Jonathan Blow on the Problem Solving Mindset

[jomohogames]

Thanks for sifting through all the material and uncovering those gems.

[raychrash]

I don't know if it falls under the same category, but it's insane how many people give up on some problems just because it's not their "job/speciality" or because they dont know the solution from their experience, it's not about knowing the solution, but to learn how to find it.

[..]

I think this isn't just about so-called "entrepreneurship". Having a problem-solving mindset helped me so much throughout my life that it's like a superpower.

[VivekBoseShree]

Could you also put either a link to the Twitch VOD or the date uploaded, with a timestamp? Would be super helpful.

[aussenseitermagazin]

I am not a dev, but whenever I hear him speak, it reminds me of all the issues I had with many developers (besides a very chosen few) as a hobby game designer.
You'd think 'This won't work' is a pretty funny thing to say for a programmer.

[romaingauthier]

Quite à propos, the message in this clip is what The Witness made me realise about myself.

[ovndfbs]

The first question you should ask is "Should this be done?".
If you reach a conclusion that it should be done, then start thinking about how to do it.
Don't just jump at every thing.

[hexf]

He's cynical yet realistic. A rare combo.

[sensereference]

This video is a great example of survivorship bias. JB is only looking at the people who succeeded with that mindset but not the ones that had this mindset and still failed. It's clear he isn't really looking at the failed cases because his go-to example of what this looks like is a meteor landing on someone's house when, in reality, there are much more realistic and common scenarios to look at. For instance, some people have gotten themselves into catastrophic financial situations by taking out too many loans to fund their business because they thought they would be able to solve the problems keeping it from taking off instead of cutting their losses earlier. They take out mortgages on their homes, invest their savings, and then end up losing both when things don't work out. JB underestimates the risk because he's only looking at the small fraction that made it and not the whole picture.

[mav]

Let's not ignore the differences in biology between people. Most people, even the very smart ones, can realistically focus on code for 20-30 hours a week, which means they're sep up to lose against people who are equally smart, but who are also blessed with unusually high resistance to mental fatigue (John Carmack works 60 hour weeks for example).

[bendev]

Something about this clip. I replay it but I cant hardly pay attention to what he is saying and it feels like one of those clips from a long stream where he is in that moment inconcisely schizo ranting. I dont even know what he is trying to say.

[sheridanrathbun]

There are other limiters to achieving success besides having the right mindset. For every successful programmer patting themselves on the back for being intelligent enough to succeed, there are 100 more who haven't got their chance for one economic reason or another. It would be refreshing if more successful developers could put a lens on the issues they don't have to deal with anymore, rather than simply giving pep-talks and humble-bragging about their past achievements. The myth of the intelligent entrepreneur whose success was a foregone conclusion needs to die.