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Has this been done yet
Image Description: The "What about second breakfast" scene from Peter Jackson's The Fellowship Of The Ring, but the dialogue has been edited.
Frame 1: "What about pride month?"
Frame 2: "You've already had pride month" (with the progress pride flag behind Aragorn)
Frame 3: "We've had one, yes, but what about second pride month?" (with the disability pride flag next to Pippin)
[source]
🚨BREAKING: OpenAI published a paper proving that ChatGPT will always make things up.
Not sometimes. Not until the next update. Always. They proved it with math.
Even with perfect training data and unlimited computing power, AI models will still confidently tell you things that are completely false. This isn't a bug they're working on. It's baked into how these systems work at a fundamental level.
And their own numbers are brutal. OpenAI's o1 reasoning model hallucinates 16% of the time. Their newer o3 model? 33%. Their newest o4-mini? 48%. Nearly half of what their most recent model tells you could be fabricated. The "smarter" models are actually getting worse at telling the truth.
Here's why it can't be fixed. Language models work by predicting the next word based on probability. When they hit something uncertain, they don't pause. They don't flag it. They guess. And they guess with complete confidence, because that's exactly what they were trained to do.
The researchers looked at the 10 biggest AI benchmarks used to measure how good these models are. 9 out of 10 give the same score for saying "I don't know" as for giving a completely wrong answer: zero points. The entire testing system literally punishes honesty and rewards guessing.
So the AI learned the optimal strategy: always guess. Never admit uncertainty. Sound confident even when you're making it up.
OpenAI's proposed fix? Have ChatGPT say "I don't know" when it's unsure. Their own math shows this would mean roughly 30% of your questions get no answer. Imagine asking ChatGPT something three times out of ten and getting "I'm not confident enough to respond." Users would leave overnight. So the fix exists, but it would kill the product.
This isn't just OpenAI's problem. DeepMind and Tsinghua University independently reached the same conclusion. Three of the world's top AI labs, working separately, all agree: this is permanent.
Every time ChatGPT gives you an answer, ask yourself: is this real, or is it just a confident guess?
academic dishonesty is not something you can spin as moral lol i do not want to share a career field let alone a social sphere with a bunch of chatgpt using ass bitches
"you're just scared your diploma is going to devalue" i'm afraid you dumb bitches are going to become my colleagues and drag social services to hell
I'm afraid they'll become scientists and data that lives depend on will turn out to be wrong - and people will die.
I'm afraid they'll become engineers and sign off on bridge designs that collapse - and people will die.
I'm afraid they'll become medical professionals who don't know what they're doing - and people will die.
The assumption that academic dishonesty is okay is rooted in the idea that what you're learning to do doesn't matter.
"The assumption that academic dishonesty is okay is rooted in the idea that what you're learning to do doesn't matter."
Most major corporations — from airlines to social media platforms — now aspire to become unregulated banks. Bankification today accounts for
This is a long read, but worth it. Some takeaways:
-Don’t use “buy now pay later.” The fine print isn’t what it seems.
-The fine print on medical financing, store credit cards, and contactless payment is also not what it seems.
-Payday loans are still predatory, even when offered by your employer
-Rewards programs are an income stream for the companies that run them. The points systems are manipulated so that the house always wins. They depend on people leaving money in rewards accounts and not in interest-bearing traditional bank accounts.
-Electronic payment apps like VenMo are not banks. You don’t earn interest. Your money is not protected.
-Your financial information is not private if your money is not kept in a regulated bank.
-None of this is regulated by the FDIC. Your money is not protected if it is held by a non-bank doing banking business. Our economy is not protected from the collapse of financial institutions that are not banks.
-The Biden administration was making progress in increasing accountability for non-banks operating as predatory financial services providers. The current administration is reversing those protections to favor corporations.
Oh boy.
A third of younger Americans hold their savings on nonbank tech platforms like Venmo
PEOPLE! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN VENMO OR APPLE PAY OR ANY OF THIS SHIT. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO FIND A REAL BANK OR A CREDIT UNION.
If Venmo were to close tomorrow all your money would vanish. There's no insurance or guarantee on any of these things. I know banks aren't great but legit banks will have the "FDIC insured" logo on their doors and websites, which means if my bank goes under tomorrow I still get my money back. Also I guarantee you there is a credit union somewhere in your town, go find it.
You can leave some money in Venmo or Apple pay or whatever, but NOT ALL OF IT for the love of God.
i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to
unironically i think we need to bring back computer labs because APPARENTLY some people WERENT taught basic computer literacy and internet safety in school
things about computers/the internet i think kids should be formally taught in schools because theyre important to know and the amount of soon to be grown adults i know who know NOTHING about any of these is quite frankly almost all of them (and resources to learn if you dont know these things, because its never to late to get better with computers)
how to troubleshoot by yourself when you have a technical problem
what common file types are
some very basics on how to use ""developer tools"" on your computer (because i cant think of a better way to refer to them) like task manager and command prompt (and their mac equivalents, terminal and activity monitor ofc)
how to read and understand a privacy policy and what your personal data is, as well as what it being collected actually means and steps you can take to keep it private
how to understand terms of service (hey. if you have trouble with reading legalese and worry about being able to understand these policies anyways, here's a site that gives basic summaries of privacy policies and ToS)
what a cookie actually is
internet privacy and your digital footprint!! seriously i dont know why we stopped teaching people that they shouldnt be putting their entire real identity online in a world where your online actions can ruin you irl
basic safety measures like antivirus software (and why you should use it or if the built in one on windows or mac is enough for you) and backing up your computer (also a mac guide)
common keyboard shortcuts (and on mac)
as an additional note: things i think everyone should know on computers and the internet but schools may bit hesitant to teach about for whatever moral/legal standards schools pretend to operate on
vpns and adblockers! (btw for most of these where you can pay for things im purposefully not recommending any specific software but seriously just use ublock origin for an adblocker)
how to not get a virus while pirating something
what a temporary email is and when to use one
red flags that you shouldn't trust a website (and how to quickly check the security of a site)
what javascript on a website does and how to disable it to get around paywalls
ok one last addition! if you want to take it one level higher, i think learning the very basics of at least one programming language is good for people. it makes computers less scary and it makes you feel very cool, and a lot of people get discouraged about it because it seems overly complicated and hard to learn outside a formal classroom setting, so heres some resources for learning the very basics of python (because i consider it the easiest language to learn and knowing one language will make it easier to learn others)
an online compiler so you dont need to download anything or worry about running code directly on your computer if that makes you nervous
a basic video guide to introduce you to python and walk you through beginner steps
a guide to some syntax and commands you should know (this was literally my lifeline in my first CS class)
some performance tasks to give you things to code to practice and assess yourself
I'm volunteering for a literary journal right now and there's two things I think you all should know.
1. Most people that submit to literary journals are cis white men. We know this because our journal has an anonymous survey about demographics for people that submit.
2. Most things that get submitted to the creative non fiction section are on the level of middle school "What I did over the summer" essays.
I cannot see the demographics of the people whose essays I'm reading, but guys, if you are wondering if you should submit your work to a literary journal or not, I promise you that just in terms of statistics there are a lot of mediocre cis white men and people in general confidently submitting weird crap that isn't literature to literature magazines. Do it. Submit your work. Please. If you want there to be more diversity in literature, be the diversity. Do it. Do it do it do it.
In general literary magazines want to include more diversity, but if poc, queer people, disabled people, etc. don't submit their work then they aren't gonna get more diverse because we just won't have the material necessary to get more diverse. Submit your work. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it.
Here's a list of university run literary journals. Do it. Get published.
Many indie lit mags also welcome works from BIPOC and LGBTQIA creatives because the editorial staff themselves are in that demographic. Quarantine brought on the start of the SO many indie lit mags - it’s almost a golden age. Don’t be afraid to submit — there will always be so many niches and aesthetics that one will bound to be the one that fits your style.
There is so much work from marginalized narratives in litmags these days — people lament there is no representation in media, but that disregards the progress and diversity of the works of editors and writers who help make these litmags possible.
There is representation, and it is flourishing. They are waiting to be read.
The Lumiere Review compiles a list of submission opportunities every month, and it are always very useful:
https://lumierereview.com/sub-sep-oct-2021
List of Litmags that Specifically Look for Work from Marginalized Creators or is Run by Marginalized Creators:
Warning Lines: https://warninglines.com/
With Confetti: https://with-confetti.com/
Giving Room Magazine: http://www.givingroommag.com/
The Bitchin’ Kitsch: https://www.talbot-heindl.com/
Tealight Press: https://www.tealightpress.com/
Tipping the Scales: https://www.tippingthescalesjournal.co.uk/
The Winnow Magazine: https://www.thewinnowmagazine.com/
perhappened: https://www.perhappened.com/
AZE Journal: https://azejournal.com/
Honeyfire Lit: https://honeyfirelit.com/
and so much more!!
(And even if some litmags’ mission statement isn’t specifically for marginalized creators, they will always welcome these narratives.)
So please, please submit!
Independent magazines are great too! I’m more familiar with the university journal scene so I appreciate this addition.
hello, this is a list of asian literary journals!! it emphasizes south-east asian journals, but there’s a few from other regions as well
I need you folks who are going back to school to understand this, sleep deprivation is not something to be proud of. You are being fed capitalist propaganda to make you believe that working yourself to the bone is a good and smart business model from a young age. If all you do is “get 3 hours of sleep” because you’re studying, you’re just gonna burn out quicker, forget the information you’re trying to cram, and cause your brain to cannibalize itself.
Do not compete by making unhealthy habits. This will only fuck you up in the long run.
It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.
There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!
I took calculus my senior year of high school, and I really liked the way our teacher framed this on the first day of class.
He asked somebody to raise their hand and ask him when we would use calculus in our everyday life. So one student rose their hand and asked, “When are we going to use this in our everyday life?”
“NEVER!!” the teacher exclaimed. “You will never use calculus in your normal, everyday life. In fact, very few of you will use it in your professional careers either.” Then he paused. “So would you like to know why should care?”
Several us nodded.
He picked out one of the varsity football players in the class. “You practice football a lot during the week, right Tim?” asked the teacher.
“Yeah,” replied Tim. “Almost every day.”
“Do you and your teammates ever lift weights during practice?”
“Yeah. Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend a lot of practice in the weight room.”
“But why?” asked the teacher. “Is there ever going to be a play your coach tells you use during a game that requires you to bench press the other team?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then why lift weights?”
“Because it makes us stronger,” said Tim.
“Bingo!!” said the teacher. “It’s the same thing with calculus. You’re not here because you’re going to use calculus in your everyday life. You’re here because calculus is weightlifting for your brain.”
And I’ve never forgotten that.
THIS.
When it’s taught right, learning math teaches you logic and how to organize your brain, how to take a problem one step at a time and make sure every step can bear weight before you move to the next one. Most adults don’t need to know integrals, but goddamn if I don’t wish everyone making arguments on the internet understood geometric proofs.
Scientific concepts broaden our understanding of how the world is put together, which does not mean that most adults ever really understand how light is refracted through a lens or why spinning copper wire creates electricity–and they don’t need to. But science classes in general are meant to teach the scientific method: how to make observations and use them to draw conclusions, how to test those conclusions, how to be wrong and grow stronger from it.
History isn’t about dates and names of battles, it’s about people, patterns, things we’ve tried before and ought to learn from. It’s about how everything is linked, how changing one circumstance can lead to changes in fifty others, cascading infinitely. Literature is about critical thinking, pattern recognition, learning to listen to what somebody is saying and decide what it means to you, how you feel about it, and what you want to do with it.
Some facts matter: every adult should know how to read a graph, how global warming works, some of the basic themes and symbols that crop up in every piece of fiction. But ultimately, content is less important later in life than context.
The good thing is, students who learn the content are likely to pick up at least some of the context, some of the patterns of thinking, even if they don’t realize it. (The unfortunate thing is how the current educational system prioritizes content so much that a lot of students, and a lot of adults, don’t see the point in learning either, and teachers are overworked and held to standardize test grading scales such that it’s hard for them to emphasize patterns of thinking over rote memorization, etc etc etc, but that is a whole different discussion.)
I would also add that giving as broad an education to as many as possible gives everyone the opportunity to follow a career that might use calculus. Or colour theory. Or electromagnetism. Or [insert specialism here]. If we gatekeep specialisms, those careers are only available for the ones who were privileged enough to have the background training. That’s why Classics as a degree subject is full of private school kids: it’s not offered in state education.
also quite frankly, when you learn some things you do start seeing them in your everyday life.
When we learned about friction in high school Physics, where a lot of us were soon-to-be new drivers, the teacher emphasized that what we were learning would show us why the roads were more dangerous in the rain or snow or ice. I didnt become a rocket scientist, but I became a safer driver because I take it more seriously that slowing down really makes a huge difference (an exponential difference) to the amount of damage a crash can cause: I saw it in the numbers
When we grew bacteria cultures from everyday surfaces in biology, I saw just how much bacteria accumulates on a phone screen. I didn’t go on to work for the CDC, but i started wiping off my phone when i got home from work, and got sick less frequently the next few winters
When I took a landscape design class from the horticulture department as an elective in college, we learned about some of the common trees that were planted in suburban areas. I didnt become an arborist, but I started noticing which trees were causing my springtime allergies more and was better able to anticipate when to start taking claritin or wearing a mask
There are things around you every day that you dont see because you werent trained to notice them. It’s like when someone introduces you to a song and then suddenly you hear it everywhere, or you learn the name of an actor and suddenly theyre popping up in movies all the time. You see it because the information became meaningful to you by having it pointed out. The same can happen academically. Plenty of time youll find a way to use it, just not necessarily for the same exercises in your homework.
Here's an excerpt from our most recent post:
To Hell and Back for Cheap Groceries: The Epic Investigation (and Shocking Results) of My Grocery Store Price Comparison Quest
what are treasury bills? are they like a stock to invest in, or are they secret money yet to be made in the money factory, or what?
Treasury bills (T-bills) and their counterpart treasury bonds (T-bonds) are NOT stocks, but they are a bit like an investment.
Very very very simply, they are loans YOU give to the U.S. government, to be collected at a later date with interest. T-bills are shorter term (and therefore lower interest) and T-bonds are longer term (with longer interest). You can cash them in when they mature for the full value of the bond.
Example: In 2000 you spent $100 to buy a treasury bond worth $1,000 with a maturation date of 2020. You hold onto it for 20 years, and in 2020 you cash it in for $1,000, earning yourself a tidy profit of $900. (Note: I have no idea of the current rates so these numbers might not be realistic.)
A lot of people diversify their investment portfolios with bonds in addition to stocks because they are generally less volatile than stocks.
If that sounds like a load of confusing bullshit, not to fret! We explain at length right here:
Investing Deathmatch: Stocks vs. Bonds
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Heyo, this is for the emergency communications anon asking about paying for a test. I’m an HR professional with the degree and over six years exp., yada yada, and my answer to ‘is this a scam?’ is…it depends. Your ask isn’t super clear in an important regard - does the application require you to pay $50 and take a test to even apply? Or does the job listing say in order to be hired, you have to pass the test so if you are selected, be prepared to take the test which costs $50 and which you are responsible for paying for?
Emergency services like a dispatcher have standards and certification requirements galore (which is good! We like making sure first responders know what they’re doing!) so if the position requires you to pass the test before starting work and the test costs $50 bucks, they’re actually giving you a heads up that you’re on the hook for the testing fee. You may or may not have a grace period upon hire in which to take the test, so the posting might say something like ‘selected applicants must possess XYZ certification or be able to obtain said certification within 6 months of hire’. Some municipalities might even hold a sort of open call at the testing center where you show up, take the test and, if you pass, they’ll offer you a job which you can take or leave. (Emergency services are often desperately understaffed.) This is a legit way to hire for this type of job and again, they’re being honest about the cost you’re expected to cover.
If the posting wants you to take a test and pay $50 as a part of your application and if you don’t pay $50, you can’t apply for the job, that’s quacking like the biggest scam duck at the dock. Either contact the emergency services department directly to confirm (they may not know they’re being spoofed for a scam) or pass on this one to be safe.
Good luck and don’t let ‘em fuck you over!
THANK YOU!!!
This is great advice. We appreciate you sharing your wisdom with the whole class! Also, we would love to follow an HR professional. If you're comfortable, DM us your @!
Hi bitches! Maybe weird question lol? Should you only pay your credit cards once a month (if you have no debt at all and you're simply trying to build credit) or can you do it more than that? A friend said they've just been paying it back a few days after they use their card and they do that a few times a month to build their credit faster. I've never heard of this so idk
Your friend ain't wrong. In fact, we explain this method in detail in this article:
Kill Your Debt Faster With the Death by a Thousand Cuts Technique
Really, the best way to maintain a good credit score is to establish good habits early and stick to them (easier said than done), which we talk about here:
Credit Card Companies HATE Her! Stay Out of Credit Card Debt With This One Weird Trick
... but really, credit scores are fucked up and we should all be mad about them! Which we talk about here:
Credit Scoring Is a Racist, Classist System that Has Us All Trapped
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This is how my mum uses hers, and how she taught us as kids for when we needed one. Use it for bills and then transfer the money over immediately. She taught us that if we didn’t have the money in our account to transfer, we should only use the card for emergencies, or if we knew we would have the money come in soon (ie a few days before pay day).
I.e. she uses it as a credit score builder and a way to get around cash flow.
AI, Plagiarism, and CYA
Shout-out for all the students gearing up to go back to school in increasingly frustrated times when dealing with all this AI bullshit. As you've probably noticed, lots of institutions have adapted anti-plagiarism software that incorporates AI detectors that - surprise - aren't that great. Many students are catching flack for getting dinged on work that isn't AI generated, and schools are struggling to catch up to craft policies that uphold academic rigor. It sucks for everyone involved!
As a student, it can really feel like you're in a bind, especially if you didn't do anything wrong. Your instructor isn't like to be as tech-savvy as some, and frankly, you might not be as tech-savvy as you think either. The best thing to do, no matter how your school is handling things, is to Cover Your Ass.
Pay attention to the academic policy. Look, I know you probably skimmed the syllabus. Primus knows I did too, but the policy there is the policy the instructor must stick with. If the policy sets down a strong 'don't touch ChatGPT with a ten-foot pole' standard, stick to it. If you get flagged for something you thought was okay because you didn't read the policy carefully, you don't have ground to stand on if you get called out.
Turn off Autosave and save multiple (named) drafts. If you're using Microsoft Word because your school gives you a free license, the handy Autosave feature may be shooting you in the foot when it comes to proving you did the work. I know this seems counter-intuitive, but I've seen this bite enough people in the ass to recommend students go old-school. Keep those "draft 1234" in a file just in case.
Maintaining timestamped, clearly different drafts of a paper can really help you in the long-run. GoogleDocs also goes a much better job of tracking changes to a document, and may be something to consider, however, with all this AI shit, I'm hesitant to recommend Google. Your best bet, overall, is to keep multiple distinctive drafts that prove how your paragraphs evolved from first to final.
Avoid Grammarly, ProWiritingAid, etc. All that handy 'writing tools' software that claims to help shore up your writing aren't doing you any favors. Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and other software throw up immediate flags in AI-detection software. You may have only used it to clean up the grammar and punctuation, but if the AI-detection software says otherwise, you might be screwed. They're not worth using over a basic spell and grammar check in both Word and GoogleDocs can already do.
Cite all citations and save your sources! This is basic paper-writing, but people using ChatGPT for research often neglect to check to make sure it isn't making shit up, and that made up shit is starting to appear on other parts of the internet. Be sure to click through and confirm what you're using for your paper is true. Get your sources and research material from somewhere other than a generative language model, which are known for making shit up. Yes, Wikipedia is a fine place to start and has rigorously maintained sources.
Work with the support your school has available. My biggest mistake in college was not reaching out when I felt like I was drowning, and I know how easy it is to get in you head and not know where to turn when you need more help. But I've since met a great deal of awesome librarians, tutors, and student aid staff that love nothing more to devote their time to student success. Don't wait at the last moment until they're swamped - you can and will succeed if you reach out early and often.
I, frankly, can't wait for all this AI bullshit to melt down in a catastrophic collapse, but in the meantime, take steps to protect yourself.
Hey here is your friendly reminder to not tell your nice boss stuff.
I’m at the executive management level for my very small company and I have 4 people who report directly to me. I am a nice boss. I’m friendly with my employees, I treat them like professional adults, I actively try to create a positive work environment, and I mentor them and make sure they’re advancing in their careers. I do my best to shield them from the rest of management doing stupid shit. My employees like working for me.
The other day one of my employees came to ask if she could change her hours on Mondays. I said yes immediately because it’s helpful for me to know when she’s here and when she’s not, but as long as she gets her work done I don’t care when and where she does it. She then proceeded to tell me that it was so she could attend therapy and like … I will never use this information but … as a general rule don’t fucking do that.
Do not tell your employer shit about your mental or physical health except for the bare minimum needed to request a reasonable accommodation. Even your nice boss can fire you, even your nice boss can unfairly change your working conditions, and even your nice boss at some point is probably going to face pressure from their superiors.
I’m not saying don’t trust your boss with anything ever. I’m just saying that anytime you are in the workplace you need to keep your private information private. You can still have a good relationship with your boss. Your workplace can still be pleasant. But if it ever feels like disclosing private information is required in order to have a good relationship with your boss, please see that as a red flag.
This post got a like out of nowhere and I only vaguely remember writing it and I’m not entirely sure which of my employees inspired it, but it still holds.
The people need food
My contempt towards a brand is directly proportional to how often they interrupt my playlists.
My late father was the one who taught me to be cynical about advertising, for all that putting up ads was literally his whole job. He taught me from a very young age that advertising is expensive, and they tack that cost onto the price. That if something is heavily advertised, you can count on the fact that there's an identical product out there, usually even manufactured in the same factory, that's cheaper because they don't spend all that money on advertising.
A German friend walked me through Lidl, turning over items to show the factories where the items were manufactured and what expensive brands they correspond to, we did taste tests on some of the more pricey food things later and they were the same product. learning about food manufacturing was a hobby for her.
European glasses and sunglasses are made in the same Italian factories that make the luxury ones, they have the same quality control and warranty. You are paying €100 for a logo.
Some things cost more because they are actually made with better quality materials and where the workers are properly compensated, others are the same product as the off brand version with the brand name markup. It takes a lifetime to learn the intricacies which is why consumer advocacy associations and legal protection by (truly) independent agencies is crucial.
Why Name Brand Products Are Beneath You: The Honor and Glory of Buying Generic
Imagine if you met someone who can't eat watermelon. Not that they're allergic or unable somehow, but they just haven't figured out how to do that. So you're like "what the hell do you mean? it works just like eating anything else, you open your mouth, sink your teeth in, take a bite and chew. If you can bite, chew and swallow, you should be able to eat a watermelon."
And they agree that yes, they do know how to eat, in theory. The problem is the watermelon. Surely, if they figured out where to start, they'd figure out how to do it, but they have no clue how to get started with it.
This goes back and forth. No, it's not an emotional issue, they're not afraid of the watermelon. They can eat any other fruit, other sweet things, and other watery things ("it's watery?" they ask you). Is it the colour? Do they have a problem eating things that are green on the outside and red on the inside?
"It's red on the inside?"
Wait, they've never seen the inside? At this point you have to ask them how, exactly, they eat the watermelon. So to demonstrate, they take a whole, round, uncut watermelon, and try to bite straight into it. Even if they could bite through the crust, there's no way to get human jaws around it.
"Oh, you're supposed to cut it first. You cut the crust open and only chew through the insides."
And they had no idea. All their life this person has had no idea how to eat a watermelon, despite of being told again and again and again that it's easy, it's ridiculous to struggle with something so simple, there's no way that someone just can't eat a watermelon, how can you even mange to be bad at something as fucking simple as eating watermelon.
If someone can't do something after being repeatedly told to "just do it", there might be some key component missing that one side has no idea about, and the other side assumed was so obvious it goes without mention.
Yep.
https://drmaciver.substack.com/p/how-to-do-everything had a nice list of additional examples like this, with (non-)obvious major insights with regard to opening stitched bags, cleaning your bathroom floor, using a search engine, catching a ball, pinging somebody, proving a theorem, playing sudoku, passing as “normal”, improving your writing, generating novel ideas, and solving your problem.
If you’d asked me six months ago how to get better at something, I’d probably have pointed you to how to do hard things. I still think this is a good approach and you should do it, but I now think it’s the wrong starting point and I’ve been undervaluing small insights. [...]
I think my revised belief is that if you are stuck at how to get better at something, spend a little while assuming there’s just some trick to it you’ve missed. You can try to generate the trick yourself, but it’s probably easier to learn it by observing someone else being good at the thing, asking them some questions, and seeing if you have any lightbulb moment.
I always look for the trick before I start. This is why I can build a computer and repair an appliance and sharpen knives and figure out which tool to buy. Mostly YouTube videos.
