4 ms·

Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about in the last decade?

13 points by wpietri 3y ago

Inspired by this article: https://collabfund.com/blog/mental-liquidity/ Which is being discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36280772

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
wpietri 3y ago
I guess I'll kick it off. One thing I've changed my mind on over my career is the practical importance of specific technologies. There are languages I love and languages I think are wet garbage. But when I look at products succeeding in the world, there's just a very low correlation between "great technology" and "product delivering a lot of value". I've seen bad teams fail with great tech, and I've seen great teams succeed with tech I dislike. That hasn't made me any less critical of bad tech. I could write a book on the flaws of some of the popular things I've used in prod. But it does mean I've learned to put aside my personal aesthetic offense and say, "Ok, let's focus today on making things better for the users."
sudo_bang_bang 3y ago
I changed my mind about what constitutes a fulfilling life for me. I realized that I personally could not live a life consisting solely of devotion to work and consumption of luxury goods. I started a family and have two wonderful children. I still believe that investing in work is necessary and rewarding, and indulgences are a somewhat important part of life, but those alone are all kind of meaningless for me in the end. It’s the endless chase of another dragon. With my children, I feel a greater sense of joy and accomplishment when I watch them grow. I’ve had higher highs raising kids than I ever did finding the next excursion I could go on or the hottest new company to work for.
womitt 3y ago
Changed my mind on band aiding your mouth for the night to promote nasal breathing
- idlefox 3y ago
  If I might ask, how many times did you try before your mind was changed?
gnicholas 3y ago
COVID caused a lot of mind-changing. For example, we thought that plain cloth masks were somewhat effective at stopping transmission, but now we know that they are not. It's surreal to think back on wearing them even outside at times, when someone would pass on the sidewalk, for example. But it may have been rational to take extreme precautions at first, when we didn't know better. It's just too bad that there weren't many real-world studies done on masking efficacy, so that we could know what would and would not make a difference.
- wpietri 3y ago
  Part of what makes this example interesting to me is that it didn't just change the minds of random people, who did their best with uncertain information. It changed some of the expert views on disease transmission, where the paradigm was around droplets, not aerosols.
- throwmeaway1212 3y ago
  > For example, we thought that plain cloth masks were somewhat effective at stopping transmission, but now we know that they are not What links do you have supporting this?/Can you give more details? There is evidence regarding Omicron but as far as I'm aware that is it. Afaik masks were effective.
nologic01 3y ago
So many things became painfully clear in the past decade, mostly bursting my bubbles and naive beliefs: The financial system is broken and will remain so Social media are broken and will remain so Our ability to control pandemics is nill and will remain so Our ability to control war mongering is broken and will remain so Our overall ability to live sustainably is missing and will remain so There is only one positive thing i realised: open source is not a niche or a fad, it will keep growing despite the challenges I dont know how many of the ills it can fix but at least its there. Its not completely dark.
- andrei_says_ 3y ago
  Among other things, open source is a manifestation of generosity and collaboration. The systems we build supporting it also scale the forces of generosity, collaboration. I find this part hopeful.
- seydor 3y ago
  It can't be that everything is broken, because broken things are selected out by evolution. We tend to see things as broken, always, because they are not ideal
bjourne 3y ago
The value of bread rich in fiber.

13 points by wpietri 3y ago

Inspired by this article: https://collabfund.com/blog/mental-liquidity/ Which is being discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36280772

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

wpietri 3y ago

I guess I'll kick it off. One thing I've changed my mind on over my career is the practical importance of specific technologies. There are languages I love and languages I think are wet garbage. But when I look at products succeeding in the world, there's just a very low correlation between "great technology" and "product delivering a lot of value". I've seen bad teams fail with great tech, and I've seen great teams succeed with tech I dislike. That hasn't made me any less critical of bad tech. I could write a book on the flaws of some of the popular things I've used in prod. But it does mean I've learned to put aside my personal aesthetic offense and say, "Ok, let's focus today on making things better for the users."

sudo_bang_bang 3y ago

I changed my mind about what constitutes a fulfilling life for me. I realized that I personally could not live a life consisting solely of devotion to work and consumption of luxury goods. I started a family and have two wonderful children. I still believe that investing in work is necessary and rewarding, and indulgences are a somewhat important part of life, but those alone are all kind of meaningless for me in the end. It’s the endless chase of another dragon. With my children, I feel a greater sense of joy and accomplishment when I watch them grow. I’ve had higher highs raising kids than I ever did finding the next excursion I could go on or the hottest new company to work for.

womitt 3y ago

Changed my mind on band aiding your mouth for the night to promote nasal breathing

idlefox 3y ago
If I might ask, how many times did you try before your mind was changed?

gnicholas 3y ago

COVID caused a lot of mind-changing. For example, we thought that plain cloth masks were somewhat effective at stopping transmission, but now we know that they are not. It's surreal to think back on wearing them even outside at times, when someone would pass on the sidewalk, for example. But it may have been rational to take extreme precautions at first, when we didn't know better. It's just too bad that there weren't many real-world studies done on masking efficacy, so that we could know what would and would not make a difference.

wpietri 3y ago
Part of what makes this example interesting to me is that it didn't just change the minds of random people, who did their best with uncertain information. It changed some of the expert views on disease transmission, where the paradigm was around droplets, not aerosols.
throwmeaway1212 3y ago
> For example, we thought that plain cloth masks were somewhat effective at stopping transmission, but now we know that they are not What links do you have supporting this?/Can you give more details? There is evidence regarding Omicron but as far as I'm aware that is it. Afaik masks were effective.

nologic01 3y ago

So many things became painfully clear in the past decade, mostly bursting my bubbles and naive beliefs: The financial system is broken and will remain so Social media are broken and will remain so Our ability to control pandemics is nill and will remain so Our ability to control war mongering is broken and will remain so Our overall ability to live sustainably is missing and will remain so There is only one positive thing i realised: open source is not a niche or a fad, it will keep growing despite the challenges I dont know how many of the ills it can fix but at least its there. Its not completely dark.

andrei_says_ 3y ago
Among other things, open source is a manifestation of generosity and collaboration. The systems we build supporting it also scale the forces of generosity, collaboration. I find this part hopeful.
seydor 3y ago
It can't be that everything is broken, because broken things are selected out by evolution. We tend to see things as broken, always, because they are not ideal

bjourne 3y ago

The value of bread rich in fiber.