4 ms·

Reading Graham's essays on writing always puts me in mind of the videos where Mexican moms react to Rachael Ray trying to cook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Reading Graham's essays on writing always puts me in mind of the videos where Mexican moms react to Rachael Ray trying to cook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA), or a Malaysian guy has to watch a BBC cook make rice (https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226 https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226).

hnhg 1y ago
He carries the self-confidence that billions of dollars in wealth can give you.
- flipgimble 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - ignoramous 1y ago
    > ... he writes mostly to justify his luck in amassing capital as something of intellectual consequence. Strange take, given PG made his billions from actually building something of immense consequence (YC) & provably codifying a blueprint on building fast-growing companies in SV. If PG was a prof at HBS, it is likely he'd be considered in the same bracket as Clayton Christensen.
    - mgfist 1y ago
      His comment got deleted but it was funny hearing him say PG hasn't created anything while commenting on a website PG created
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  It's really the self-confidence of a successful person. He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone at this point, so he's unafraid of criticism. There was another submission here recently ("Find Your People") that touched on that: be immune to rejection.
Waterluvian 1y ago
Uncle Roger reviewing fried rice recipes.
- mykowebhn 1y ago
  Reviewing Jamie Oliver.
TimSchumann 1y ago
It helps when you never question if, as in his own essay describing other ‘bad writers’ weaving falsehoods, you’re the one lying to yourself.
- TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
  Especially about your own significance. I think PG's essays are (mostly) well-written, and are worth studying as examples of persuasive rhetoric. But rhetoric has no morals and no relationship to truth. Persuasion is what salespeople do. Grifters, lawyers, PR firms, politicians, and CEOs all make a living from being persuasive. That doesn't mean you can trust them not to lie to you. It also doesn't mean flawed rhetoric means flawed beliefs. Implying it does is itself a misleading rhetorical trick.
jamesdutc 1y ago
> Malaysian guy has to watch a BBC cook make rice (https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226 https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226) Of course, this video is just stupid accent comedy, but we should be careful not to draw too much from it. (Let's also set aside the specifics of making fried rice.) The implication of the section of the clip you linked is that the presenter (Hersha Patel) does not know how to make rice properly, and this is evidenced by her cooking it in too much water and draining it. But this is not correct. There are, in fact, many different varieties of rice, different cuisines that incorporate rice as a major component, and different styles of cooking rice. Cooking (certain varieties of long-grained? rice) in an open vessel, cooking with an excess of water, and draining the water afterwards is an extremely common and popular way to prepare it for use in some cuisines: e.g., https://youtu.be/TARO_R4cE24?t=420 https://youtu.be/TARO_R4cE24?t=420 When this video first made the rounds some years ago, it was surprising to see how confidently people would weigh-in on this topic, despite demonstrating very little background or knowledge. (There's a big difference between saying “that's not the appropriate way to do this in this circumstance” and “that's completely wrong,” and the former creates space to derive knowledge. After all, the dish in the video is a popular one, even in cultures that predominantly eat jasmine or basmati rice, and there are interesting variations in technique and flavour that arise as a consequence!) > Mexican moms react to Rachael Ray trying to cook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA) I similarly do not understand why these kind of reaction videos are popular. There are slightly better versions of this format (e.g., https://youtu.be/DsyfYJ5Ou3g?t=182 https://youtu.be/DsyfYJ5Ou3g?t=182) but they are drowned out by this kind of fluff. What does one really gain from interacting with such criticism? Perhaps there is something to be learnt from these situations: ones where, equipped with just a little bit of knowledge, we derive unearned confidence, and use this confidence not to venture forth more boldly in search of knowledge, but to convince ourselves of our own superiority.
not_maz 1y ago
Paul Graham is a good writer. He's not an elite-tier writer's writer like "the dead guy" who's not actually dead, but he's still better than 99% of business executives, and he's better in the skills that businessmen want.
juliusdavies 1y ago
For me the beauty of idlewords's own blog (https://idlewords.com/ https://idlewords.com/) is that it's so good it makes me want to write. Similarly, I find Graham's writing so bad that it also makes me want to write. (note: idlewords, if you see this, your blog is misbehaving at the moment. For example, PHP is complaining bitterly on this page right now: https://idlewords.com/2018/10/ https://idlewords.com/2018/10/ )
- idlewords 1y ago
  My blog is static files. It preserves a moment in time when PHP was complaining, forever.

hnhg 1y ago

He carries the self-confidence that billions of dollars in wealth can give you.

flipgimble 1y ago
[flagged]
- ignoramous 1y ago
  > ... he writes mostly to justify his luck in amassing capital as something of intellectual consequence. Strange take, given PG made his billions from actually building something of immense consequence (YC) & provably codifying a blueprint on building fast-growing companies in SV. If PG was a prof at HBS, it is likely he'd be considered in the same bracket as Clayton Christensen.
  - mgfist 1y ago
    His comment got deleted but it was funny hearing him say PG hasn't created anything while commenting on a website PG created
SoftTalker 1y ago
It's really the self-confidence of a successful person. He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone at this point, so he's unafraid of criticism. There was another submission here recently ("Find Your People") that touched on that: be immune to rejection.

Waterluvian 1y ago

Uncle Roger reviewing fried rice recipes.

mykowebhn 1y ago
Reviewing Jamie Oliver.

TimSchumann 1y ago

It helps when you never question if, as in his own essay describing other ‘bad writers’ weaving falsehoods, you’re the one lying to yourself.

TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
Especially about your own significance. I think PG's essays are (mostly) well-written, and are worth studying as examples of persuasive rhetoric. But rhetoric has no morals and no relationship to truth. Persuasion is what salespeople do. Grifters, lawyers, PR firms, politicians, and CEOs all make a living from being persuasive. That doesn't mean you can trust them not to lie to you. It also doesn't mean flawed rhetoric means flawed beliefs. Implying it does is itself a misleading rhetorical trick.

jamesdutc 1y ago

> Malaysian guy has to watch a BBC cook make rice (https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226 https://youtu.be/53me-ICi_f8?si=0AaZ82dk_AYFqJAx&t=226) Of course, this video is just stupid accent comedy, but we should be careful not to draw too much from it. (Let's also set aside the specifics of making fried rice.) The implication of the section of the clip you linked is that the presenter (Hersha Patel) does not know how to make rice properly, and this is evidenced by her cooking it in too much water and draining it. But this is not correct. There are, in fact, many different varieties of rice, different cuisines that incorporate rice as a major component, and different styles of cooking rice. Cooking (certain varieties of long-grained? rice) in an open vessel, cooking with an excess of water, and draining the water afterwards is an extremely common and popular way to prepare it for use in some cuisines: e.g., https://youtu.be/TARO_R4cE24?t=420 https://youtu.be/TARO_R4cE24?t=420 When this video first made the rounds some years ago, it was surprising to see how confidently people would weigh-in on this topic, despite demonstrating very little background or knowledge. (There's a big difference between saying “that's not the appropriate way to do this in this circumstance” and “that's completely wrong,” and the former creates space to derive knowledge. After all, the dish in the video is a popular one, even in cultures that predominantly eat jasmine or basmati rice, and there are interesting variations in technique and flavour that arise as a consequence!) > Mexican moms react to Rachael Ray trying to cook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN2g1FBgVA) I similarly do not understand why these kind of reaction videos are popular. There are slightly better versions of this format (e.g., https://youtu.be/DsyfYJ5Ou3g?t=182 https://youtu.be/DsyfYJ5Ou3g?t=182) but they are drowned out by this kind of fluff. What does one really gain from interacting with such criticism? Perhaps there is something to be learnt from these situations: ones where, equipped with just a little bit of knowledge, we derive unearned confidence, and use this confidence not to venture forth more boldly in search of knowledge, but to convince ourselves of our own superiority.

not_maz 1y ago

Paul Graham is a good writer. He's not an elite-tier writer's writer like "the dead guy" who's not actually dead, but he's still better than 99% of business executives, and he's better in the skills that businessmen want.

juliusdavies 1y ago

For me the beauty of idlewords's own blog (https://idlewords.com/ https://idlewords.com/) is that it's so good it makes me want to write. Similarly, I find Graham's writing so bad that it also makes me want to write. (note: idlewords, if you see this, your blog is misbehaving at the moment. For example, PHP is complaining bitterly on this page right now: https://idlewords.com/2018/10/ https://idlewords.com/2018/10/ )

idlewords 1y ago
My blog is static files. It preserves a moment in time when PHP was complaining, forever.