[jpatokal]

Whoah. I thought you were joking there, but that's actually Principle #41. Here's the whole tract:

http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManager/Principles/Bridgew...

Which reads like a particularly ego-centric self-help book, down to creepy formulae. "Pain + Reflection = Progress" or "1+1=3", anyone?

[yummyfajitas]

By comparing it to "1+1=3", you seem to be hinting that "pain + reflection = progress" is false. Is that actually your belief?

Or do you believe it to be true but merely creepy?

(Personally I consider it to be completely true. Most of my personal progress has come directly from pain, reflection, and then deliberate effort. Where does your personal progress come from?)

[wavefunction]

Some pain is just pain, it's meaningless and even reflecting on it does you no good.

So it's obviously not "true" but at best "sometimes true."

[arethuza]

For some reason this discussion reminds me of Yossarian's rant about pain and god in Catch 22.

[dwpdwpdwpdwpdwp]

If it is completely true, then surely "pain = progress - reflection" must also be completely true.

[jpatokal]

I'm OK with choosing to take on pain to grow. I do, however, find it creepy when a company's publicly stated values glorify pain.