[HN Gopher] Should you trust your gut?
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Should you trust your gut?
        
       Author : abhaynayar
       Score  : 46 points
       Date   : 2022-09-21 15:33 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.vox.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.vox.com)
        
       | cainxinth wrote:
       | Whether or not you should trust your gut depends on what's in
       | your head. People that have built up a lifetime of wisdom, muscle
       | memory, well-honed instincts, and institutional knowledge should
       | absolutely put a lot of stock in their hunches and feelings.
       | 
       | Everyone else should be somewhat skeptical of their gut and
       | doublecheck with the people from the first group.
        
       | muzani wrote:
       | Article is about how culture puts us on autopilot when chasing
       | happiness. Very little to do with guts.
       | 
       | Many comments, including the top comment at the moment is about
       | decisions on gut instinct and nothing about happiness.
       | 
       | How interesting. I would like to talk about the article but I
       | feel there's a different conversation going on.
        
       | TheFattestNinja wrote:
       | I suppose that following instincts offers a much much discounted
       | cost on your psyche for "getting it wrong".
       | 
       | Let's say I have a choice between A and B. My instinct is telling
       | me A, and I have a rational reasoning for B.
       | 
       | Assuming that the strength of the instinct (0 - 100, "complete
       | indifference" to "every cell if my body is screaming for it") is
       | comparable to the confidence I have in my reasoning (0 - 100,
       | "complete guess" to "I have factual proof and competence that
       | tells me this is the answer"), then if I get it wrong because I
       | went with A I'll be much more prone to accept it as "I'm ok with
       | this mistake" then if I went with B and go it wrong.
       | 
       | This, to me, is true at all levels of intensity. If I don't have
       | strong feelings one way or another I'll follow instinct over
       | reason and assume that my subconscious knows something I don't.
       | If my rational confidence and instincts are high (assuming I dont
       | have time to analyze the conflict), if I get it wrong
       | "rationally" I'll kick myself more than if I got it wrong
       | "irrationally".
       | 
       | So there is a real advantage in mental health with going with
       | guts.
        
       | dmillar wrote:
       | Didn't Malcom Gladwell already answer this question in Blink?
       | Like nearly everything in life, the real answer is "sometimes."
        
         | paulpauper wrote:
         | that is the best answer for almost anything in life "sometimes"
         | or "it depends"
        
         | the_af wrote:
         | I agree the answer is "sometimes".
         | 
         | However, I want to point out everything Gladwell affirms should
         | be subject to strong scrutiny, since he seems to follow the
         | playbook of "never letting the truth get in the way of an
         | interesting story". I've seen lots of his assertions
         | challenged.
        
       | nightski wrote:
       | This is a false dichotomy. One can both take data into account
       | and go with their gut after having evaluated such data. But data,
       | by it's very nature, is rearward looking. It is really dangerous
       | to become a solely data driven person/organization.
        
       | uwagar wrote:
       | i did and refused the covid vaccine.
        
       | swayvil wrote:
       | Beyond the little game of reason, gut is all you've got.
       | 
       | Consider our magnificent science. Guess what it stands on?
       | 
       | That's right. Pure gut.
        
         | AnimalMuppet wrote:
         | Science _used_ to be based on theology.
         | 
         | Both Oppenheimer and Whitehead, in their respective histories
         | of science, say that it grew out of a Christian world view -
         | that God created the universe. And not just any God, but a
         | reasonable God, and therefore there was (theological) ground
         | for expecting that the universe could be understood by reason.
         | 
         | This was the difference between the start of western science
         | and, say, the Greeks. The Greeks had most of the facts that
         | western science had at 1600. But the Greek gods did random
         | stuff to the universe for random reasons, and within that world
         | view, there was no point systematically and rationally
         | investigating the universe.
         | 
         | But that was then. Science now is not built on that world view.
         | Science now is built on the track record of science delivering
         | for the last 400 years. Many (most?) people today believe the
         | scientific method without believing the Christian world view.
         | It remains to be seen whether that 400-year record of success
         | is a sufficient epistemological base for science to continue,
         | but it's certainly more than "pure gut".
        
           | swayvil wrote:
           | Fine. Pure gut and a large account of gut-derived models.
           | 
           | I refer only to the foundation. Not what's been built upon
           | it.
           | 
           | Even christianity is founded upon gut. The layered
           | authoritarian edifice (be it religious or scientific) is...
           | I'm not sure what you call that.
           | 
           | What do you call it when you have a model but have lost the
           | empirical basis for that model?
        
             | AnimalMuppet wrote:
             | Christianity is founded on the resurrection of Jesus as a
             | historical event. Not on "gut". (You can argue that the
             | foundation is _false_ , but it's still not "gut".)
             | 
             | > What do you call it when you have a model but have lost
             | the empirical basis for that model?
             | 
             | Epistemological zombie? And yes, both science and (much of)
             | Christianity are in that state - Christianity because many
             | "Christian" churches now reject the historicity of the
             | resurrection, and science because Michael Polanyi destroyed
             | logical positivism and they have nothing to replace it
             | with.
        
               | swayvil wrote:
               | >Christianity is founded...
               | 
               | I think that's some of that "epistemological zombie"
               | talk. Surely somebody at some point made an observation.
               | And then interpreted it as "resurrection". Or some
               | metaphor thereof.
        
       | bravura wrote:
       | Yes.
       | 
       | Unless you were raised in an environment very different than the
       | world you are in today. e.g. your youth was in a hostile
       | environment and now you are in a safe environment. Or your youth
       | was in a safe environment and now you are in a hostile
       | environment. In that case, I am not sure how you unfuck yourself.
       | The former case seems to lead to the most difficult to correct
       | instincts.
       | 
       | It's easier to become harder and more mortified than to become
       | softer, more pliable, and more trusting.
        
         | somenameforme wrote:
         | Take the past centuries and try to find 80 years where trust in
         | the powers that be would have been optimal, contrasted against
         | endless skepticism, cynicism and general distrust. And there's
         | no reason to think this trend is changing; a strong argument
         | could made that it's trending worse.
         | 
         | The point I make with this is that if we view things through
         | the lens of being 'hard' vs being 'soft', then the worst case
         | outcome of being 'hard' is relatively miniscule - looking a
         | genuine gift horse in the mouth may cost one a 'gift.' By
         | contrast the consequences of being 'soft' can be extreme. To
         | run with the same analogy - happily opening your gates to that
         | beautiful wooden horse from Troy. What a gift!
         | 
         | The reason I use 80 years as the metric is because that is,
         | more or less, the time before we get to discover the answer to
         | that final question. And you never know whether you're in a
         | good time, or a bad time. The bad guys don't simply announce
         | "Hey guys. I'm evil. Let's go do evil things to those other
         | guys under farcical rationale, because it sounds like a good
         | thing to do. Who's with me!?" So all one can do is optimize for
         | your entire life, or whatever remains of it.
        
       | tonnydourado wrote:
       | I have Crohn's disease. My gut has been fucking with me since I
       | was 12. I never trusted the bastard, and never will.
        
       | cgs wrote:
       | I think us programmer types need to be careful about
       | overanalyzing major decisions and completely ignoring our gut
       | feelings. When choosing a life parter for example, you can find
       | someone who "looks good on paper" and ticks certain boxes on what
       | you think you want, but maybe they aren't a good partner for you
       | for simpler reasons. Unless you are self-aware enough to know
       | what will actually make you happy, you shouldn't discount your
       | feelings. Derek Siver's "Hell Yeah or No" comes to mind here.
        
       | trey-jones wrote:
       | The older I get, the more I have to rely on my gut if I actually
       | want to get any decisions made because I can't remember why I
       | know something, or sometimes what I know that makes the decision
       | correct.
       | 
       | I don't mean that I'm being reckless (I'm reckless sometimes). I
       | trust my gut to have some actual basis in knowledge. Another
       | thing that I've learned to do as I get older is to freely say "I
       | don't know" if I don't have a "gut" idea of what a decision
       | should be. I will happily defer to someone else who convinces me
       | that they do know in those situations (which is another gut call
       | really, of whether to trust someone else).
       | 
       | In any case, I am a strong believer in making a decision and
       | following through with it (within reason), rather than stagnating
       | forever in indecision and research. Some research yes, if
       | necessary, but at some point you have to pick a direction and go.
       | 
       | Edit to directly address the need for data: I'm firmly behind
       | data-based decision making. Two arguments come to mind against
       | "most gut decisions are wrong":
       | 
       | 1. When I make a gut decision, it's based on data that I've
       | collected at some point.
       | 
       | 2. Pertinent to my first point, but also to data collected more
       | consciously in preparation for a decision. Data is also wrong
       | sometimes and misleading often.
       | 
       | I go back to my idea that making a decision is better than not
       | making a decision, usually. The next step is objectively
       | monitoring the consequences and bailing out if you were wrong.
       | Denial is much worse than making that wrong decision to begin
       | with.
        
         | RspecMAuthortah wrote:
         | > In any case, I am a strong believer in making a decision and
         | following through with it (within reason), rather than
         | stagnating forever in indecision and research. Some research
         | yes, if necessary, but at some point you have to pick a
         | direction and go.
         | 
         | I am the type that struggles with the indecisive behavior and
         | had to pay serious opportunity cost because of this type of
         | behavior. I struggle with indecisiveness even with seemingly
         | small decisions such as picking a restaurant for dinner.
         | 
         | Any pointers on behavioral trainings to change that? In this
         | context, even if I have (and I typically do) have also "gut
         | feeling" about something, I struggle to follow through.
        
           | trey-jones wrote:
           | I'm afraid that I don't, and in fact that despite my belief
           | in the concept (decisiveness!) I definitely struggle to
           | adhere to it sometimes as well. Your example (where to go for
           | dinner) puts my in mind of my wife, who does much the same
           | and I get to watch her agonize and stress over tiny decisions
           | that in my mind have no consequence whatsoever one way or
           | another.
           | 
           | In fact, I do think that being married to her forces
           | decisiveness from me, in many cases. But for others, I just
           | don't empathize very much, even with her. I'm quick to point
           | out that it's a tiny difference that won't make any
           | difference in the long run, but it doesn't seem to help her
           | at all (I'm not insensitive as this may sound, I really am
           | trying to help and she knows that).
           | 
           | That's the only thing I can say though - maybe analyze why
           | you think this is an important decision, worth your time of
           | consideration. If you can't think of a good enough reason,
           | then say to yourself, "it doesn't matter", and flip a coin.
           | Maybe literally, if that helps.
        
         | onlyrealcuzzo wrote:
         | The older I get, the more I realize that you could infinitely
         | try to optimize for a decision to be right.
         | 
         | At some point you just need to decide.
         | 
         | The majority of things in life aren't worth taking to much
         | effort to optimize your decision.
         | 
         | Your gut is a great heuristic, but the trick is to know when
         | you should put in a little more effort than just trusting your
         | gut.
        
           | cecilpl2 wrote:
           | Also, it's often the case that you can't collect all the
           | relevant information from your starting point.
           | 
           | Sometimes once you start moving in one direction, any
           | direction at all, you gain more perspective on what the right
           | decision is.
           | 
           | So it's important to maintain flexibility and be able to
           | update your decisions.
        
         | RichardCNormos wrote:
         | Your "gut" developed over tens of thousands of years of
         | evolutionary pressure. There's way more information encoded
         | into it than we would expect.
        
         | rmnclmnt wrote:
         | I do agree with the reasoning here. For a few weeks / months, I
         | have been trying to trust my first instinct / intuition more
         | and more, sweeping away any second guessing when it comes in.
         | So far, it seems to be working great and frees my mind so much
         | it's refreshing!
        
         | TEP_Kim_Il_Sung wrote:
         | That's called wisdom.
         | 
         | Learning from past mistakes, past times you were fooled, times
         | you were right, pulling from a vast and diverse set of
         | knowledge that only makes sense in hidsight.
        
         | code_runner wrote:
         | I suffer from some pretty intense Analysis Paralysis at times.
         | I've found that there are so many tradeoffs in each and every
         | decision in software that you've just gotta pick what feels
         | right and get moving. I guess that's the same as listening to
         | my gut?
         | 
         | I've yet to avoid any/all hurdles as a result, but I've yet to
         | reach one I couldn't figure out how to get over either.
         | 
         | There is no perfect decision and the line between "ok" and
         | "great" decisions is verrrrrrry fine.
        
           | jventura wrote:
           | > I suffer from some pretty intense Analysis Paralysis at
           | times.
           | 
           | I used to be like that when I was younger. Not only for
           | specific things regarding software, but for many things in
           | life. Eventually I've developed my own "mantra" which is
           | something like "any-thing is better than no-thing".
           | 
           | Nowadays it still happens to me some of the times, mostly
           | when I have too many things to do at the same time and don't
           | know where to turn to. One example: from 19:00 to 19:30 every
           | day I have to set the table, do the dinner, prepare the soup
           | and fruit for my small kid and wash some dishes, as my wife
           | baths the kid. Some days it is too much at the same time, and
           | I start to feel paralyzed, like where do I turn to? My
           | current solution is just to do anything. Anything at all. And
           | as soon as I do anything, I start to see things moving, and
           | instantly, that paralyzing feel goes away!
        
           | hutzlibu wrote:
           | I have the same. What helped me was to learn the concept of
           | "good enough", because sometimes or rather often, there is
           | just no perfect solution.
        
         | stevievee wrote:
         | Well put. I am the same way.
         | 
         | I view it as the vector of my past experiences and knowledge.
         | Though, I do have to be careful not to conflate gut with excess
         | of any emotion ex. greed, hope etc. I am also carefully aware
         | of when the "rules of the game" might be changing but that
         | might be the "data" you are describing.
        
       | belkarx wrote:
       | Blindly not trusting the impressions your brain gives you based
       | on connections and information you've gained in the past is
       | wrong, however being cynical when specifically considering the
       | _root_ of why you think a certain way and considering then
       | correcting internal biases is useful (meditation!)
        
       | legrande wrote:
       | My analytical mind over-rides gut instinct. Second order thinking
       | that conceptualizes every possible permutation and what could go
       | wrong & right given various inputs. Listen to your analytical
       | mind.
        
         | fooker wrote:
         | I do the opposite. I let the analytical part make decisions,
         | but gut feeling have veto power.
         | 
         | You can not reason about unknown unknowns or model black swan
         | risks.
        
       | verisimi wrote:
       | > Want to be happy? Don't follow your gut.
       | 
       | And that strapline tells me all I need to know....
       | 
       | I don't care about being happy - its an ephemeral feeling, that
       | can even be induced by drugs. Why should it be held as the
       | pinnacle of anything? Should my life be about chasing doughnuts
       | and bjs?
       | 
       | What I do want is to understand and get closer to the truth and
       | meaning.
       | 
       | PS But I also understand why 'happiness' is promoted as a value
       | to be sought. It opens you up to being sold to alleviate
       | 'unhappiness' and to lessen 'pain'. As if pain is something to be
       | avoided as opposed to an opportunity to learn and change.
        
       | adolph wrote:
       | _A new book by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, called Don't Trust Your
       | Gut, argues that our "gut" -- or whatever you want to call it --
       | is usually wrong. And it's wrong because our intuitions are often
       | influenced by false impressions or dubious conventional wisdom._
       | 
       | The continued existence of homo sapiens over the last X years
       | would be evidence undercutting SS-D's conjecture that intuitive
       | decisions are wrong more often than right. Of course, to
       | understand the relationship between claim and evidence it would
       | be necessary to understand what SS-D means by "wrong."
       | 
       | As an example of right/wrong, he cites the relatively short
       | lifespan of record stores compared to a dentist office as a
       | method of deciding what kind of business to open. It isn't clear
       | if SS-D is being facetious in terms of business opportunity
       | options, but it is clear that SS-D deals in very low dimensional
       | data, not information, knowledge or wisdom.
       | 
       | Skipping to the summary statistical result is a short-sighted
       | decision method. To get Tower or Waterloo or any other cultural
       | institution, many other ventures opened, innovated and failed as
       | part of an evolution of innovation. To get evolution there must
       | be mutation and selection. Survivorship bias makes the post-hoc
       | claim that if only we did it the "right" way we need not have had
       | all the short lived record stores. It doesn't admit that the
       | "right" way wasn't known at the start.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias
        
       | taxicabjesus wrote:
       | My greatest success as a taxi driver was learning to follow my
       | intuition. One passenger led to the next, until I'd met all the
       | people I was supposed to meet for that day.
       | 
       | At the start of a shift I'd ask myself where to go. When I was
       | between passengers, driving around thinking about where to find
       | my next fare, I'd do a "left, right or straight" as I approached
       | intersections. Sometimes it was definite response, sometimes I
       | got the impression that it didn't matter.
       | 
       | One of the passengers I've told you all about ... I was next to
       | her apartment when she called for her taxi. She's doing much
       | better now, because I took some time to talk to her.
       | 
       | Ingo Swann said something about how we have much more than the 5
       | physical senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. ...
       | Random blog post about our other 'senses':
       | https://www.hellahealth.com/blog/wellness/humans-five-senses...
       | 
       | (I met Ingo before I took to taxi driving:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32587071 )
       | 
       | Intuition helps keep us alive, and helps put is in the right
       | place at the right time so we can meet the people we're supposed
       | to meet to move us along on whatever we're working on.
        
       | dcanelhas wrote:
       | I listened to the Vox Conversations podcast and I feel somewhat
       | skeptical about the conclusions regarding happiness. The author
       | of the book says that he trusts a major study on the subject
       | because it sampled what people were doing at the precise moment
       | when queried and how happy they felt at that point in time. He
       | then concludes that we are most miserable when e.g. studying and
       | working and happiest when getting laid. The problem I see with
       | this is that if they, for instance, would've asked a person just
       | after doing heroin for the first time, how happy they were _in
       | that precise moment_ it would maybe be off the chart. Saying we
       | should avoid stuff that brings long term fulfillment and
       | satisfaction to remember having done seems like a trap. We 're
       | only our present selves for an instance, but our future selves
       | for years to come.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | jeff-davis wrote:
       | "The average record store lasts 2.75 years. The average dentist
       | business lasts 19.5 years."
       | 
       | Average means nothing unless the distribution is normal. And
       | business longevity is not a normal distribution.
        
       | idiocrat wrote:
       | Humans have ~500 million neurons in the gut.
       | 
       | Cats have ~760 million neurons in their total neural system.
       | 
       | So guts can have characters of their own.
        
       | rcktmrtn wrote:
       | I got a laugh out of this [1] comment yesterday and was
       | considering how it applied here. I don't necessarily think that
       | the methodology is garbage, but I would question the ability of
       | science to contribute useful information here
       | 
       | > they asked people on their iPhones: Who are you with? What are
       | you doing? And how happy are you, 0 to 100? And they built this
       | chart, a happiness activity chart.
       | 
       | ... basically, this study "proves" that people _say_ they 're
       | happy when they're having sex, in a comfortable environment, or
       | enjoying good community and are unhappy when they are "doom-
       | scrolling". I don't doubt the integrity of the researchers or
       | that the study is reproducable, but I'm confused who this study
       | is for.
       | 
       | Are scientists just now figuring out that there is a discrepancy
       | between what people KNOW is good for them and what they actually
       | do? If not, what business do they have pretending to make
       | scientific pronouncements as if they were impartial researchers
       | who genuinely considered the opposite possibility?
       | 
       | [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32941889
        
       | nradov wrote:
       | The older and more experienced I get, the less I trust my gut. My
       | intuition is wrong the majority of the time.
       | 
       | I suspect this also applies to most other people, if they're
       | really being honest about it.
        
       | notRobot wrote:
       | Tangentially related:
       | 
       | In my experience lot of people operate on 'autopilot', and I find
       | it incredibly sad. They have all of humanity's knowledge
       | accessible to them in their hands through phones, I wish they
       | would sometimes stop to search and read and learn and expand
       | their internal knowledge bases. I wish people were more curious
       | and open-minded.
       | 
       | I've personally always derived a lot of joy from constantly
       | learning and improving myself and it's baffling to me how little
       | growth and positive change I see in many of the people around me
       | over the years.
        
         | mandis wrote:
         | What are the learning projects that have best helped you grow?
        
         | RicoElectrico wrote:
         | This x 1000!
         | 
         | It's everywhere. From Quora where people from a certain country
         | rush to type a non-answer quoting a useless memorized
         | definition to your doctor.
        
           | Yajirobe wrote:
           | Which country is that?
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | brnaftr361 wrote:
         | Yeah, but whipping out your phone could be deemed autopilot, in
         | fact, I would say it's a defining feature of modern
         | implementation of autopilot.
         | 
         | I kinda feel like what you're getting at is that your iteration
         | of autopilot is better than others. In the abstract _most_
         | people are pulling information out of the web and ostensibly
         | using it to construct a model. The difference here is
         | priorities and to some extent the framework of moral
         | schematics.
         | 
         | I would expect you're under the impression that what you're
         | doing is productive, and productivity is good. That's not
         | necessarily the case though - that's just a lens that post-
         | Christian western society has adopted for scrutinizing
         | individuals, and frankly it's a little harmful.
        
           | notRobot wrote:
           | I don't disagree with what you're saying, I feel you
           | misunderstand me. I'm not talking about productivity, I'm
           | talking about stagnation in life (in terms of not 'growing'
           | as a person).
           | 
           | My point is that it's easier than ever before to improve
           | yourself through readily accessible resources. I wish more
           | people would.
           | 
           | It can be through learning about different people's
           | experiences, considering alternative opinions, thinking about
           | views that oppose your own, studying social sciences, having
           | conversations, and so on.
        
             | dangond wrote:
             | It seems to me that the people you describe as being on
             | "autopilot" tend to be people that, for whatever reason, do
             | not place a lot of value on the concept of improving
             | oneself (at least, improving oneself in the manner you
             | described, via constant learning, curiosity, and open-
             | mindedness). These people simply have other
             | priorities/worries taking up their time - making money,
             | taking care of family, etc. I myself feel much like you -
             | if I'm not constantly studying something or learning a new
             | skill, I feel like I am stagnating. However, it is hard to
             | make the case for people to constantly accumulate knowledge
             | when most people have the knowledge they need to get by and
             | accomplish their goals. What benefit is it for me to
             | practice piano as a software engineer? I get a profound
             | sense of satisfaction at seeing my skill improve and deeper
             | appreciation for professional musicians, but is it
             | necessary for me to do so? What does the average person
             | really get out of reading, say, Plato's dialogues, when it
             | comes to things like establishing a stable life, climbing
             | the corporate ladder, or paying their bills, if they
             | already believe they have a grasp on things? What is the
             | case to be made for continuous improvement over improvement
             | to the point of necessity, and no further?
        
             | brnaftr361 wrote:
             | I don't think I do, let me better explain myself:
             | 
             | From what I've pieced together, you have some value system
             | that assesses goodness of growth. Growth is arbitrary and
             | personal. You've set up a red herring in your idea of
             | growth.
             | 
             | To frame it from first principals - we live in a
             | continually evolving system, it's basically mandatory for
             | _any_ individual to  "grow" in more ways than one: firstly,
             | people have to navigate that ever-changing environment and
             | as such are exposed to novel information and they _have_
             | (at a biological level) to update their priors; secondly,
             | at a biological level, invisible though it may be, people
             | are in constant flux internally, now it 's speculation, but
             | I'd posit that at a biological level emotions, and boredom,
             | and restlessness are all evolutionary features to press
             | people towards some point, and as a sub-point to this,
             | we're constantly remodeling our brains with our minds and
             | thus I would posit we can confer "growth" as, ostensibly,
             | an individuals model is constantly reorienting itself
             | closer to the ground truth that the stimuli from the
             | environment inculcates.
             | 
             | What I'm saying is that from my view, the contour you've
             | used to define growth is a _trajectory towards some point
             | /you/ approve of_, some average of things that are made
             | visible to you by others. It seems you want more people to
             | conform to your trajectory, which hey, that's fine, but you
             | shouldn't harbor the expectation of people to do so. Some
             | people want to memorize trivia about Game of Thrones so
             | they can be the go-to authority in their social circle on
             | the topic. Other people like to ride out their cognitive-
             | emotional rollercoasters while rolling around in bed late
             | into the day. Other people keep their growth dead silent.
             | And every other conceivable permutation of that is going on
             | right now, it just doesn't look productive.
             | 
             | And it's good this way. If everybody conformed to one
             | particular trajectory most would quickly be left behind. If
             | everybody followed a single trajectory, we'd lose the
             | treasure of the many diverse forking paths that make up the
             | human space.
        
         | vsareto wrote:
         | School/Uni burns people out on learning stuff. They finish that
         | then want to do other things, which may not involve learning
         | something new.
         | 
         | But also plenty of people have anxieties about their livelihood
         | these days thanks to wages, the economy, and the state of the
         | world. It might be baffling because you lack perspective on
         | that front by not having a shit life!
        
           | earthboundkid wrote:
           | Every day on Reddit, I see people asking "Should I learn X?"
           | And it's so fucking stupid. Why ask? Try to learn X. If it's
           | boring, stop. There are no grades. There is no penalty for
           | dropping out.
           | 
           | There are legitimate questions to ask, "Is book Y worth the
           | money?" "If I learn Z, will it increase my job prospects?"
           | But "should I learn X?" is a bad question, and only something
           | as awful as years mandatory schooling can make someone think
           | it is a good one.
        
             | justsomehnguy wrote:
             | Every day on Reddit, I see people asking "What is X?" And
             | it's so fucking stupid. Why ask? Try to learn what is X by
             | yourself, you are literally two clicks (long press and
             | touch or whatever) away from getting an answer. But people
             | don't want to do that (and some of them don't even know,
             | for sure). But they are totally okay to register on Reddit,
             | ask that question (and maybe even come some time to receive
             | the answer).
        
       | RajT88 wrote:
       | You should always listen and observe what your instincts are
       | telling you.
       | 
       | Sometimes, they will lead you astray, but sometimes they give you
       | valuable advice on what to do. Learning what scenarios have a
       | high/low success rate is useful. Just my 2 cents.
       | 
       | For example, I have good success rate just feeling around numbers
       | and seeing what feels right when doing tasks like, "guess how
       | many jelly beans in the jar". I have a very poor success rate in
       | deciding whom to date.
        
         | ellen364 wrote:
         | A strategy that I've seen turn around someone's relationship
         | woes is asking yourself "Would I hire this person?" Not
         | thinking about skills, particularly, but more about their
         | attitude and approach to things. I was sceptical of the idea
         | but, looking back, it changed the rules of thumb the person was
         | using to assess potential partners. In their case, it worked
         | really well.
        
           | etrautmann wrote:
           | Also / instead: would I want to coparent with this partner?
        
             | trey-jones wrote:
             | This was the approach that I took, kind of. I was too young
             | to really understand what I was doing though, and any
             | guesses about what someone will be like as a parent are
             | probably just guesses, no matter how well you know them.
             | Mostly I just tell people I got lucky.
             | 
             | Not to discount your approach, I think it's a great
             | criteria.
        
           | blastro wrote:
           | oh shit! :|
        
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