double major in unrelated fields (I was ambitious and wanted to signal how smart I was), but it would have been better had gotten straight A's and masters degree (a double-major only impresses 1st-year undergrads; in the larger context of academic status, its irrelevant). It would also teach my younger self about counter-signaling in the status game https://host.kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/cs-randfinal.pdf https://host.kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/cs-randfinal.pdf Also not too much alcohol and HIIT fitness.
- achenet 4y ago
  > Women are attracted to high-status (doctor, lawyer) and thus men spend time attaining status. Uh... I think you're vastly oversimplifing it. Women are attracted to men who give them orgasms, see for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmav517MQJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmav517MQJc
DerekBickerton 4y ago
I have no regrets, since all mistakes are a lesson to learn from. You don't grow if you don't make mistakes. That doesn't mean I'm hap-hazard and do dangerous things, it just means I transmute failure/mistakes into lessons. My twenties were experimental. I learned the ropes. I failed often and failed early. Now to inculcate those lessons into everyday life. This is like turning lead into gold.

3 points by achenet 4y ago

What advice would you give your younger self?

20 to 30 is 10 years 30 to 40 is 8 years 40 to 50 is 6 years 50 to 60 is 4 years 60 to 70 is 2 years After that it's just a blur Don't sleepwalk into being old

nathants 4y ago

prioritize physical and mental health. deprioritize anything that threatens it. bonus points for saving space for curiosity and play.

indoorskier 4y ago

Take risks, say yes to all opportunities, try to fail often. I don't mean risks in the sense of things that put you physically or mentally in harm's way, but trying ideas, learning new things, new activities etc. Some reasons: the explore/exploit tradeoff is massively in favour of exploring when you're young, you have almost nothing to lose, very few responsibilities and so much time (relatively speaking to later in life).

jjgreen 4y ago
Try everything once, except folk dancing and incest. ― Sir Thomas Beecham

ninethirty 4y ago

I would give myself an understanding of status. Women are attracted to high-status (doctor, lawyer) and thus men spend time attaining status. But status is affected by subcultures; if I spend 6-months learning how to write an NES emulator or speed-running N64 GoldenEye or reaching 2200 elo in chess -- I'll get status from a small group of gaming enthusiasts but in the larger context its (probably) not a good use of my time. For example, I got a double major in unrelated fields (I was ambitious and wanted to signal how smart I was), but it would have been better had gotten straight A's and masters degree (a double-major only impresses 1st-year undergrads; in the larger context of academic status, its irrelevant). It would also teach my younger self about counter-signaling in the status game https://host.kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/cs-randfinal.pdf https://host.kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/cs-randfinal.pdf Also not too much alcohol and HIIT fitness.

achenet 4y ago
> Women are attracted to high-status (doctor, lawyer) and thus men spend time attaining status. Uh... I think you're vastly oversimplifing it. Women are attracted to men who give them orgasms, see for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmav517MQJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmav517MQJc

DerekBickerton 4y ago

I have no regrets, since all mistakes are a lesson to learn from. You don't grow if you don't make mistakes. That doesn't mean I'm hap-hazard and do dangerous things, it just means I transmute failure/mistakes into lessons. My twenties were experimental. I learned the ropes. I failed often and failed early. Now to inculcate those lessons into everyday life. This is like turning lead into gold.