ellius

22 ms·

151.
by ellius 8y ago
I have a model with two kinds of knowledge: sexy knowledge and homely knowledge. I think the internet and mass media era in general have massively endorsed and empowered the projects and acquisition of sexy knowledge. If it doesn't gar
152.
by ellius 8y ago
This won't necessarily "stop your greed," but I'm a big fan of Jim Harrison's "In Search of Small Gods," particularly the poem "Quarters." Quarters -------------- "Maybe the problem is that
153.
by ellius 8y ago
Nox. Oh Nox.
154.
by ellius 8y ago
I took Latin a long time ago, but one passage supporting your point sticks in my brain. Virgil is recounting the many steps that led to the Empire, and he says something like, "Of such great difficulty was it to found the nation of Rom
155.
by ellius 8y ago
I think "pattern addiction" is definitely a thing. Human beings are constantly searching for order and patterns. Getting other people to buy into your pattern/narrative/whatever is probably as old as the human race, but
156.
by ellius 8y ago
If you're interested in the question you posed ("why do we have a decentralized money police?"), in part it is the consequence of a series of historical accidents, but you can get a pretty good answer from the book "Trea
157.
by ellius 8y ago
"Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything." —Robert Rubin
158.
by ellius 8y ago
I decided to be honest with myself about what I do and do not like, to work my ass off at the things I do like, and to be vigilant about checking my feelings and following my gut. It's paid enormous dividends. I taught myself to progra
159.
by ellius 8y ago
Nott that this was your situation, but do you have any recommendations for learning advanced math as an adult hobbyist? I sort of missed the boat on doing advanced math in college, and while I likely won't be able to go back to school
160.
by ellius 8y ago
The first guy who trained me as a software consultant said that estimates are generally laughably incorrect, because you just never know what you will run into. Software (and technology in general) is about hiding complexity. As soon as you
161.
by ellius 8y ago
Second. The end trails off a bit IMHO but it's an otherwise exceptional book.
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by ellius 8y ago
Could you elaborate on this in some detail? I'm in the position of believing I have "1 thing right." I worked in an industry (banking) with a serious software problem and one particular vertical that I'm confident I coul
163.
by ellius 8y ago
One of the most illuminating comments I heard recently was on a Bloomberg podcast where they made the point that fiat money is a closed system. Money can flow between economic actors, and it can obviously influence behavior, but in both a t
164.
by ellius 8y ago
It's counterintuitive but a pretty well-known phenomenon. The finest cartoons provide a unique window into some aspect of human culture. The Simpsons, Futurama, King of the Hill—they all were entertaining, but the best episodes talked
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by ellius 8y ago
The hard part of this is that most companies aren't willing to support it (monetarily). You're expected to spend most of your time coding or, at best, thinking about the next problem. Thoughtul reflection rarely gets the support i
166.
by ellius 8y ago
Software engineers seem to be prone to this sort of thinking in general. I know I was at first. I think it's common to just not be especially familiar with the practice of science, with other types of engineering, to not have exposure
167.
by ellius 8y ago
Seems like a brilliant way to make use of a semi-idling workforce.
168.
by ellius 8y ago
My conversation with two of my professors pretty much sealed my future as far as getting away from a history PhD. I did a Master's, and I'm glad I tried it, but when I asked the two profs I was closest with whether it was worth co
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by ellius 8y ago
Not to nitpick, but if I remember correctly at least one of the realtors did become uncomfortable and shut down the whole thing. He was the exception, though.
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by ellius 8y ago
Excellent read, thanks for posting.
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by ellius 8y ago
Counterpoint: Karl Marx and Howard Zinn both wrote history.
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by ellius 8y ago
You don't have to take it for granted, although I would suggest that equality of opportunity at least is fundamental to the American conception of liberty. That said there's not any reason you have to agree with it, though, or wit
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by ellius 8y ago
I didn't "celebrate" them at all, I just said that in a market system a purchaser of labor pays more when they determine some skill is worth more to them than another skill.
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by ellius 8y ago
Sure, people do that, but you're reading things into my post if you're implying that that attitude exists anywhere in it. I didn't say anything about throwing up our hands, and as far as I can tell neither does Sowell.
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by ellius 8y ago
That's kind of his point though: that we have managed to get this far, but we shouldn't take it for granted and expect that we can just "turn up the equality dial" and get more equality. These are complex systems and bar
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by ellius 8y ago
Perhaps not a direct consequence of choice, though. Certainly whatever poltical and economic system we choose has implications for inequality, but it's not simply a matter of "we choose to have less inequality –> less inequalit
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by ellius 8y ago
I'm reading Thomas Sowell's "Intellectuals and Society," and while I disagree with a lot in his arguments and his view of the world, I think he nails a key point about the philosophy behind free market economies. He says
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by ellius 8y ago
I experienced the reverse: using a CPAP finally gave me enough energy to start exercising, which helped me lose weight. I imagine if I stopped using the CPAP I would slowly start losing energy again and probably stop exercising and gain the
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by ellius 8y ago
Which many people have argued effectively. Izabella Kaminska has written the most interesting articles on that topic in my opinion.
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by ellius 8y ago
Yeah you're entirely right. I was a history student in undergrad and graduate school, and obviously this sort of thing does occur naturally in some courses. But I do think it's still fairly rare that someone intentionally strategi

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