Anything you think is either unoriginal, wrong or both

blog.figuringshitout.com

6 pointsshalmanese4 comments

In that case, why blog, write, code or think? The statement may be true in some cases but it's not useful or helpful unless you have an overinflated sense of ego, or you spend all of your time reinventing the wheel. The attitude this lends itself to is one of "well, nobody has done this, so that must mean it's impossible." Direct observation of the world proves that conclusion wrong time and again.

Trevor, I would invite you to read my blog post on obviously wrong truths: http://blog.figuringshitout.com/nov-2nd-day-21-obviously-wro.... What you said is correct, my observation is obviously wrong. But at the same time, I think it's true... I know that sounds like a copout.

I think the thing you're missing is that this is not a statement of futility. Wrong things are still worth doing. I think maybe the clearest way I can describe it is that it's akin to the existentialist belief that life is futile but you should live it to the fullest.

Summary: Act like simple generalizations are somehow profound because they don't explicitly include the word "probably".

If that's what you think, you missed the point.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com