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Comment by systemvoltage | Hacker News Reader

I am listening to it, this whole spiel in first 10 mins can be summarized simply: When you're at the cutting edge of any endeavor, there are no instructions to follow.

Well... isn't that obvious from the definition – "cutting edge"?

The more I listen to this stuff, the more I realize, it is a verbal extravaganza with nothing of substance. It is taking the most obvious things in life, making an intoxicating narrative and interpretation, and master it with excellent spoken skills and voila - you got Naval/Kapil.

They are also rehashing Feynman, Krishnamurthy, Neitsche, etc. and pawning it off as their own.

Top comment on YT summarizes this well:

> This is first I heard about Kapil! What an amazing articulate man. Blown away by how calm and steady he speaks

That's indeed the seductive aspect of their podcasts. The moment you peel it off, it is just basic common sense and nothing actionable or insightful. It is podcast porn.

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Thank you and glad I am not alone finding this mostly fluff.

This is sadhguru level stuff imo and weird that it is something Naval is associated with now.

May be I am being a bit harsh, perhaps there is value in listening to this and it brings peace to some people.

As far as they are doing this without exploiting people, ripping them off like Deepak Chopra and deluding them, I am fine with it.

Naval appears to be doing his thing just purely out of boredom and to attain fame.

You’re right but some people in really dark places may benefit from a bit of positive delusion. It is when reality is starting to become obscured by it that it becomes a serious problem. I remember being depressed years ago and it’s not that I was irrational but I didn’t see any sense at all and this kind of thing could help in such circumstances. Luckily I got over that and I’m not seeking this type of fluff. Now Im in a good place, married, kids, a lot more reasons to go on but if I think about it, mainly things haven’t changed in the sense that it is still all kind of pointless, it just depends what spin been put on them.

So I think there’s a benefit in having people saying positive stuff even if it’s just meaningless words

Most people maybe are lacking in common sense and don't know these references as well, so I too think it can be helpful and it's fine as long as he isn't ripping anyone off.

>it is a verbal extravaganza with nothing of substance

Perhaps it is a reflection on the underlying anxieties & fears of a society which enable such people to rise up and gain a following.

> first 10 mins can be summarized simply: When you're at the cutting edge of any endeavor, there are no instructions to follow.

That's not a good summary. I think you jumped the gun on making a judgment.

A better summary of that section is this paraphrase: even if a great, accomplished man retraced his steps and followed his perception of what he had done the first time around, he couldn't repeat the accomplishment. That's because, the talkers argue, it's the details that matter and they're unknowable in the sense that an algorithm is knowable.

I find their discussion filled with substance that's lacking in most "life insight" blog posts around.

Yeah dude, I think so too. Some of the ideas I liked though we're about prescription, and then him saying it's all about destination. And trying to look beyond words and towards an understanding.

And I agree, most of it can be summarised as "life is a complex system. You can't marry any kind of ideology if you want to achieve any goal, but instead keep listening to feedback and tune accordingly"

thanks for your comments. it is insightful. really appreciate it. If you read the current self-help books, you will find there is really nothing original or new there. but that stuff sound so engaging. it keeps your reading.

I felt the same after sampling a bit of Krishnamurthy. I’ve seen people go all gung-ho about him with cultish levels of reverence but found nothing original. Eloquent prose yes but nothing remarkable at all. After everything you said, it was surprising to see you casually drop Krishnamurthy’s name next to someone as original as Nietzsche.

You're probably right about this, I haven't studied them deeply.

Glorified ASMR. Is one of these two people advising Gwyneth Paltrow yet?

I've never heard of Kapil before but why are Naval and Kapil grouped together?

Why not Kapil and Ryan Halliday ?

Is this because of a subconscious bias?

Well, this podcast is a discussion between them.

Apologies, I thought it was a youtube video of a talk.

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