Paul GrahamVerified account

If you had asked me when I was younger to to make a list of valuable skills, I probably wouldn't have included the ability to notice anomalies, but I'm increasingly convinced this is one of the most valuable skills of all.

If I ask what the difference is between this and the skills I would have listed, it's that the latter were taught (or at least measured) in school. But how could you teach noticing anomalies in a way that could be turned into a grade?

As soon as I asked that question, I realized you probably could teach noticing anomalies, if you taught essay writing properly instead of teaching it as a bad imitation of research on English literature (http://paulgraham.com/essay.html  ).

I find it fascinating how you’re one of the few people who can look back at what you wrote 15+ years ago and NOT cringe. (Not implying it deserves cringe - your thoughts are great) But why do you think this is Paul? I couldn’t share what I wrote 1 year ago without cringing

Nice of you to say so. This may sound boring, but I think it's simply because when I write essays I spend a lot of time trying to get things right. IIRC I spent weeks on that one.

But I can't help but notice quite a few deviations between what you wrote and what happened. Like when you said don't build the next social media network like Twitter in 2005, but Instagram happened in 2010. I guess it's not possible to get EVERYTHING right!