PG Essays Copy What You Like
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Oct 13, 2023 Dive into the art of influence as the discussion challenges the pitfalls of imitating the wrong sources. From high school missteps with bad writing to the misleading allure of short stories, listeners explore how to discern personal taste. Paul Graham emphasizes the importance of copying what you genuinely enjoy rather than fleeting trends or superficial styles. He warns against replicating flaws instead of quality, using painting as an illuminating example. Ultimately, the message advocates trusting your own taste over external opinions.
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Early Mistakes In Imitation
- Paul Graham describes imitating bad writers in high school and writing stories where nothing happened.
- He learned early impressions from class readings misled his taste and output.
Philosophy Papers That Say Little
- In college Paul Graham imitated philosophy papers that sounded impressive but said little.
- His imitations failed because the originals lacked definite claims to refute or learn from.
Chasing A Dead Technical Fad
- In grad school he chased the expert-systems fad and thought complex work was easy.
- He realized later the field was a dead-end fad selling to clueless customers and not truly important.
