4 ms·
my perspective, which might not be universal: the teen at the construction site was acquiring knowledge that wasn't otherwise available to him. the teen in fr
by timdellinger 4y ago
my perspective, which might not be universal:
the teen at the construction site was acquiring knowledge that wasn't otherwise available to him. the teen in front of youtube only sees previously available knowledge.
we're wired to be excited by doing new things - we like a positive first derivative (available knowledge increasing). the absolute amount of available knowledge is less important to us.
see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill
- VLM 4y agoDiscovery process vs consumption process. Obviously the kid wasn't the first to discover how to dig a ditch, but the kid discovered it for himself, figured out how it works for himself. Personal discovery. Like the difference between accomplishing a sports achievement personally vs watching a picture of someone else accomplishing a similar goal.
- smileysteve 4y agoThis. There is a difference. For a HackerNews audience, it's like saying that using apps on a phone means you are technology fluent versus creating an app and delivering it via apk to a phone. To be more inclusive it's like being able to read on a kindle versus write a document in word. For the Youtube example; There is a difference between watching a video for entertainment, here's how to change the suspension in a car, versus watching for discovery - here's how to change the suspension, wait, where's that bolt, I'm doing it on my car too. Society really hasn't changed that much, though the discoverers were likely more likely to survive in wars and subsistence -- though they were also labeled witches . So the question really goes back to fabricators, menders, and consumption. Society could go a far way if we focused more on mending than consuming.