The theory guy never wins
vladmkrtumyan.blogspot.com
vladmkrtumyan.blogspot.com
As an aside and fuel for furhter thought, here is one of my favourite quotes (from Less Wrong):
"As a general idea, high level intellectual exploration should consume substantially more time than goal-directed action, but there are few social encouragements to behave in this manner so the only people who do so are essentially those who are addicted to such intellectual exploration and have no propensity or willingness to take action at all."
Look at his awful blog post. It's appallingly-written, doesn't make much sense, invokes various logical fallacies - and hit the front page of HN!
"So here I am getting this post out in the field ASAP, let me know what you think lets talk about all the theory people we've, how does it still exist in this "lean startup" world? Perhaps we should go from lean to anorexic startup. I've never heard of a company launching too fast as Paul Graham says very few do and so far I know none."
A garbled mess of nonsense. And yet here we are, talking about it!
Proof that, at least sometimes, taking action without any kind of meaningful thought behind it is capable of generating success.
You are better off delivering than talking. Shut up, sit down and get shit done so you can deliver.
I had to learn this after my studies. You have to get shit done or nobody listens to you.
But I met many people who just learned this and not much else.
They building huges piles of shit and sell them to people who don't know any better.
I don't ever think you know should think you know everything. The point of the article is putting stuff out in the field and testing is much better than theorizing, most people just theorize. Imagine a world where I internalized that blog post in my head, we'd never be having this conversation I wouldn't get any insight on my thinking or essay writing abilities. lol
So… spending every waking hour consuming information isn't a good idea if your goal is to deliver a product. That doesn't mean going in completely half-cocked is the answer either, though.
Would you suggest that a budding young programmer skip reading about computer science, or about interesting new languages and frameworks? After all, C was a perfectly fine tool in the 70s—who needs anything else? And premature optimization is the root of all evil—why even think about algorithmic complexity? The good ol' linked list is all you should ever need, right?
I don't know where exactly the happy medium is, but I suspect there is one. At some point, you have to start actually doing something. That doesn't mean talking and reading are a complete waste of time—just that talking and reading aren't building. They are, at best, giving you extra tools to build and sell a product in the future.
Signed, The Theory Guy
P.S. Spending three seconds to think about why the fuck is a lotus flower striped and why it is purring like a cat could have saved you.
Also, what the heck is a wantrepreneur? Is that the pretentious term for "someone who isn't an antrepreneur, but totally knows everything about it because he read all the blogs on the subject and all the interviews in Forbes"?
See http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/05/the-buffett-formula-...
And if you're serious about reading or learning, this is great: http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/07/seneca-on-reading/
I remember at some time in my thirteenth year, on my happening to use the word idea, he asked me what an idea was; and expressed some displeasure at my ineffectual efforts to define the word: I recollect also his indignation at my using the common expression that something was true in theory but required correction in practice; and how, after making me vainly strive to define the word theory, he explained its meaning, and showed the fallacy of the vulgar form of speech which I had used; leaving me fully persuaded that in being unable to give a correct definition of Theory, and in speaking of it as something which might be at variance with practice, I had shown unparalleled ignorance. In this he seems, and perhaps was, very unreasonable; but I think, only in being angry at my failure. A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do, never does all he can.