4 ms·

I actually work for a guy like this now and at first I didn't quite get what he was doing, but I really like it now. He comes from a non-technical background b

I actually work for a guy like this now and at first I didn't quite get what he was doing, but I really like it now. He comes from a non-technical background but can code enough to be dangerous now. He loves talking to experts in every facet of what we do, and just start from the most basic foundational questions. He has absolutely no ego about embarrassing himself by the basics of questions he asks and no shame about digging in with follow ups. It's actually quite a powerful thing. Experts love to explain things if given the space. You also start to realize how narrow and sometimes shallow expertise is, and it lowers your own anxiety.

lo_zamoyski 3y ago
Yes, pride is the biggest obstacle to growth. It prevents you from making our needs known, because it means making an admission that you lack something (like knowledge or understanding, in this case). It means being honest about what you are (humility), revealing your deficits. And we all have deficits. We all have lack. Love is about seeking and receiving what you lack (eros), and giving to those who lack what they seek (agape). So what does this tell us, this tendency toward pride? I means many of us spend a horrifying amount of time posing, pretending, feigning worth we don't actually have, in order to appear to be something we are not, because we think this will get us things we couldn't by being honest. In order words, we're liars, fraud, and cheats. We lie to get things we know, or least believe, we do not deserve, through false advertising. And we fear being belittled and ridiculed and put down, or losing or losing something. We shirk responsibility this way. We confuse purity with a kind of "cleanliness". We want to appear clean, but become impure and corrupt in doing so. The choice between pride and humility is, I think, the basic decision in life one must make, and keep making, and it can be difficult as the world does not make it easy to prefer what is good. It seems to want to reward you for pretense, and punish you for honesty and the truth. That's why you also need courage, the courage to surrender to the consequences, of doing the right thing and being humble, and embrace them. You cannot control anything but your actions within your limits. You need to be able to accept just but painful outcomes gladly, and suffer the injustices. The inability to suffer, to suffer injustice, is the gateway to pride, and pride comes before the fall, before death and stagnation. You get further in life by suffering and moving forward, suffering and moving forward, suffering and moving forward.[0] There is no life in you otherwise. There is no love in you otherwise. [0] This is also why the Via Crucis is so powerful. Life is not a party or a pleasure garden. It's a struggle that ends in death. The only choice is one between miserable comfort and wasteful decay on the one hand, and struggle, suffering, and total exhaustion on the other. The Via Crucis, a road full of suffering that passes through death, at least ends in final liberation. But that is the price, the narrow gate. Most choose the wide gate of miserable self-preservation, something they will loose in the end anyway.
brnt 3y ago
> You also start to realize how narrow and sometimes shallow expertise is Thanks for putting this in such clear words. What I would really like to learn is not to be ticked off about seeing this. I get annoyed when somebody is pawning their expertise of as something grand while I think it's quite limited, and often, of course, so limited that they can't even conceive of the space outside their limits. I find my natural reaction overly negative and just not productive.
- twbarber 3y ago
  This resonates with me. I’ve so far chalked it up to envy of their “unearned” confidence that’s rooted in my own self-esteem issues. Recognizing a fellow imposter in the wild.
- dchichkov 3y ago
  I think it is fine to look at the details of what actually was achieved, see if it had an impact. In that particular case, the achievement seems to be contributing to operations to development of a new candidate COVID vaccine and putting it via a Phase-1 trial in South Africa, with the following result: DNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Alveavax-V1.2) - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4645890 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4645890 While safe, well tolerated, and shelf stable for >6 months at room temperature, a naked DNA SARS-CoV-2 booster candidate in doses up to 8 mg administered intradermally or subcutaneously, as well as Janssen Ad26.COV2.S comparator, did not significantly increase BA.2 antibody titers in a preimmunized, largely pre-infected population. Not a breakthrough, but it is productive. Likely worth the resources that were spent on this. So it is just good job, keep on going. There's really no point of being negative or annoyed. What is not clear to me, is if the author is applying herself in the place where she has an edge and could be most impactful. A world class poker player and Yale Law School grad potentially can do well in politics. Upholding democracy seems like a kind of annoying job that Yale grads should be on.
sn9 3y ago
This guy will be a staff engineer soon.
- twbarber 3y ago
  Is this tongue in cheek? I appreciate and try to emulate this trait, but worry it comes off as politic-ing.
  - brobinson 3y ago
    What I got out of it was "determination eventually beats natural skill over time".
  - sn9 3y ago
    A little, but it also wouldn't surprise me at all. This trait is what I associate with people who quickly develop deep knowledge and impressive breadth.
- mattgreenrocks 3y ago
  Hopefully they want that title :)

lo_zamoyski 3y ago

Yes, pride is the biggest obstacle to growth. It prevents you from making our needs known, because it means making an admission that you lack something (like knowledge or understanding, in this case). It means being honest about what you are (humility), revealing your deficits. And we all have deficits. We all have lack. Love is about seeking and receiving what you lack (eros), and giving to those who lack what they seek (agape). So what does this tell us, this tendency toward pride? I means many of us spend a horrifying amount of time posing, pretending, feigning worth we don't actually have, in order to appear to be something we are not, because we think this will get us things we couldn't by being honest. In order words, we're liars, fraud, and cheats. We lie to get things we know, or least believe, we do not deserve, through false advertising. And we fear being belittled and ridiculed and put down, or losing or losing something. We shirk responsibility this way. We confuse purity with a kind of "cleanliness". We want to appear clean, but become impure and corrupt in doing so. The choice between pride and humility is, I think, the basic decision in life one must make, and keep making, and it can be difficult as the world does not make it easy to prefer what is good. It seems to want to reward you for pretense, and punish you for honesty and the truth. That's why you also need courage, the courage to surrender to the consequences, of doing the right thing and being humble, and embrace them. You cannot control anything but your actions within your limits. You need to be able to accept just but painful outcomes gladly, and suffer the injustices. The inability to suffer, to suffer injustice, is the gateway to pride, and pride comes before the fall, before death and stagnation. You get further in life by suffering and moving forward, suffering and moving forward, suffering and moving forward.[0] There is no life in you otherwise. There is no love in you otherwise. [0] This is also why the Via Crucis is so powerful. Life is not a party or a pleasure garden. It's a struggle that ends in death. The only choice is one between miserable comfort and wasteful decay on the one hand, and struggle, suffering, and total exhaustion on the other. The Via Crucis, a road full of suffering that passes through death, at least ends in final liberation. But that is the price, the narrow gate. Most choose the wide gate of miserable self-preservation, something they will loose in the end anyway.

brnt 3y ago

> You also start to realize how narrow and sometimes shallow expertise is Thanks for putting this in such clear words. What I would really like to learn is not to be ticked off about seeing this. I get annoyed when somebody is pawning their expertise of as something grand while I think it's quite limited, and often, of course, so limited that they can't even conceive of the space outside their limits. I find my natural reaction overly negative and just not productive.

twbarber 3y ago
This resonates with me. I’ve so far chalked it up to envy of their “unearned” confidence that’s rooted in my own self-esteem issues. Recognizing a fellow imposter in the wild.
dchichkov 3y ago
I think it is fine to look at the details of what actually was achieved, see if it had an impact. In that particular case, the achievement seems to be contributing to operations to development of a new candidate COVID vaccine and putting it via a Phase-1 trial in South Africa, with the following result: DNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Alveavax-V1.2) - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4645890 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4645890 While safe, well tolerated, and shelf stable for >6 months at room temperature, a naked DNA SARS-CoV-2 booster candidate in doses up to 8 mg administered intradermally or subcutaneously, as well as Janssen Ad26.COV2.S comparator, did not significantly increase BA.2 antibody titers in a preimmunized, largely pre-infected population. Not a breakthrough, but it is productive. Likely worth the resources that were spent on this. So it is just good job, keep on going. There's really no point of being negative or annoyed. What is not clear to me, is if the author is applying herself in the place where she has an edge and could be most impactful. A world class poker player and Yale Law School grad potentially can do well in politics. Upholding democracy seems like a kind of annoying job that Yale grads should be on.

sn9 3y ago

This guy will be a staff engineer soon.

twbarber 3y ago
Is this tongue in cheek? I appreciate and try to emulate this trait, but worry it comes off as politic-ing.
- brobinson 3y ago
  What I got out of it was "determination eventually beats natural skill over time".
- sn9 3y ago
  A little, but it also wouldn't surprise me at all. This trait is what I associate with people who quickly develop deep knowledge and impressive breadth.
mattgreenrocks 3y ago
Hopefully they want that title :)