[HN Gopher] On doing hard things
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       On doing hard things
        
       Author : speckx
       Score  : 214 points
       Date   : 2025-07-14 14:50 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (parv.bearblog.dev)
 (TXT) w3m dump (parv.bearblog.dev)
        
       | chubot wrote:
       | Very well written!
        
       | pknomad wrote:
       | I suppose I could be more charitable but I feel like title
       | doesn't really match with the message of the blog. Otherwise I
       | thoroughly enjoyed this feel-good story about persistence and
       | micro-improvements. Most of us mortals aren't talented at
       | everything and diligent practice is required for most of us to
       | get better.
        
         | bee_rider wrote:
         | Yeah, somewhat relatedly... I think the real lesson (at least
         | if you grew up near the coast) is that everything is hard for
         | somebody. I can't really think of a kayak as an easy-to-flip
         | craft, but that doesn't really matter for this person's
         | journey.
        
           | Rendello wrote:
           | It depends on the kayak too.
           | 
           | An extreme example, but: I used to watch this channel from a
           | guy that built canoes and kayaks in both modern and
           | traditional styles. He says in some videos that the
           | traditional hunting kayaks are incredibly unstable and
           | uncomfortable to use, because that instability granted them
           | superior agility for hunting.
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=DtnUq5v7cyw
        
             | ge96 wrote:
             | That was pretty cool surfing that wave on the kayak ha at
             | 1:27
        
             | tomjakubowski wrote:
             | Same principle as aerodynamically unstable fighter jets?
        
               | Rendello wrote:
               | But without the benefit of a computer to make hundreds of
               | micro-adjustments per second!
        
             | bee_rider wrote:
             | Huh, neat. Unfortunately that site doesn't seem to play
             | videos correctly on my system. What do they use the agility
             | for? Traditional hunting, so I imagine... a bow or
             | something, maybe they need to turn quickly to help aim?
        
               | GLdRH wrote:
               | Ok, I'll bite. What did you do to make youtube not work?
        
               | bee_rider wrote:
               | No idea, iOS + Safari + Firefox Focus + the built-in
               | Apple blockers. The video seemed to randomly freeze when
               | not in full screen, but it would exit full screen when I
               | tried to hop around in the video. I bet there's an easy
               | fix but I'm not a big video guy anyway.
        
             | cpursley wrote:
             | Have you read The Starship and The Canoe? Interesting book
             | to goes into a good bit of detail about hunting craft (made
             | from animal skin). Book said that they practiced 10
             | different was to turn a flipped one back over.
        
               | Rendello wrote:
               | I haven't, but I've read "Birchbark Canoe" by David
               | Gidmark. He's written some technical canoe-making books,
               | but this one was the story about how he came to live in
               | Northern Quebec amongst the Algonquin and learned how to
               | make birch bark canoes from William Commanda, with whom
               | he had a fairly turbulent relationship. I saw it in a big
               | library one day and uncharacteristically actually managed
               | to read the whole thing, it was very good!
        
           | stronglikedan wrote:
           | Sit ins are definitely easy to flip, but sit on tops aren't.
           | Especially thin ones. They probably went for the thin, fast
           | one instead of the wide, slow one while being naive to the
           | implications.
        
           | skeeter2020 wrote:
           | kayaks are muchj tipier than canoes but shouldn't be flipping
           | if you're just sitting in them, unless these are highly
           | specialized racing kayaks, which are tougher to navigate.
        
             | bee_rider wrote:
             | Interesting! I never felt like I was going to flip a sit-in
             | kayak, but I don't even remember the first time I went in
             | one really, it is a fuzzy early childhood memory.
             | 
             | Canoes, I've been in canoes that are destined to flip
             | whether I want them to or not (although they were
             | overloaded, or may have had some traitors aboard).
        
               | eszed wrote:
               | That's funny, because I grew up canoeing and have never
               | on my own flipped one - other people in the boat doing
               | dumb stuff, of course, or trying something silly in white
               | water (maybe that counts as "on my own"?), sure - but I
               | feel totally stable and comfortable in a canoe. Kayaks,
               | though? Man, they're trying bite me! I've never felt like
               | even the most stable beginner-friendly of kayaks wasn't
               | trying to throw me off it.
               | 
               | I think the difference is stroke technique? I'm sure I'm
               | instinctively trying to paddle a kayak like I would a
               | canoe, and they don't like that. If I had more
               | opportunity I'd get someone to teach me proper kayak
               | stroke shapes, and then they'd probably feel more
               | friendly.
        
         | ecocentrik wrote:
         | People can be easily overwhelmed by simple challenges. At some
         | point everyone experiences this and we learn to overcome bigger
         | challenges through life.
         | 
         | Another point that might apply is that OP probably has a high
         | center of gravity which can make kayaking really challenging.
         | They should probably clarify this.
        
         | IceDane wrote:
         | Yeah, maybe the original message sort of got lost along the
         | way. I think there is still some truth in the post when applied
         | to the title.
         | 
         | I think one of the most important things I ever learned is that
         | hard things take time. There is an obvious relationship between
         | the effort required and the size of the undertaking, but also
         | the worthiness of the effort. In other words: rarely, if ever,
         | can you build great things in a short amount of time or with
         | little effort.
         | 
         | And that's where this post makes sense: to build something
         | great or to solve something hard, you have to show up every day
         | and chip away at the problem, piece by piece. The progress will
         | be slow and nearly invisible to you as you experience it, and
         | is usually only clear in hindsight after a year or two (or
         | more), when you can look back and see all that's changed --
         | hopefully for the better -- since you started.
        
           | mrec wrote:
           | I think it's more than just "hard things take time". The key
           | sentence for me is this one:
           | 
           | > _Kayaking taught me to be okay with repeatedly looking dumb
           | in public._
           | 
           | I had the same thing when I first started running, in my
           | early 50s. I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous. (I'm
           | fairly sure I still do, I just stopped caring.) When I first
           | started I would go out around 6am, partly because it was
           | cooler but mostly so I wouldn't be seen. I've chatted to
           | other runners who were the same, even keeping it secret from
           | their family.
           | 
           | Getting over that has been a very positive change, and a
           | generally-applicable one. I've just started blogging
           | publicly, which would historically have triggered the same
           | kind of looking-like-an-idiot phobias.
           | 
           | There was a post (maybe saw it here, maybe on Reddit) about
           | sucking in public being a kind of moat for all sorts of
           | interesting things. Crossing it gets you to places you
           | otherwise couldn't go.
        
             | scair wrote:
             | https://sashachapin.substack.com/p/the-moat-of-low-
             | status-68...
        
               | mrec wrote:
               | Yes, that was the one, thanks.
        
         | silvestrov wrote:
         | I think the real message is:
         | 
         |  _to be okay with repeatedly looking dumb in public_
         | 
         | It is the same with going to the gym for the first time.
        
         | skeeter2020 wrote:
         | It does feel a little more about psychological courage and grit
         | than doing hard things.
        
         | atoav wrote:
         | The thing is a lot of what looks like a natural talent from the
         | outside is also just learning on the inside. I won my provinces
         | swimming competition without ever having swum in a competition
         | before against swimmers who were all in a club. Reason: I grew
         | up near a lake and was there every day during my whole
         | childhood.
         | 
         | The thing is that people with "talent" are often just people
         | who did what you're trying to do _for fun_ their whole lifes.
         | So talent then is just code for:  "had a natural preference for
         | doing it and both the means and time to do it".
        
       | ge96 wrote:
       | > immersive calibration of self to environment
       | 
       | I felt this when I had to ride a bike to a job 3 hrs a day. It
       | was nice biking through some street covered in trees being in the
       | moment.
       | 
       | I also went through a lot of audio books
        
         | steve_adams_86 wrote:
         | This part stood out to me too.
         | 
         | I got into spearfishing years ago, and I knew I wanted to see
         | under water and eat fish, but wasn't really prepared for how
         | hard it is and how common it is not to eat fish.
         | 
         | Like the author, despite numerous failures, bad choices, and
         | sometimes suffering very cold British Columbia ocean
         | temperatures, I kept showing up. My dives went from 7 or 8
         | metres to 10, to 15, to 20, and sometimes deeper. My breath
         | hold went from a panicked 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
         | 
         | Initially when I saw a legal fish I'd take it every chance I
         | got, because I could be certain I wouldn't find another. These
         | days when I get in the water, due to that sort of immersive
         | calibration, I find a lot more fish. Ironically, I don't shoot
         | any of them despite being so much more capable of it now.
         | 
         | The ocean is such a complex, powerful, and simultaneously
         | soothing yet deeply engaging environment. It gets incredibly
         | cold, and it works with such incredible force that you
         | constantly have to operate on its terms rather than your own.
         | The qualia of the medium and your surroundings is so rich, it
         | almost feels like a part of you. The same as a tool in your
         | hand becomes an extension of you, the ocean becomes one as
         | well, yet completely out of your control. It's really
         | beautiful.
         | 
         | Kayaking is similar in how you're largely at the whim of this
         | incredible body of water. Your success depends so much on how
         | you read it, understand it, and respond to it accordingly.
         | 
         | I think humans are meant to be deeply engaged in environments
         | like this. The easier we make it, the less we need to care
         | about our environments (such as with this 21deg, still, quiet
         | room I'm in), the less engaged and stimulated we are, then the
         | less we're challenged to adapt and endure in ways we probably
         | should.
        
           | ge96 wrote:
           | > spearfishing
           | 
           | I like watching this guy's videos
           | https://youtu.be/4VoTY8Ae4CE?si=8h7t-SKzV39UzWfm&t=283 from
           | Japan
           | 
           | Funny last time I swam in the ocean it is nasty, so salty the
           | taste
        
             | steve_adams_86 wrote:
             | Haha, it's incredibly salty, yeah. I kind of like it. After
             | 4 or 5 hours in it, it's often all through your nose and
             | throat, too. If I've been away from it for a while it can
             | seem kind of harsh, but it grows on me again pretty
             | quickly.
        
       | drellybochelly wrote:
       | Nice article, reminds me of boss fights in difficult games. You
       | incrementally improve until almost suddenly, you're able to
       | overwhelm the boss.
        
       | jschveibinz wrote:
       | This is a nice short piece of writing.
       | 
       | The author sets the stage: uncoordinated and unathletic. Then
       | they introduced their challenge: kayaking (or similar) which for
       | them was a hard thing. Then they described the process: practice
       | and improvement over a long period of time. And they closed with
       | a personal success and take-away: it's worth the effort because
       | of the experience regardless of the scale of the outcome.
       | 
       | Nice.
        
       | JohnMakin wrote:
       | It must be my body type or something but I've often heard people
       | talk about tipping over in kayaks and whenever I am in one it
       | feels actually impossible to me. Is it really that easy to tip
       | over? I don't feel I need to "balance" at all.
        
         | atoav wrote:
         | Depends on the waters you're moving in I guess?
        
         | TickleSteve wrote:
         | K1 (racing) kayaks are unstable and very narrow, most other
         | types are fairly stable tho.
        
         | beezlebroxxxxxx wrote:
         | It looks like he was using a very long and rather narrow kayak.
         | Those are easier to tip. I once used a friend's friend's sprint
         | kayak. I've never tipped a kayak, but it was very easy to tip
         | the sprint kayak. Any waves and that thing was almost unusable.
         | 
         | Most recreational kayaks are, like you suggest, almost idiot
         | proof and can only be tipped if you're really trying.
        
         | aynyc wrote:
         | The author must be talking about Sprint Kayak, which is
         | incredibly unstable, must be in flat/calm water. Commercial
         | paddling kayaks are incredibly stable, you have to try really,
         | really hard to flip.
        
       | dr-fumanchu wrote:
       | great article. short and precise.
        
       | kenjackson wrote:
       | There are things we can do that are externally valuable, and
       | often that work is hard, but not necessarily so.
       | 
       | There is also stuff that is hard, but really has no value to
       | anyone else in the world. I've found I do get enjoyment just in
       | doing things that are hard, and often serve no purpose. For
       | example, I learned how to solve the Rubik's Cube one day. Another
       | time I learned to juggle. I learned to play the piano (OK, not
       | really, I learned enough to learn like five pretty easy songs).
       | 
       | There is something that makes it more enjoyable to do something
       | hard (for me) where if I accomplish it or not has no bearing on
       | the world (even amongst my small circle -- except now they have
       | to watch me solve the Cube in five minutes).
       | 
       | There is one challenge I will take on next -- to start a
       | paragraph without the word "There".
        
       | bicx wrote:
       | I'm 38 years old and other than a couple years of moderate
       | weightlifting with friends in my early 20s, I have never
       | regularly exercised.
       | 
       | This year, I was able to change that. Funny enough, I read "Shoe
       | Dog" for the business story, but finished the book with an
       | interest in running. I think it was just the enthusiasm and
       | lifestyle of running that was pervasive throughout the book.
       | However, I've attempted to get into running before, and it only
       | lasted a couple weeks.
       | 
       | This time, I tried again, but as an old-ass man, my motivations
       | have changed. I just want consistency. I don't have a vision of
       | winning any races, doing 20-mile trail runs, or other big
       | ambitions. I just want to not die of a heart attack when I'm 45.
       | I want to be in generally decent shape.
       | 
       | Laugh if you want, but as a complete novice, ChatGPT set me up
       | with some cushy running shoes (Brooks Glycerins) and a basic
       | goal: run for 30 minutes and try to keep my heart rate between
       | 130 and 160bpm. This is more of maintaining a metric rather than
       | trying to hit a lofty goal. From day one, you can achieve this
       | success metric. It means your getting some moderate cardio. I
       | bought a chest-strap heart rate monitor and linked it to a free
       | app (Heart Graph) on my phone.
       | 
       | I'm now 8 weeks in, and I'm dedicated to the habit more than any
       | goal. I feel a lot better, and by avoiding over-exertion and
       | frustration from too lofty of a goal, I'm able to stay consistent
       | without feeling miserable. I'm able to enjoy the "runner's high"
       | without the cramps and misery that I endured in past attempts.
        
         | Aurornis wrote:
         | This is the boring truth for health and fitness: It's very easy
         | to be top quintile in health and fitness by putting in very
         | little effort. The only requirement is that you do it mostly
         | consistently for a lot of years.
         | 
         | The people cycling between fad diets or doing bouts of extreme
         | Crossift every several years until they get injured or lose
         | motivation have a much harder time with health and fitness,
         | despite putting a lot more pain and effort in during their
         | bursts of activity.
         | 
         | One of my high school friends was always a little overweight
         | and out of shape. Later he thinned out and got into decent
         | shape. Everyone asked him what his secret was, but most people
         | were disappointed with his answer: He said he stopped buying
         | junk food and drink when he went grocery shopping and he
         | started walking a little bit every day.
         | 
         | Everyone assumed he was on some intense diet or getting sweaty
         | at the gym 4X per week. Instead, he was just consistent with
         | good but low effort choices.
         | 
         | EDIT: This was pre-Ozempic. I'm sure today everyone would
         | assume GLP-1 drugs.
        
           | GeekyBear wrote:
           | A small amount of exercise daily, along with giving up
           | sweetened drinks was successful for me (and for my friends
           | who asked how I lost weight and kept it off).
           | 
           | In my opinion, how consistently you exercise is more
           | important than how much you exercise, as you will naturally
           | increase your endurance over time.
           | 
           | Learning to cook your own food from scratch is also an
           | effective way to get excess sugar out of your diet.
        
             | elcritch wrote:
             | Even minimal exercise helps cut my worse cravings. It's
             | surprising how much impact it has.
             | 
             | Also cooking food from scratch is very helpful. Yet somehow
             | i always end up going eh I'll just eat out today.
        
           | whatever1 wrote:
           | I would say that portioning is super important as well. It is
           | very easy if you don't have calibrated brain to binge eat
           | huge quantities of food while distracted.
           | 
           | Example you have an extra large bag of chips and you watch a
           | show, likely you will finish before realizing. But if you
           | just put in front of you a small plate of chips, you will
           | likely not stand up to refill it while watching your show.
           | 
           | Add a bit of friction to eating more food. Brains are
           | remarkably lazy.
        
             | prerok wrote:
             | Doesn't work for me. What does work is going to a store
             | with a full stomach, and never buying junk in the first
             | place.
        
         | scottiebarnes wrote:
         | Heart rate training is key for a smoother onboarding. Most
         | beginners (myself included) simply try to do a pace that they
         | simply can't sustain, think running is too hard, and then quit.
         | Building that aerobic base is something I wish I understood far
         | sooner.
        
           | VBprogrammer wrote:
           | In the UK there is a program called couch to 5km. It's
           | possible for anyone to follow and get to running for 30
           | minutes. It mostly emphasises running at a sustainable pace -
           | even if that is just above walking.
        
             | threetonesun wrote:
             | It was popular here in the US too, and I agree it's a great
             | program.
        
           | cameldrv wrote:
           | This was exactly my experience years ago. I tried and failed
           | to make a running habit several times until I got a heart
           | monitor. When I finally did, I figured out that the pace I
           | thought was what I "should" be running at was actually
           | putting my heart at 185-190 and I was just getting wiped out
           | after a mile or so.
           | 
           | Anyhow I just slowed down to keep my heart more like 140-160
           | and at the beginning I would even run three minutes and walk
           | one, but I managed to get up to half marathon distance.
           | 
           | These days I don't go all that far but I do about 3-4 miles 3
           | times a week. I don't go very fast either but I feel
           | healthier mentally and physically when I'm consistent.
           | 
           | Honestly it's not clear to me that trying to go really far or
           | fast is even all that healthy. It can actually lead to heart
           | damage and it's hard on your joints. Doing something more
           | moderate seems like the sweet spot.
        
             | multjoy wrote:
             | It does not lead to heart damage and it won't knacker your
             | joints.
             | 
             | It will suck all the time you are doing it, but you
             | physically cannot damage your heart from over exertion.
        
               | cameldrv wrote:
               | There's significant evidence that it can: https://press.r
               | sna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_ta...
               | 
               | If you don't think running can mess up your knees
               | honestly all I can say is that obviously you don't know
               | any serious runners.
        
             | bityard wrote:
             | What heart rate monitor did you get and would you recommend
             | it?
        
               | vanviegen wrote:
               | I think nowadays just about any smartwatch should be
               | fine?
        
               | cameldrv wrote:
               | That was a long time ago and it was a Polar watch with a
               | chest strap. These days I use a Garmin watch, but you
               | could just as well use a Fitbit or an Apple Watch or a
               | heart rate strap and your regular phone. Honestly I don't
               | even look at my watch during a run very much anymore,
               | because I know what various heart rates feel like. The
               | biggest thing for me was to realize that I was just
               | trying to go too fast, and the HRM helped me with that.
        
           | bob1029 wrote:
           | It's amazing how adaptive the cardiovascular system can be
           | when you focus on the right things and keep it very
           | consistent.
           | 
           | I went from having a resting heart rate of 70-80bpm to the
           | upper 30s with a rowing regimen. The positive effect this has
           | on moment-to-moment existence is really hard to overstate.
        
             | wonger_ wrote:
             | Wow, I've never heard of a resting heart rate below 40bpm.
             | 
             | Can you describe some of the effects on your moment-to-
             | moment existence? Do you never run out of breath? Is it
             | easier to "get up and go"? Any mental differences? Appetite
             | & metabolism?
        
             | vakde wrote:
             | Sounds amazing. Please do share details of how you did it?
        
           | maccard wrote:
           | That's why most beginner programs state "you should be able
           | to have a conversation" as the pace marker. You don't need a
           | watch or a fitness monitor - just to be able to say a
           | sentence or two
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | No laughing. Heart rate training is the best way to build
         | endurance
        
         | moomoo11 wrote:
         | Awesome. I agree with the habit building. My knees are shot so
         | I don't run, but I try to walk for 90 minutes a day. I look
         | forward to this every day.
         | 
         | I normally start to wind down around 6pm, so around 8pm I close
         | my computer and go for a walk. Come home and sleep.
        
           | cpursley wrote:
           | Biking (mountain) is my groove. Worth a try if you have some
           | tracks as it does not put pressure on your knees like
           | running.
        
             | moomoo11 wrote:
             | Used to LOVE mtb.
             | 
             | Unfortunately my knees are busted and I don't have full
             | range of motion on my right knee. And I've broken every toe
             | lol.
        
         | orochimaaru wrote:
         | GSP's trainer Firas Zahabi prescribes to this. I remember his
         | mentioning this in a Rogan podcast. His philosophy to training
         | is minimal to 0 pain/soreness.
         | 
         | Instead of doing pull ups till you drop start with 1 and do it
         | daily. I started running after a long time. I'm 49. I work out
         | with weights but needed mild cardio. I started with 0.25 m run
         | / 0.25 m walk cadence. I can easily do that for 5-6 miles and
         | keep my heart rate below 165.
         | 
         | Bottom line is - take it easy. The goal is to burn calories,
         | stay mobile and not get injured or sore.
        
           | vhcr wrote:
           | A 25cm run / walk sounds way too short.
        
             | orochimaaru wrote:
             | The m is miles, not meters.
        
           | 90ne1 wrote:
           | This realization was what finally allowed me to stop bouncing
           | off exercise. The "no pain no gain" mindset of exercise was
           | baked in and the result was years of smattering short burst
           | of extreme exersion (1-2 weeks of running until my lungs
           | hurt) between months of inactivity because being
           | uncomfortable sucks and motivation is fleeting.
           | 
           | This time I started slow and consistent - run/walk three
           | times per week without pushing myself until I was wheezing
           | and hurting. Over time I got better and eventually I could
           | just run for a while without feeling out of breath or
           | painful.
           | 
           | At some point I actually started to enjoy it. Two years
           | later, running is one of my main hobbies and I do it
           | basically every day. I'll be running my second marathon in
           | October.
        
         | kuzmanov wrote:
         | ChatGPT and Claude are perfectly acceptable for this. I've used
         | them along side my training plans in Runna as well as just
         | getting some baseline for my progress in Golf.
        
         | wonderwonder wrote:
         | I worked out half seriously for years and then fell off the
         | first 10 years of having kids. I just couldn't figure out how
         | to balance it and being a dad. About 3 years ago I got back
         | into it.
         | 
         | I was 245lbs at 6'1. Big frame but fat. My gym was near a
         | college so just packed with people in their prime. I was able
         | to get back to benching 315lb in the first year back. Set a
         | goal of 405lbs and just been trudging on day by day for ~2
         | years. Hit it last month at 46 years old and 211lbs.
         | 
         | Just takes time.
         | 
         | In most gyms people start watching when someone unracks 315lb.
         | I tried and failed at 405 4 times over 3 months before I got
         | it. There is something odd feeling about failure in such a
         | public setting. I can only imagine how a professional athlete
         | feels and soldiers on.
         | 
         | For honesty, im also on steroids ;)
        
       | high_na_euv wrote:
       | Effort matters
        
       | agcat wrote:
       | I am planning to resume Judo, i only learnt it as a kid and now
       | planning to start again. I never kind of was the best but it
       | helped me build some life skills around focus, being in tough
       | scenarios. So yes the point of doing hard things is not about
       | winning only
        
         | nottorp wrote:
         | > I never kind of was the best
         | 
         | Who cares? You only need to be slightly better than you
         | yourself were last week.
         | 
         | Not everything has to be done for competitive purposes. Or the
         | one person you are really competing with is just yourself.
        
       | ferguess_k wrote:
       | Talking about kayaking, I as a beginner (but would love to do
       | some serious sea kayaking if allowed) would love to hear some
       | advices:
       | 
       | I sometimes hope there are kayaks with deeper hulls so my legs
       | can rest more easily. They can numb easily after just 5 mins of
       | padding and I gave it up a long time ago after a few trials. I
       | know there are sit-on kayaks but I think they are mostly for
       | fishing.
        
         | richwater wrote:
         | As a tall individual who enjoys kayaking, you're going to spend
         | a lot more money and research to find good kayaks. Depending on
         | your location in the country you may not even be able to find a
         | retailer near you with them in stock.
         | 
         | With that said, this is probably going to be the most available
         | and comfortable kayak for most tall people. For me as a 6'4"
         | 220 (mostly fat, little thigh muscle) I've used it and it's
         | good.
         | 
         | https://wildernesssystems.confluenceoutdoor.com/en-us/produc...
        
           | ferguess_k wrote:
           | Thanks. I'm actually quite short (160cm) so I think most of
           | the numbness came from some other reasons.
        
       | dutchblacksmith wrote:
       | Nice, I starter rowing at 50. Same feeling on the water.
        
       | dashmeet wrote:
       | > But I think there's a quiet dignity in the almost [success]
       | stories too.
       | 
       | The last line hit hard. Need to remind myself of this sometimes
        
       | patrickhogan1 wrote:
       | I completely agree, so many people miss out on great experiences
       | simply because they're afraid of looking dumb.
       | 
       | One big advantage many athletes had growing up was a parent who
       | taught them a skill [basketball, soccer, biking] early, someone
       | they felt safe failing in front of.
       | 
       | That's one of the things I find so cool about learning with AI,
       | you get to try, mess up, and improve without judgment.
        
         | bloomca wrote:
         | > I find so cool about learning with AI, you get to try, mess
         | up, and improve without judgment
         | 
         | I agree. There is no judgement in going very deep in as simple
         | concepts as you need, whereas with real people you'd feel like
         | you are wasting their time and that you should know that
         | already, or at least find out on your own.
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | The extreme version of that: "Embrace the Suck".[1] By a Navy
       | SEAL with a masochistic streak. SEALs are selected for people who
       | will keep going while suffering, but this guy is into the
       | suffering as an end in itself.
       | 
       | The industrial version: "In Praise of Hard Industries".[2]
       | 
       | [1] https://www.amazon.com/Embrace-Suck-Navy-SEAL-
       | Extraordinary/...
       | 
       | [2] https://www.amazon.com/Praise-Hard-Industries-
       | Manufacturing-...
        
         | TrackerFF wrote:
         | Having tried SOF selection myself (once, didn't get selected /
         | quit before it was over), I can say that the selections are
         | almost 100% designed to weed out people on their willpower, not
         | physical strength. The people that aren't cut out physically,
         | tend to be weeded out on the very first day.
         | 
         | And even if you get past the immediate pain stage, sooner or
         | later you'll ask yourself "is this what I really want to do the
         | next [N] years?".
        
       | stdbrouw wrote:
       | I did a plastering course last winter and spring, and it reminded
       | me about how, when you're young and in high school or college,
       | you are continually confronted with not knowing things and not
       | being able to do things that you would very much love to be able
       | to do, and sometimes having to spend weeks or months without
       | feeling much advancement before you suddenly "get it"... which is
       | a kind of patience and stubbornness you rarely need once
       | gainfully employed. It took months before I finished a wall that
       | looked half decent, but then another month went by and suddenly
       | everything had a mirror smooth finish. Your hands and arms and
       | eyes notice things they didn't notice before. It reminded me that
       | if you are willing to put in the hours, humans can do pretty
       | amazing shit, and that you should never stop learning.
        
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