
Focus has become more valuable than intelligence (2018) - alexandroo
https://alexand.ro/2018/08/how-focus-became-more-valuable-than-intelligence
======
ChrisMarshallNY
As someone that is "on the spectrum," I can report that focus can be pretty
awesome. I generate _vast_ amounts of code, in relatively short time, and am
an insanely obsessive debugger.

However, it don't come for free. If I get "roused" from my "fugue" (what I
call "the zone"), I can be cranky. This has not always been helpful in my
marriage.

Also, I find that I can be "vocabularily challenged" for a few minutes after I
break out, sounding like a complete moron; struggling for the most basic
terminology. "Whatchacallit" is one of my most-uttered phrases.

~~~
sscarduzio
I have been experiencing exactly this in the last 10 years without being aware
it was a side effect of high focus.

10 years ago I was really bad at studying, then I had a peak of low self
esteem, believing I was not intelligent. Ready to give up uni, my GF suggested
I'd give myself only one more opportunity.

So I started studying like it was the very last time I'd do it. Like, in an
angry state, like I was demonstrating to myself no matter how hard, it was
useless.

This is how I discovered my brain only had a "fast gear", and the "slow gear"
that normal people used was basically not working for my brain.

I breezed through all my exams, got a series of cool jobs and promotions, now
I own my company and sell my own software to Fortune 50 companies.

The side effect of operating at peak concentration levels is becoming socially
impaired, and verbally inept exactly like Chris Marshall above described. This
has non trivial social consequences.

The amazing thing here is that I just thought I was getting older and
grumpier. But now I understand it's in fact tied to the focus. Thanks Chris,
now I know what it is, and maybe I can try to tune it down for a period to see
what happens.

~~~
chibg10
Does this resonate with anyone else? Is there any studies on this?

I’ve had a similar experience over the past few years — a ton of work focus
(at a FAANGM as an ML scientist/engineer) combined with limited social
interaction and I’ve noticed my ability to have normal social interactions has
declined greatly (“verbally inept” and “difficulty with empathy” pretty much
hit it on the head). There’s potentially confounding factors in my case so
I’ve been hesitant to attribute it to overfocusing at work although I’ve
considered it may be a cause.

In retrospect I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s not really a worthwhile
tradeoff and I’ve been pulling back from work a bit. To add to the larger
discussion, I thought I was focusing on work for the right reasons (making a
difference in the world, gaining skills, self-actualization) but after getting
my “dream job” it turned out that it the job wasn’t very fulfilling at all. No
technical challenge or abstract impact metrics really did much for my
happiness (or money fwiw)... at the end of the day it’s still rewarding social
interactions (which don’t necessarily _have_ to be outside of work) that
control the needle for me.

~~~
Roritharr
It resonates with me from a different direction. Up until I've become a dad I
could crank out vast amounts of code and dive very deep into a given topic
relatively quickly, producing extensive results when being able to focus, but
since then I have a strict schedule, can't easily say "I'm coming home a few
hours later today" or things like that to conserve momentum, I feel my output
drastically reduced.

I'm currently looking for ways to reorganize my way of working so I get a
better output and require less compromises of my family.

~~~
IvanVergiliev
I’ve found it extremely useful to keep a detailed log of my thoughts and ideas
as I’m working on a problem that requires focus. It’s like a thread dump or
memory dump of my thinking. Then, if I get interrupted for whatever reason, I
can easily go back to the notes and “restore” from the thread dump.

This is a pretty good blog post I found on the subject:
[http://faq.sealedabstract.com/uninterruptible_programming_su...](http://faq.sealedabstract.com/uninterruptible_programming_supply/)
.

I’ve found various side benefits in addition to being able to focus in shorter
time windows. For example:

\- it’s useful for dealing with interruptions that are part of work too - e.g.
if you’re helping teammates with different projects, or have to switch
contexts for other reasons.

\- it can be useful as an artifact of work. For example, you’ve spent a lot of
time debugging a weird issue and you’re still not making progress, so you can
use a second set of eyes. You can share your work notes with a coworker so
they can immediately know what you’ve tried, what worked or didn’t, etc. In
that context, I like to think of it as “offline pair programming”.

------
cutler
There's so much middle-class context assumed in this piece I don't know where
to begin. What if, for starters, you have a family and the responsibilities
that come with it? "I'm only going to focus on my passion from now on" will
probably lead to homelessness in pretty quick time unless you have a nest-egg
to burn through while you reach profitability.

What if you're in your 50s and stuck in a low paid job with a wife to take
care of? What if you have a disability? The point I'm making is that a lot of
life's time-sinks/distractions are non-negotiable and one life varies
drastically from another in terms of how much freedom one has to pursue one's
passion. Those who shout loudest that money doesn't matter are usually the
ones who have plenty.

In the author's middle-class world there are always other options to what
you're doing at any point in time. Unfortunately this isn't a universal given.
A lot of people are stuck with massive amounts of debt just trying to survive
and live from one paycheck to the next. In this context pursuing one's passion
is sadly not an option if you want to be able to keep up your rent payments.

~~~
AndrewKemendo
I think maybe a good way to describe it is a hierarchy of priorities.

The examples you give, taking care of a wife, family responsibilities etc...
are in your words "non-negotiable." Which I interpret as required to be
maintained as top priority irrespective of all other wants, needs and desires.
Each of those examples however, except for having a disability, is truly a
choice in terms of priority.

I think most people would argue that it is unconscionable to abandon a family
or ailing spouse to "follow their dreams," however it's surprisingly common to
see. That's not to defend it, but simply to point out that it is done and with
surprising frequency, by people who you probably admire.

Someone quoted Bukowski on here recently, as giving some insight into the mind
of someone who is fully invested in something, and I think it's apropos for
this discussion:

"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This
could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It
could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park
bench...etc [1]"

It sounds like your suggesting that people are actively making that "all-in
investment" in what you describe as non-negotiables.

[1]
[https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/13275.Charles_Bukows...](https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/13275.Charles_Bukowski)

~~~
cutler
Whatever happened to living a balanced life and the satisfaction of fulfilling
a responsibility? It may not be fashionable but some view the follow-your-
passion cult as shallow and self-centered.

~~~
AndrewKemendo
Maybe I didn't make my point clear. The concept here is that, everyone has
something that they prioritize - even if not explicitly.

So writing something like "Whatever happened to living a balanced life and the
satisfaction of fulfilling a responsibility?" suggests that the primary
priority you think is being under-emphasized is "living a balanced life."

This is very similar to the popular philosophy of "diversity of experience"
being the ultimate priority, which is a remixed version of the classical
philosophy of hedonism [1] (not to be confused with the modern interpretation
which only focuses on sexual pleasure).

[1][https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hedonism/](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hedonism/)

------
claar
I agree that focus is rare and critical, but I take issue with the closing
paragraphs that suggest prioritizing focus over relationships.

What good is it to gain the whole world but have no one to enjoy it with? Of
course this is simply another form of focus - choose which relationships to
focus on. But putting intellectual pursuits above relationships is a lonely
and foolish path, even if you achieve your dreams. If someone close to you
suggests spending more time with them, you would be better served to listen to
them than to cut them out of your life.

~~~
throwaway72873
I disagree. Keeping focus is a basic biological function of brain. Healthy
boundaries and respect are necessary for that. If your "partner" prevents
that, relationship is toxic and will probably get even worse over time.

In other words, it is better to be alone, than with someone who ruins your
mind and sleep.

~~~
koonsolo
Well don't have any kids then.

So from an evolutionary standpoint, focus might not be that important after
all ;).

~~~
throwaway72873
I have kids. Again it is about setting boundaries and respect.

Most people make mistake they start compromising very early for no reason, and
when things get tough, they just get buried.

~~~
koonsolo
So how do you set the boundry when your baby starts crying in the middle of
the night, or when your kid throws up in the bed? Let the wife handle it?

------
TheAlchemist
I can only agree on that. For people interested in the topic, I would
recommend reading Cal Newport's blog too.

Also, I intend to turn internet mostly off in 2020. By that I mean: \- no
'checking' of any websites, no news. I will only use internet to search on
specific topics I'm interested in \- subscription to paper edition of
Economist, to keep myself informed (albeit not in real time - what's the use
of that anyway ?) \- read interesting sites / blogs I subscribe to, once a
week

I've tried this for 2 weeks once, and the effects on my mind were amazing -
besides the obvious effects on concentration and work quality, I've also
noticed that I actually do have plenty of free time !

~~~
gcp123
I'm interested in this. How are you planning to execute your plan for 2020?
Will power? or will you combine that with some kind of service or application
to set some guide rails for yourself? Would love to hear the specifics!

~~~
TheAlchemist
No need for technology here. It's an addiction that many of us have. And I
feel it got to a point it messes way too much with my brain. So yeah, only
'will power'.

~~~
tdaltonc
Will power does not have a great track record in the "will power v addiction"
war.

~~~
TheAlchemist
Fair point.

But it's an addiction that I think will be rather easy to get rid off (based
on my previous experience) so I'm not planning anything very specific (other
than the points I've listed).

------
playing_colours
“Anathem” by Neal Stephenson describes monastic communities dedicated to
studying mathematics.

I sometimes entertain an idea, if a similar monastic community can work in our
world - assuming they would be less strict than in the book. Such isolated
retreats would be beneficial for rebuilding focus, finding calm and comfort,
without noisy distractions, so one could focus most of their time on studying
mathematics.

Definitely, nowadays isolated monasteries would not be convenient for doing
actual research, as the access to Internet is a must.

~~~
internet_user
We already have such a concept, ever been to a remote research university grad
school campus?

~~~
TeMPOraL
Isn't that tied to being a grad student or an academic teacher?

I wish there was something like this for random adults. I hate the structural
assumption in our society that only people on the academic track are capable
of doing deep intellectual work. Being in academia, or even in orbit of
academia, comes with a lot of irrelevant responsibilities and spatial
constraints, making it not cost-effective for someone who already ended up in
the private sector.

------
wallflower
If you find yourself spending too much time on social media-type or even
general information consumption applications (like Redfin) on your phone, one
simple step is to remove the native application from your phone. The mobile
web for most of these are just janky enough to snap you out of your reverie.

Second, you can try changing your phone to grayscale. Lack of color may make
use of your phone less appealing. iOS makes it relatively easy.

[https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/grayscale-
iphone-266894](https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/grayscale-iphone-266894)

~~~
prirun
I tend to be a focused person, and like being focused. A couple of years ago I
upgraded to a smart phone, mainly to get the larger screen (easier to read)
and the speech-to-text feature (I hate pecking out a reply to a text).

I don't have WiFi enabled on the phone, have Cellular Data disabled, have
never signed into my Google account (it's an Android phone), have Bluetooth
and Location disabled, and have never downloaded any apps. It's a phone,
period. I can't imagine having something in my pocket beeping and dinging at
me all day long. It would drive me nuts and I'd never get anything done.

If I'm in the car and lost, I have a $100 Garmin GPS that works fine without
having to load a bunch of crapps on my phone. Or someone is in the car with me
and is quick to start navigating, which is even better.

Try disabling WiFi and Cell Data for part of the day. You might really like
it!

------
300bps
I’ve said for years that one of the 20th century’s large problems was humans
having to learn to live in a world of unlimited sugar, fat and salt.

One of the 21st century’s large problems is humans having to learn to live in
a world of unlimited information.

Both problems involve overcoming our evolutionary programming to scarf up as
much of what used be a limited resource as possible.

~~~
mannymanman
Solid observations. Do you have any suggestions/resources on how to live well
with unlimited information? How do you decide what to absorb and what to
ignore?

------
bearer_token
> A wasted day may lead to a wasted life

This smacks of anxiety and FOMO. Thinking like this would drive me absolutely
paranoid. Life is much more stochastic than this.

Yes, it is likely that in retrospect a few select hours of work may have
unlocked huge value. You don't know which hours in advance. It is highly
unlikely that one missed day will derail your life.

It's highly more likely that a wasted day was necessary to recover from a
lingering illness, fatigue, or stress. It's OK to have an impromptu sabbath.

~~~
TeMPOraL
It's not the one wasted day that will derail your life. It's one wasted day
after another, after another, after another...

~~~
feanaro
Yes, but it doesn't help to fear that one wasted day will lead to this chain.

~~~
rckoepke
For a year or two I had a mantra: "A day is a length of time that no man is
rich enough to waste".

It wasn't grammatically/syntactically valid, but it worked well as a token for
a concept that helped me immensely those years.

~~~
feanaro
I guess it depends on your personality. Fear-based tactics don't usually work
well on me, they just make me anxious about what I am supposedly going to
lose. Once I realize that there is in fact nothing to lose, I can relax and
handle things effortlessly.

------
bearer_token
One tactic I've learned is to set aside time to focus on relaxation. Ambitious
people assume intention should be applied towards productivity, but relaxation
is required for us to function at high capacity. Do not assume idle or
distracted time is rejuvenating. Plan it.

I've found that you can't rush relaxation, but you can enjoy higher quality
relaxation. Watching youtube videos, reading reddit, or playing a videogame
will relax me in a sort of listless, not-quite-satisfied way. Similar to
eating chips as an entire meal leaves you feeling full but not nourished.

Meanwhile, a long walk with the dog and a podcast leaves me eager to jump into
the next thing. But it requires focus, thought, and effort to get into - a
higher activation potential than scrolling on a phone.

~~~
300bps
_One tactic I 've learned is to set aside time to focus on relaxation._

I got the exact opposite advice from "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield:

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1319.The_War_of_Art](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1319.The_War_of_Art)

The entire book is how to overcome what he calls "resistance" which is what
prevents you from getting creative work done. He says the belief that you need
relaxation is false and just another way your mind keeps you from what you
need to get done.

~~~
bearer_token
Interesting. I tend to structure my day around goals and work so much that I
don't leave enough time for relaxation.

I likely mistakenly assume most HNers are overly ambitious, perfectionist,
neurotic types like myself.

I have no trouble getting started, I have trouble stopping.

~~~
TeMPOraL
N=1, but this HNer seems almost opposite from you. My biggest problem is
getting started, and maintaining focus for the initial period of 15 minutes to
one hour (for some reasons I get really anxious; despite a decade of trying, I
still haven't learn how to manage it). But once I get past that hurdle, I can
get a lot of high-quality work in short time.

I'd trade my issues for yours in a heartbeat ;).

------
baxtr
I employ these techniques with mixed but promising results:

\- I block relevant news and social media sites on my phone and laptop (phone
rules are more restrictive)

\- I force myself to note everything I want to research/read down as a todo.
This alone helps me to avoid many irrelevant things I would have otherwise
read/researched

\- Every month I set priorities, how I want to spend my time. Then every day I
go through the list of items I have written down to select and prioritize what
I want to do. Then I start working my way from the top item down

This article has helped me shape my thinking: [https://medium.com/swlh/theres-
no-such-thing-as-motivation-e...](https://medium.com/swlh/theres-no-such-
thing-as-motivation-e02edd7de30)

------
gallegojaime
A strategy that kept me pretty productive is to have a "primary task" for the
day, scaled appropriately, and a secondary one. Just those two. Say:

Primary task: write outline on all areas of X presentation. Secondary task:
replace light bulb of car.

It's just that simple. Two tasks that I'll struggle to finish in a day. From
there some properties emerge beautifully.

It naturally forms chunks of focus. The "flow". Yet, it's flexible because the
execution details are not agreed beforehand, they're made up as you go.

" _2h on the main task at least, now that I 've done some stuff and have
enough free time for a chunk!_"

I can still deal with any blow as it comes. Stuff happens. But at least one
can be more mindful about priorities, having the easy to remember two tasks in
mind.

loose systems (good ones) often work better and can handle failures without
crashing down.

PS for the author: i live & study in Madrid as well! these kind of
deliberations are an important part of my self-improvement. I really like
trying things out, and bouncing ideas off another person in a good discussion.
You can consider this an invitation, open at any time, about things that we
both value :)

------
spectramax
I deeply resonate with this - there are just too many things to do, and too
little time. This is a boon and a curse. One cannot realize all things we can
do in our lifetime, but if we can fixate on _one_ particular thing, we can
compound our efforts. What a great article! A reminder that stop dicking
around on multiple things in the shallow waters, instead take a deep dive into
depths that no one in the world has explored. You're at the forefront of
combining pieces of past knowledge, adding your own intellect into an
amalgamation that is truly unique. Build it with all you've got, take as much
oxygen as you can with you and stay calm as you dive deep. There is a new
world out there.

I feel like I need to print this article out and stick it across from my desk
to be reminded of this every day.

------
matwood
Underlying focus is discipline. People hate discipline because it is hard. Not
eating that donut, exercising daily, turning off your phone, and actually
working for multiple hours straight has become rare.

Jocko Willink has written multiple books on the topic of discipline and coined
the phrase "Discipline Equals Freedom".

~~~
proverbialbunny
Discipline is hard because of two primary things: 1) not enough mindfulness
and 2) saying no to things is difficult, but replacing a bad habit with a good
habit is easy.

With mindfulness, one is aware before the bad habits starts. The earlier the
habit is caught, the easier it is to change. It's the difference between
struggling to replace a habit for months vs noticing it once, changing it
once, and then reaping the rewards.

The mind when given a situation needs to respond to it. Habits are born and
then they stick. Saying no to a habit is almost impossible. Instead an
alternative habit needs to be made to replace the old habit. Every time that
trigger pops up, the new habit fires instead.

Once those two criteria are met, it becomes easy to self-program.

~~~
matwood
Great point. What you describe is how I improved my procrastination. Anytime I
noticed I was procrastinating I had to immediately do the item I was pushing
off.

The awareness you mention in the moment is _the_ key to making changes.

------
arez
One aspect nobody mentioned so far is, why do I have to focus so much on my
dreams and "work on the next rocket to mars"? Why isn't it okay anymore to
just do my job, have friends and watch movies? Why does everyone has to be an
entrepreneur and do a successful side-project? Why can't I just have a hobby
that doesn't pay off at all, like playing an instrument alone in my room,
without any pursue to ever play a concert?

~~~
TeMPOraL
Selection bias. Nobody says _you_ have to be like that. Just ignore the
article and move on.

For me, it resonates, because the perspective of "doing my job, having friends
and watching movies" sounds depressingly empty to me. I want to work on the
next rocket to Mars (yes, I really do want to work on space rockets - because
I care about space rockets).

I don't buy into the pressure you're seeing either. If your heart doesn't
drive you to strive for meaning in your own work, then you won't be happy
chasing it because social pressure tells you to. Not everyone ticks this way,
and this is fine.

~~~
arez
it's not just this article. I feel the pressure in my every day life. I
already have a job that fulfills me and where I give 100%, does that mean I
will be the next CTO, no probably not, so I can't even claim to push my career
that much.

It's just that you read online about all these people that do open-source
stuff, create their own website/business, build tools, do research etc. that
you feel left out and the big pressure to do something meaningful. In addition
nowadays you have to do something meaningful for the world, but it's hard to
impress the world or the community, because in your community (like the
hacker-news, reddit, indie hacker) there are now thousands or millions of
people, you have to do something very substantial to actual get noticed.

~~~
hoorayimhelping
> _I already have a job that fulfills me and where I give 100%, does that mean
> I will be the next CTO, no probably not, so I can 't even claim to push my
> career that much._

What more do you want? Think of how many people there are in the world who
want that. Who just wish they didn't dread waking up every morning to go to
work. I love my job and I'm completely fulfilled with it. It's all how you
look at it - we've made it as far as I'm concerned, anything else is icing on
the cake.

Really, the question you might want to ask yourself is: do you even _want_ to
be a CTO? I don't, it sounds like a set of skills and activities I don't
really want to work on. I'd rather be a good engineer who helps other people
grow in their career, who also gets to fish and surf in the morning and play
video games in the evening.

Whenever I feel the way you're feeling, I think back to this quote by Kurt
Vonnegut about Joseph Heller:

 _True story, Word of Honor:_

 _Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer now dead, and I were at a party
given by a billionaire on Shelter Island._

 _I said, "Joe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money than your novel 'Catch-22' has earned in its entire
history?"_

 _And Joe said, "I've got something he can never have."_

 _And I said, "What on earth could that be, Joe?"_

 _And Joe said, "The knowledge that I've got enough."_

 _Not bad! Rest in peace!_

------
1take
No it hasn't. Focus isn't more valuable than the ability to improvise or
memorize.

People are just realizing what's been true all along: IQ is a bunk measurement
that points to nothing of note in the brain.

~~~
barry-cotter
IQ positively correlates with income, educational attainment, age of death and
socioeconomic status, and negatively with criminality, STI infection rates and
likelihood of having a child out of wedlock so bunk it is not.

Regarding IQ and the brain there are positive relations between brain volume,
white matter volume and IQ and between hippocampal volume and verbal IQ so

------
robomartin
I finally pulled myself away from Facebook a while back and could not be
happier with the results and perspective I gained. I removed all “friends” and
kept about a dozen family members just to keep in touch. I had to keep the
account due to my businesses using it for marketing purposes.

The change in quality of life (due to the negativity on FB) and productivity
was instantaneous.

------
proverbialbunny
I'm surprised meditation hasn't been mentioned yet.

Meditation drastically boosts focus and increases awareness, which then
accelerates learning of whatever is being observed / studied.

Because of this, focus is a prerequisite for learning, and learning is a
prerequisite for intelligence, so focus is very important and more beneficial
than many realize.

~~~
starpilot
Meditation is awesome, though I don't do it enough. It's like push-ups for
your brain. You just focus on your breath, and if you can do that, you can
focus on anything regardless of how boring it is.

------
adamnemecek
I've had thought about this a lot as well, I'm really unsure I agree. The main
problem is figuring out where exactly is the line. Like some of the best gains
I've had in life were from things that others considered a distraction.

I think I have a better solution. Watch your level of engagement, if you are
hating something, it's a good signal you should do something else.

Like say Leonardo da Vinci, Goethe and Alexander von Humboldt had a lot of
things going on.

------
zackmorris
I was voted most spaced out in my high school yearbook. My creativity and
problem solving skills at one point were pretty much off the charts. Got a
computer engineering degree, had a few years working at great companies
solving important problems.

I have to be honest though, I no longer believe in the startup world. I'm so
disillusioned now that I honestly don't know if I can write code anymore.
There are so many bad indicators about where all this is going, how it's
causing wealth inequality and the destruction of the natural world, that I
just don't know if my heart is in any of this anymore.

I'm mostly coping now and coming to terms with the fact that I may have to
choose tech or my life. All I ever wanted to do was invent stuff, but as far
as I can tell, the whole system is rigged so that that can never happen.

Without hope, there can't be focus. I don't even know what to call the limbo
I'm in. It's not really depression, it's not burnout, it's not even apathy
because I care very much. It's more a sense that, the best thing to do rather
than invent something is to wait a year for someone else to do it. Or more
realistically, for 10 other people to try with 9 of them failing. Soon that
will be 100 attempts with 99 failures, going up an order of magnitude with
each passing decade.

If a true next-gen solution that comes after the internet arrives soon, then
it could replace the soul-sucking work-life imbalance that we've all
recreated. It could replace late-stage capitalism. But it's looking like
tech's going to keep crushing down harder and harder until there is no profit
in anything and we're all just running the rat race until we die.

How did it come to this? Am I alone in feeling this way? Seriously, I don't
really even know what to do to make my next $100 to survive tomorrow. I don't
know if I can eat the $#!@ sandwich and work for someone again and lose
however many more years of my life. Why can't I just go help somewhere and
contribute in positive ways and make a modest income? Why is it so cutthroat
and all-or-nothing? Blah. Just blah.

~~~
mklarmann
I feel you. But I don’t things have to be looked at so narrow. There are
hardly any people on this planet that have your opportunity to fix things for
the better. There are enough challenges to put your heart into and find fresh
energy if you start looking. You just need to fall in love again with
something that you really consider worthwhile your time. I am sure there will
be something.

~~~
zackmorris
Thanks, ya I tend to do a lot of soul searching this time of year. My social
media feed is so saturated with bad news that all I really use now is the sad
emoji. Right now when I think of tech, I feel emotions like disappointment,
loathing, frustration, jealously, resentment, skepticism, etc etc etc. All
negative.

You are right about love though, that is very insightful. Even though it seems
like tech is this analytical endeavor, I've found that it is really built on
passion (love, devotion, etc, the things that got us started making things in
the first place). Because when you step back from it, why would someone bang
their head against the keyboard day after day in endless frustration, often
alone and misunderstood, trying to do even the simplest things but coming up
short, unless they saw potential in it. That's the real reason why pretty much
every tech job listing is looking for passionate people. It's not about
excelling now, it's about survival.

Anyway, after 6 months of writer's block, I have finally started seeing some
alternatives. When I think about the opposite of the tech world today, I start
feeling good emotions again like inspiration, hope and maybe even some love as
you put it. Here is a starting point for anyone curious:

[https://qz.com/933681/start-ups-shouldnt-try-to-be-
unicorns-...](https://qz.com/933681/start-ups-shouldnt-try-to-be-unicorns-
they-should-be-zebras/)

[https://www.zebrasunite.com](https://www.zebrasunite.com)

The table at the bottom of the second link lists some of the problems with the
startup world today and some ways that we might transition from consumerist
phantom tech to real tech. Where phantom tech mainly distracts or lowers some
prices or makes some people obscenely rich, with jobs that provide time or
money but not both, at great cost to society and nature. But real tech is
things like distributed alternative energy, robot labor, universal basic
income, etc that provide both time and money passively (without human slavery
in the developing world) so that people can get back to living freely like we
did as recently as the 80s and 90s.

------
bluedino
Focus, and persistence can be a double-edged sword.

I've seen C and D-level developers create working systems-despite the fact
that they are using the wrong tools, creating un-maintainable code, etc.

The key is only letting things go sad far before the right people are brought
in to "fix" things.

~~~
coldtea
If it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid.

~~~
chaboud
That depends on your definition of "works". In a team environment something
that is stupid and is barely coughing blood is a tar pit of wasted effort that
will ensnare team member after team member, like a repeating land mine. Odd
dependencies, bad repeated patterns, and strange process/architectural
workarounds will leave a team inefficient, entrenched, and broken.

It's why I'd rather have lazy stupid people than energetic stupid people.
Energetic stupid people destroy organizational output. Lazy stupid people just
keep a chair warm.

~~~
rzzzt
"I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy
officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and
hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones are stupid and
lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties.
Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership
duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and strength of nerve
necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both
stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility
because he will always only cause damage."

[https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-
Equord](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord)

------
yahwrong
Fuck that. I live once. One chance to understand as much as I can about the
universe I live in. Fuck chasing human value, that's fleeting, anxiety
inducing, and utterly insignificant within probably 20 years of your death.

------
moneywoes
What does HN think of the pomodoro technique?

~~~
proverbialbunny
It's a good 101 technique and worth trying, but I prefer a 102 alternative.

If have enough mindfulness, you start to notice this tension feeling that
happens when learning. (I'm not talking about trying to get a project done,
getting stuck with a compiler error, then "learning" how to solve it on
Stackoverflow. The tension I'm talking about is usually subtle and happens
when there isn't some sort of pressing other end goal, just learning to learn
for learning and enjoyment.)

This tension is correlated to how well the unconscious mind is digesting what
was learned and converting it into long term memory.

If I learn a lot and it is a difficult subject, I might get very tense within
5 minutes of reading. This means I need to take a break to let the mind digest
what I just learned.

In the other direction, I can be reading a book and most of it is review, so I
feel bored. My initial instinct was to skim to go over it faster, but that
only reduces learning. Instead, I can dive into deeper levels of detail,
focusing on how the author sees the world, why s/he is demonstrating their
findings that particular way, and so on. Basically, diving in more aids
learning.

Anyways, sometimes I can go for 2 hours of study straight and be in a happy
middle ground of tension where my mind isn't overworked or underworked. This
is the ideal state, sometimes called flow. By being mindful of this, my study
sessions dynamically adapt to it, into an optimal state of learning.

Also, if it's too tense, I may not be getting it, because there is too much
prerequisite material I don't know well. I might turn to wikipedia or other
text books at that point. A detour can be fun, and is far better than not
understanding the material. I once had to spend 3 full days learning over 20
new concepts (due to recursive prerequisites) just to read a paragraph in a
book.

------
willart4food
add resilience to the mix: focus without resilience when things go wrong, can
be counterproductive.

------
redis_mlc
"Focus is the new IQ" is the best expression I've seen of this.

I'm lucky to have the gift of focus, and to know other people who also have
it.

I know I'm on the right track when I'm asked:

* "You did that yourself?"

* "How did you do that?"

* "How is that possible?"

One person with deep focus can change everything. Nikolai Tesla is the
ultimate example of this - he made the modern world.

My secrets? My only social media is HN, and I use a stick phone.

~~~
newnewpdro
> I use a stick phone.

What is a stick phone? I presume you're not referring to this:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlestick_telephone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlestick_telephone)

~~~
theIV
I think they might be referring to what some call the candybar form factor.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_factor_(mobile_phones)#...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_factor_\(mobile_phones\)#Bar)

~~~
celticmusic
Are you able to buy a reasonably modern version of these that comes with GPS?

Literally the only things I use my phone for is calls, SMS, GPS, and
eeeeeeevery great once in a while I'll google something at the store.

I'd love something like this, but it would really have to have GPS on it.

~~~
redis_mlc
No GPS, wifi or usable camera, but older phones have techniques for map
location using the cell phone signal.

