123 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryotosensei 11 Jun \ on: This Day in Stacker News: June the 11th meta
I won’t say thanks for doing this because I’m sure you’re deriving lots of satisfaction from this new endeavour. I just learnt about the Hawthorne effect recently.
The Hawthorne effect suggests that 1) the novelty value of change in a routine can lead to increased productivity, but 2) the productivity increase is temporary, so 3) it’s good to change things up from time to time. The Hawthorne effect states that the determining factor is the fact of a change, rather than the specific change itself
Not sure if the Hawthorne effect brings you productivity gains but I’m sure the novelty keeps things fresh.
I like how you extracted the pertinent bits AND forwarded some zaps to the authors. Who knows, this poke might incentivise some of them to come back xP
I would love for you to pen a simple takeaway at the end. How did you feel when you were compiling the day’s events? What thought(s) went through your mind? Nothing onerous, just something brief. I’m always curious at the person behind the endeavour
I was talking to @siggy47 about wanting to put my own little summaries. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Isn't there a Chinese saying about groping for river stones with your feet to find your way across? I remember hearing something like that once and I thought it was neat.
reply
Chinese saying about groping for river stones with your feet to find your way acros I had to look this one up. Didn’t learn it in school haha. 摸着石头过河 It was a popular phrase coined when China opened itself to the world in the 1970s.
There is a Chinese saying for slow is smooth. We say 慢工出细货 (Màn gōng chū xìhuó). Literal: (slow work) (yields) (fine work)
reply
How would you translate the river one?
The context I heard it in was the CCP trying to liberalize the economy without giving up control, but I didn’t realize that’s where it came from.
reply
I think the way you put it is fine. It retains the original flavour of the saying.
The context behind the saying is that because there are no ready-made bridges and boats and because no one has ever crossed the river before you, you got to test the waters and move ahead, one step at a time. The following is from its Wikipedia page:
“摸着石头过河”本意指在没有前人经验、没有现成的桥和船的情况下，要想过河就必须以身试水、摸索前进”
Language forums translate this to improvising by trial and error. Which is a fine translation I guess, but the original essence is lost
reply