

Crash-Only Thinking - zdw
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2014/10/29/crash-only-thinking/

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oretoz
I have been reading Ribbonfarm for sometime now and I really like how Venkat
analyses things. But to me, the problem starts after I finish reading those
articles as I really don't know what to do with that knowledge.

So I have started to summarise what he says which incidentally is the exact
opposite of how he likes to write i.e. write long pieces with almost every
conceivable point covered.

And to me, the TLDR version of most things he says on his blog is this:

\- Life is messy so don't look for smooth contours. Instead, indulge yourself
into the messiness.

This is quite similar to what I felt when I (partially) read Antifragility by
Taleb. I am sure there are many nuances but there was one TLDR version of that
book that kept popping up in my head and it was this: \- "What doesn't kill
you makes you stronger." So the best strategy is not to avoid death but to
make sure you get yourself into situations where death is a real possibility.

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EdwardCoffin
This idea of applying crash-only principles to life and business reminds me a
lot of how Hubertus Bigend [1], a character in William Gibson's [2] late
period trilogy [3]. This was especially apparent in the third book, Zero
History [4].

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertus_Bigend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertus_Bigend)

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson)

[3]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson#Late_period_nove...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson#Late_period_novels)

[4]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_History](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_History)

Edit: formatting

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kukla
Here is a summary of the crash-only software paper at muratbuffalo blog. It is
a really neat concept.

[http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2011/01/crash-only-
software...](http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2011/01/crash-only-software-
hotos03.html)

------
fideloper
What?

Did Venkatesh write this by crashing into the keyboard?

It feels like the author is breathlessly moving on from point to point like a
stream of cociousness.

~~~
jeffdavis
+1

The point went between software, business, life, and biological systems with
no segue at all.

And it doesn't ring true for me. If you just collapse on the ground, you can
recover and pull yourself up, and heal your wounds. But it's much more
advisable to lie down gently on a soft surface.

