Great question. I think it's on more people's minds than you think. I have friends that have brought this feeling up with me. HN brings a lot of great minds together, including your own. It can create feelings of inadequacy in many readers, but it shouldn't. Everyone is always growing. You can write well too.
As with any skill, there are specific quick hacks you can apply to get a lot of gain really fast, and there are well-worn paths that you should travel to maximize gains and minimize time spent. Regardless, the best way to learn any skill is through sheer practice.
My methodology for posting comments on HN or any social news site is based on my values. I value production over consumption, and so to curb my consumption and increase my production I created a rule for myself: If I read a post on social media(HN, reddit, etc), I have to leave a comment on it. No ifs ands or buts. I almost never actually want to comment, but by the time I'm done commenting I'm always glad I did.
This is amazing for becoming a better writer and researcher, and forces you to dive into things that you normally would only attain a surface-level understanding of.
Every time I decide to go to a social media site, I have to be very conscious of the titles I click on to read. I understand that the moment I begin reading an article, I am committed to adding something of value to the discussion. Sometimes I wind up clicking on an article that is way out of my domain-knowledge, and so I have to read WAY more about it before I can even try to add to the discussion. I end up learning far more and also upping my ability to explain and present myself in situations where I'm uncomfortable with the domain.
So while I encourage you to practice your writing, I also encourage you to limit your consumption, strongly link your consumption with your practice, and most importantly, step out of your domain knowledge and never be afraid to learn something new.
Brilliant, I especially like: "I value production over consumption, and so to curb my consumption and increase my production I created a rule for myself: If I read a post on social media(HN, reddit, etc), I have to leave a comment on it".
One thing I find myself doing frequently is, I will skip the article and go straight to the comments and look for a summary. Then I determine if I want to read the original material. Often, I simply read the comments, because as OP noted, there are invariably gems of insight and experience to be found for most any subject.
In a way it's kind of sad, I've been doing this for years, and there have been so many gems. I know I haven't remembered them all. They are each reduced to a few moments of satisfactory warmth. I hope they've enriched me as a person, but I'll never know.
I agree with virtually everything you've said, except for the part about limiting consumption. Limit consumption on certain channels (Facebook, Buzzfeed, etc.). Increase consumption on other channels (books, deeply analytical blogs, good magazines, and even fiction). And every so often, lose yourself on Wikipedia for a few hours. Jump down some hyperlinked rabbit holes there. Soak up random knowledge, purely for the sake of intellectual curiosity. Start on The Industrial Revolution and wind up, three or five clicks later, on the use of tunnel irrigation in ancient Mesopotamia.
The best way to become a better writer, a better thinker, or a more informed commenter, is to become a curious and habitual reader. Some of the best topical insights I've ever had have come from seeing analogs in wildly different domains. Some of the best writing techniques I've developed have come from reading wildly different writing styles. Almost none of this has been directed toward a specific outcome or contextual purpose. I read because I like to read. What I read may or may not prove useful later on. But it's almost always later on.
I'm referring specifically to low-quality consumption, but didn't want to fill up a long spiel about that since it was another topic. I should've been more specific.
While this is a good way to learn about things in depth, I'd be wary of overusing it. It could have detrimental effects when commenting on topics way outside your domain knowledge (lower comment quality or worse - a misinformed comment). Also, it limits the scope of topics that you might end up developing an interest in.
Interestingly, the way I consume articles and forums is almost completely opposite. I skim through anything that catches my fancy, which helps me discover new topics that are interesting to me, and I only contribute when I have something completely new and valuable to add to the discussion. Often times you find that someone has already mentioned what you wanted contribute. The exceptions are when you are an expert in the field and hence more likely to have knowledge that is not common.
My methodology for posting comments on HN or any social news site is based on my values. I value production over consumption, and so to curb my consumption and increase my production I created a rule for myself: If I read a post on social media(HN, reddit, etc), I have to leave a comment on it. No ifs ands or buts. I almost never actually want to comment, but by the time I'm done commenting I'm always glad I did.
I really like this idea. Not only does it force you to increase the volume of your writing, giving you more practice, but it also forces you to try to immediately use what you've learned, fixing the knowledge in your mind. Also I would think that it forces you to test whether you truly understand the topic. You can't really be ambiguous or hand-wavy when describing a concept to someone else.
Comments
Great question. I think it's on more people's minds than you think. I have friends that have brought this feeling up with me. HN brings a lot of great minds together, including your own. It can create feelings of inadequacy in many readers, but it shouldn't. Everyone is always growing. You can write well too.
As with any skill, there are specific quick hacks you can apply to get a lot of gain really fast, and there are well-worn paths that you should travel to maximize gains and minimize time spent. Regardless, the best way to learn any skill is through sheer practice.
My methodology for posting comments on HN or any social news site is based on my values. I value production over consumption, and so to curb my consumption and increase my production I created a rule for myself: If I read a post on social media(HN, reddit, etc), I have to leave a comment on it. No ifs ands or buts. I almost never actually want to comment, but by the time I'm done commenting I'm always glad I did.
This is amazing for becoming a better writer and researcher, and forces you to dive into things that you normally would only attain a surface-level understanding of.
Every time I decide to go to a social media site, I have to be very conscious of the titles I click on to read. I understand that the moment I begin reading an article, I am committed to adding something of value to the discussion. Sometimes I wind up clicking on an article that is way out of my domain-knowledge, and so I have to read WAY more about it before I can even try to add to the discussion. I end up learning far more and also upping my ability to explain and present myself in situations where I'm uncomfortable with the domain.
So while I encourage you to practice your writing, I also encourage you to limit your consumption, strongly link your consumption with your practice, and most importantly, step out of your domain knowledge and never be afraid to learn something new.
Brilliant, I especially like: "I value production over consumption, and so to curb my consumption and increase my production I created a rule for myself: If I read a post on social media(HN, reddit, etc), I have to leave a comment on it".
One thing I find myself doing frequently is, I will skip the article and go straight to the comments and look for a summary. Then I determine if I want to read the original material. Often, I simply read the comments, because as OP noted, there are invariably gems of insight and experience to be found for most any subject.
In a way it's kind of sad, I've been doing this for years, and there have been so many gems. I know I haven't remembered them all. They are each reduced to a few moments of satisfactory warmth. I hope they've enriched me as a person, but I'll never know.
I agree with virtually everything you've said, except for the part about limiting consumption. Limit consumption on certain channels (Facebook, Buzzfeed, etc.). Increase consumption on other channels (books, deeply analytical blogs, good magazines, and even fiction). And every so often, lose yourself on Wikipedia for a few hours. Jump down some hyperlinked rabbit holes there. Soak up random knowledge, purely for the sake of intellectual curiosity. Start on The Industrial Revolution and wind up, three or five clicks later, on the use of tunnel irrigation in ancient Mesopotamia.
The best way to become a better writer, a better thinker, or a more informed commenter, is to become a curious and habitual reader. Some of the best topical insights I've ever had have come from seeing analogs in wildly different domains. Some of the best writing techniques I've developed have come from reading wildly different writing styles. Almost none of this has been directed toward a specific outcome or contextual purpose. I read because I like to read. What I read may or may not prove useful later on. But it's almost always later on.
No worries, I agree with you 100%
I'm referring specifically to low-quality consumption, but didn't want to fill up a long spiel about that since it was another topic. I should've been more specific.
While this is a good way to learn about things in depth, I'd be wary of overusing it. It could have detrimental effects when commenting on topics way outside your domain knowledge (lower comment quality or worse - a misinformed comment). Also, it limits the scope of topics that you might end up developing an interest in.
Interestingly, the way I consume articles and forums is almost completely opposite. I skim through anything that catches my fancy, which helps me discover new topics that are interesting to me, and I only contribute when I have something completely new and valuable to add to the discussion. Often times you find that someone has already mentioned what you wanted contribute. The exceptions are when you are an expert in the field and hence more likely to have knowledge that is not common.
This is an awesome advice. Thanks!
I really like this idea. Not only does it force you to increase the volume of your writing, giving you more practice, but it also forces you to try to immediately use what you've learned, fixing the knowledge in your mind. Also I would think that it forces you to test whether you truly understand the topic. You can't really be ambiguous or hand-wavy when describing a concept to someone else.