5 ms·

What Are Some Stupid Things That Smart People Do?

15 points by monksy 13y ago

nusbit 13y ago
Is this on quora or forbes ?
- monksy 13y ago
  Its on Forbes sourced by Quara ... I'm not sure if Forbes has taken over Quara or if it's just syndicating that post.
  - dethtron5000 13y ago
    Quara has been syndicating their content to several outlets. I believe Slate has a number of questions from Quara on their site as well.
- Kronopath 13y ago
  For those visiting now: this submission used to point to a Forbes repost of Lee Semel's answer on the Quora page. Looks like the mods changed it.
twiceaday 13y ago
"take pride in using programming languages and text editors that have been designed by programmers, not updated since the 1970s, and never touched by anyone with a modicum of design sense." Sounds like this was written by a web developer.
- michael_h 13y ago
  Programming in a text editor designed by a programmer for programming? Sounds...logical?
  - warrenm 13y ago
    Using an editor designed by programmers means you're most likely not getting a well-designed interface. Developers are notorious for not knowing much (if anything) about good UI design.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - smileysteve 13y ago
      Well, yeah, this pretty much describes vim. No cues are told how to save, exit, search, or insert. But, it's functional, and once you learn the functions, it's quicker than using a mouse and many other tools.
      - lightblade 13y ago
        I think vim has the best designed interface. This is reason why so many other editors always have a vim mode. Remember, imitation is the best form of flattery.
monksy 13y ago
Note: This has been edited to change it from the Forbes link to the raw Quora post. The post I was attempting to highlight was by "Lee Semel"
- Kronopath 13y ago
  Lee's answer[0] is a good one, and worth a look, but there are other good answers there as well. Andrea Martin's answer[1] just below Lee's is especially interesting because it takes an entirely different viewpoint to the question than the typical "intellectual biases" or "networking/superficial social skills" type of answers: "Fail to develop and maintain mutual support systems among mature, benevolent, competent people. Without a good support system, anyone can begin to slide down a slippery slope when they encounter hardship, miscalculate something major, or fall victim to the misdeeds of others." Go read the whole thing. It's worth it. [0] Permalink to Lee's answer: http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Lee-Semel-10289 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi... [1] Permalink to Andrea's answer: http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Andrea-Martin-3 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi...
  - monksy 13y ago
    I'll have to take a look at that as well.
  - dmunoz 13y ago
    Postfix those URLs with ?share=1 so us without Quora accounts see something useful. [0] http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Lee-Semel-10289?share=1 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi... [1] http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Andrea-Martin-3?share=1 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi...
    - Kronopath 13y ago
      Thanks for that. I can't edit my post anymore, so I can't fix it above. Quora's really aggressive about getting people to sign up. I had to log in with a dummy account just to get the permalinks in the first place.
lutusp 13y ago
> What Are Some Stupid Things That Smart People Do? (quora.com) The "stupid things" list should certainly include visiting quora.com, a tar-pit masquerading as a website.

15 points by monksy 13y ago

nusbit 13y ago

Is this on quora or forbes ?

monksy 13y ago
Its on Forbes sourced by Quara ... I'm not sure if Forbes has taken over Quara or if it's just syndicating that post.
- dethtron5000 13y ago
  Quara has been syndicating their content to several outlets. I believe Slate has a number of questions from Quara on their site as well.
Kronopath 13y ago
For those visiting now: this submission used to point to a Forbes repost of Lee Semel's answer on the Quora page. Looks like the mods changed it.

twiceaday 13y ago

"take pride in using programming languages and text editors that have been designed by programmers, not updated since the 1970s, and never touched by anyone with a modicum of design sense." Sounds like this was written by a web developer.

michael_h 13y ago
Programming in a text editor designed by a programmer for programming? Sounds...logical?
- warrenm 13y ago
  Using an editor designed by programmers means you're most likely not getting a well-designed interface. Developers are notorious for not knowing much (if anything) about good UI design.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - smileysteve 13y ago
    Well, yeah, this pretty much describes vim. No cues are told how to save, exit, search, or insert. But, it's functional, and once you learn the functions, it's quicker than using a mouse and many other tools.
    - lightblade 13y ago
      I think vim has the best designed interface. This is reason why so many other editors always have a vim mode. Remember, imitation is the best form of flattery.

monksy 13y ago

Note: This has been edited to change it from the Forbes link to the raw Quora post. The post I was attempting to highlight was by "Lee Semel"

Kronopath 13y ago
Lee's answer[0] is a good one, and worth a look, but there are other good answers there as well. Andrea Martin's answer[1] just below Lee's is especially interesting because it takes an entirely different viewpoint to the question than the typical "intellectual biases" or "networking/superficial social skills" type of answers: "Fail to develop and maintain mutual support systems among mature, benevolent, competent people. Without a good support system, anyone can begin to slide down a slippery slope when they encounter hardship, miscalculate something major, or fall victim to the misdeeds of others." Go read the whole thing. It's worth it. [0] Permalink to Lee's answer: http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Lee-Semel-10289 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi... [1] Permalink to Andrea's answer: http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Andrea-Martin-3 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi...
- monksy 13y ago
  I'll have to take a look at that as well.
- dmunoz 13y ago
  Postfix those URLs with ?share=1 so us without Quora accounts see something useful. [0] http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Lee-Semel-10289?share=1 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi... [1] http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-things-that-smart-people-do/answer/Andrea-Martin-3?share=1 http://www.quora.com/Human-Behavior/What-are-some-stupid-thi...
  - Kronopath 13y ago
    Thanks for that. I can't edit my post anymore, so I can't fix it above. Quora's really aggressive about getting people to sign up. I had to log in with a dummy account just to get the permalinks in the first place.

lutusp 13y ago

> What Are Some Stupid Things That Smart People Do? (quora.com) The "stupid things" list should certainly include visiting quora.com, a tar-pit masquerading as a website.