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Comment by otterley | Hacker News Reader

> Engage with reality as much as possible. That means less time on this site and more time in the world. Less time watching human faces on a screen and more time seeing human faces in person.

> The more time you spend with real people out in the world, the less you will emotionally rely upon abstract intellectual models to infuse your life with a sense of connection and purpose.

> Hold all of your opinions lightly. Be proud of your ability to change your mind. Actively seek out evidence of your own ignorance and failings.

Amen, brother.

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Good advice for everyone in this age of staring at screens.

A few "razors" I use, which are probably not original to me:

(1) People are more important than ideas. Any idea that says the idea, or its vision of the future, is more important than people fails. Doesn't matter what school of thought it comes from or how good it sounds or whether it seems intellectually consistent. If the idea is not working in a way that is hurting people, toss the idea.

(2) Peoples' personal lives are absolutely on the table when evaluating their ideas. If someone's personal life is an absolute mess, or they're running a cult, or they're in one, or they treat the people around them like complete crap, it should be cause for extreme skepticism at the very least.

(3) If it's hard to understand, it might be profound... or it might be pseudo-profound bullshit that's muddying the waters to make them look deep.

Isn't your second point essentially an ad hominem?

If an idea is good then the idea is good regardless of the person who came up with the idea. Same principle if the idea is bad.

Agree in principle, but some people mistakenly believe that because a wealthy person did something and succeeded, regardless of the cost or externalities, it must have been a good idea.

Why "but"? You are agreeing with the previous comment, right?

It’s more nuanced than that. Not all ideas neatly fit into “good ideas” or “bad ideas.” Sometimes they’re a mix of both, or someone has a good idea, poorly executed.

That's why I said it should inspire skepticism. I take it as a cue to take a closer look.

Broadly true but in a marketplace overrun with all sorts of ideas filtering out people who engage in acts or behavior you find abhorrent can be a useful filter for ideas to consider.

Or to put it another way, have you sat through a timeshare pitch to evaluate if the idea is good or bad?

Unfortunately it seems that many leading figures in the tech industry live by the absolute opposite of these. Just look at Elon Musk, Sam Altman, DHH... the list goes on.

Yeah, well, fuck those guys. Don’t try to emulate them. Fortunately, we have better wealthy role models like Melinda French Gates, Mackenzie Scott, and Warren Buffett to look up to.

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