https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erewhon

- E.M. Forster, _The Machine Stops_

Abstraction is terrific and terrifying. It is the shoulders of giants we build upon, but when it begins to scale nonlinearly I fear it endangers us as much as enraptures us.

This is how we manifest Forster’s _The Machine Stops_. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

https://youtu.be/0obMRztklqU?si=CA5NWDE6FVSSM5Ih

> At the same time, Aristotle makes it clear that in order to be happy one must possess others goods as well—such goods as friends, wealth, and power. And one's happiness is endangered if one is severely lacking in certain advantages—if, for example, one is extremely ugly, or has lost children or good friends through death (1099a31–b6). But why so? If one's ultimate end should simply be virtuous activity, then why should it make any difference to one's happiness whether one has or lacks these other types of good? Aristotle's reply is that one's virtuous activity will be to some extent diminished or defective, if one lacks an adequate supply of other goods (1153b17–19). Someone who is friendless, childless, powerless, weak, and ugly will simply not be able to find many opportunities for virtuous activity over a long period of time, and what little he can accomplish will not be of great merit. To some extent, then, living well requires good fortune; happenstance can rob even the most excellent human beings of happiness. Nonetheless, Aristotle insists, the highest good, virtuous activity, is not something that comes to us by chance. Although we must be fortunate enough to have parents and fellow citizens who help us become virtuous, we ourselves share much of the responsibility for acquiring and exercising the virtues.

Even the Buddha was a prince before he was enlightened! With all that said, while I agree with the basic premise of this article, a good mental framework IS an important part of becoming a fulfilled person regardless of economic status. Money doesn't correlate directly with happiness, but it does make it a lot easier to pursue happiness when you don't have to worry about it.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29051853

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What’s also worth mentioning is that geniuses stand on the shoulders of abstraction, the most powerful (and scary!) force known to man. The more and more we abstract away problems, the more and more geniuses can scaffold on top of that abstraction. This compounding effect is more responsible for innovation than the admittedly gifted and great individuals who channel it.

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” — Isaac Newton

Not that I believe you shouldn’t read new books (because you should sometimes) but that would be a more interesting question: “Why should you read new books?” Because given the half-life of information/facts/data, it’s a risky proposition from a opportunity cost standpoint. You’re basically hoping the book becomes a classic — and therefore it has staying usefulness and that answers the original question on why you should read classics — or you simply what to be plugged into the zeitgeist for networking or other reasons.

Unrelated, I am always fascinated by classics, especially ones from antiquity, because they really demonstrate how very little we’ve changed as a species. The problems facing Seneca or Cicero and the questions they asked themselves aren’t all that different from the ones we have today.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect

1. Great content can’t be commodified, despite the industry’s best efforts.

2. Content lives in extremistan. [1]. Though the average piece of content has little upside, the upside of a great piece of content is nearly limitless.

At the very least, content is a “prince” alongside distribution (network effects).

[1] “Taleb provides another example of Extremistan: book publishing. Suppose one randomly chooses a thousand authors, and adds up the total number of books they have sold. Now, add the bestselling author in the world, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books. Her book sales with vastly exceed the total of the other thousand authors.”

https://people.wou.edu/~shawd/mediocristan--extremistan.html