undefined | Better HN

0 pointssoulofmischief6y ago0 comments

> My choosing of phrase “A popular basketball player” is not to dismiss him on the basis of his profession but to contextualize his authority

So you admit, you're making an appeal to (lack of) authority. And it is based on his profession, or you wouldn't have brought up his profession while attempting to discredit his thoughts.

0 comments

2 comments · 1 top-level

acituan6y ago· 1 in thread

Discrediting him based on his profession would be saying "don't listen to a basketball player about work". That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying "don't give much credence to an immensely popular and powerful basketball player about work, because he is an outlier of outliers". He could have been an immensely popular and rich plumber for all I care, I still wouldn't put much weight to the fact that he "liked work".

If you feel like you can identify with Kobe Bryant to the point of finding his work/life advice useful, go ahead. I don't. I find it misleading. I find it harmful. He is far from being the top thinker on this matter. He is not Bertrand Russel talking "In Praise of Idleness". He is irrelevant.

soulofmischiefOP6y ago

I'm sorry, but I can't understand why you don't see the utility in listening to what a highly successful person has to say about their personal work ethic.

Reread the quote again. He wasn't giving advice. He was explaining his own mentality. You jumped the gun and started criticizing him as if he is proselytizing on the streets.

If there are any criticisms to be had about what Kobe said, they could be made in good faith without an unnecessary mention of his career as a limiting factor of his experience.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse