The Hacker Ethic

Photo

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:02:48 -0700

"The open secret of real success is to throw your whole personality at a problem."

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:27:00 -0700

“The open secret of real success is to throw your whole personality at a problem.”

- George Pólya

Substrate

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:04:00 -0700

You already know how to do it. You just don’t know that you know it yet. Beneath the uncertainty, inelegance, and insecurity is success. It’s hidden and you you refuse to see it, but it’s there.

So where is it?

It’s in the thing you already know how to do well. It’s in the things that you’re already passionate about. The patterns are there, you need to apply them to the next thing.

It isn’t easy: you have to get over your fear of not knowing something and just do it. Learn. Absorb. And do, not stopping until it’s another thing you know well.

Photo

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:52:36 -0700

"The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none."

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 22:10:41 -0700

“The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.”

- Thomas Carlyle

Where are you?

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:13:07 -0700

I have been meditating on life, hacking self, and other things.

But back I am, and a new post has wondrously appeared.

Be lazy

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:02:00 -0700

You think you’re smart. You create things. You write. You produce. You generate.

Well don’t.

You need to filter what you create. Throw most of it away. Toss out the ideas before they become the drivel you normally produce. Curate the shit out of your shit.

Better yet: be lazy. Don’t start something until it’s interesting. Don’t tell anyone about it until it’s great. Don’t build what you don’t need to, and even then resist doing it. Only do what matters. The rest is a waste of your time.

Do what you can do better than anyone else, what rocks your world, and abandon everything else. A curated you is a better you.

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his..."

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:10:31 -0800

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”

- Naguib Mahfouz

Photo

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:04:55 -0800

Blinded

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:41:00 -0800

You can’t see your weakness. It’s right there in front of you, but you look past it. You dance around it. You ignore it. You pretend that it doesn’t exist. Wishing that it didn’t exist. It does, and it always will.

Everything you do is flawed in some way. Accept it. Learn to see it, to enjoy it. Every imperfection is a chance to learn, a chance to do better. And every fault can be solved, often with finesse and style.

"When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves."

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:40:14 -0800

“When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.”

- Anthony J. D’Angelo

Photo

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:37:29 -0800

Do it well or go home

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 21:44:33 -0700

So you want to do it well? The things you build, the things you create, you want to craft each one with care? Well, you’re not doing it.

And how can you do anything well when you’re splitting yourself so many ways? How can you learn with the TV on in the background? How can you focus when you check your email and Twitter feed every half hour? Your choice to devote so little of your mind to the things you do is indiscriminate laziness, and it’s why you struggle to find mediocrity.

Focus. Do one thing at a time. Consider your path. Do each thing well, without rushing. Rest. Rinse. Repeat.

Building something? Then don’t spend time learning while you do it. Learning something? Then don’t look for entertainment in the background. Close some applications and shut the door. Turn off the fucking television. Focus, and do it well, or don’t bother doing it at all.

"Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action."

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:15:05 -0700

“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

- LifeHacker

Photo

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:07:56 -0700

The mountain and the man

Mon, 31 May 2010 22:37:00 -0700

There is a mountain between you and your work. You look up, gazing beyond it to where you want to be, and you give up. It’s too far. Too difficult. Too steep. Too much.

You look back. The path is easy, known, and downhill.

Then you look at your immediate surroundings. It’s warm and comfortable. There are many things to do.

Do you stay? Do you go back? Or, do you approach the mountain?

It doesn’t matter. It’s all an illusion. The mountain doesn’t exist: it’s your fear, your sloth, and your bruised ego.

The past wasn’t easy. It’s just a memory, distorted by hubris and wishful thinking. And the present? If you stay there long enough, you’ll be swimming in your own waste.

So take on that mountain and go build something interesting.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

Sun, 16 May 2010 20:23:00 -0700

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristotle

Photo

Sun, 16 May 2010 20:20:14 -0700

It's out there

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:04:36 -0700

Something have you stumped? Can’t figure it out? Ready to walk away? Then you’ve failed. You’ve quit. Not because it’s impossible, but because you’re lazy and you don’t believe you can do it. Are you really that person?

Everything is simple, given understanding. Understanding is easy to find, given time and effort. All problems are soluble. Every single one. So don’t be so fucking lazy.

It’s out there, waiting for you to find it.

Most problems are already solved, or there is enough knowledge to get you there. Google it. Visit the library. Think about it. Sketch it out. Talk it out. Theorize. Test. Be methodical. Be metaphorical. Try a tangent. Assume you’re wrong. Try again. And keep trying until you figure it out.

"There’s nothing in this universe that can’t be explained. Eventually."

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:14:00 -0700

“There’s nothing in this universe that can’t be explained. Eventually.”

- House