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Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

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Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#131

Post by antonvs »

dwoldrich wrote: post #111
antonvs wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't hate you. But I object to your unwillingness to understand science, and your willingness to jump to conclusions that aren't supported by evidence. Wilful ignorance like that is exactly what leads to many of the kinds of issues OP is raising.

[flagged]

The points you raise are indeed wilful ignorance, easily rebutted.

I gave you a link which summarizes the subject well, with plenty of references. If you're genuinely interested in understanding the world, you would study that. But what you're doing instead is cherry-picking reasons to refuse to accept strong evidence. Al Gore, really? You're really scraping the bottom of the denial barrel.

Ironically, in your attempts to not be conned by grifters, you're falling for one of the biggest cons of all: the ongoing oil company attacks on anything that threatens the oil industry. If you're not getting paid by them, you're being suckered.

Aside from the reference I gave, you would also benefit from reading books like "Asking the Right Questions", by Neil Browne & Stuart Keeley; Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World"; and "Thinking and Deciding" by Jonathan Baron. These will help you distinguish between rational thinking and rationalizations.

> So, spare me your shame game identity politics.

Nothing I've said even remotely approaches anything like that. I'm describing well-documented and well-supported facts, and pointing out that refusing to try to understand or accept those is problematic, and that by doing so along with millions of others, you're perpetuating major problems in the world. But your victimhood mentality fits right in with the conspiratorial mindset.

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#132

Post by wise_blood »

ManlyBread wrote: post #7

>AI I'm apathetic. It's there, it's a tool. >international conflicts I am fortunate enough to not live in the countries mentioned. I am close to Ukraine so this one is sort-of important to me in terms that I don't want Russia to win, but at the same time there's no point in following the news closely. If something big happens I will most definitively hear about it whether I'd like it or not. >The US / Europe Nothing…

I feel like I could've wrote this word-for-word.

I'm Pierre Menard

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#134

Post by dmos62 »

antonvs wrote: post #112
dmos62 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An emotionally charged rant (what other kind is there?) is a projection. It can be good when you're overwhelmed and need to get through a crisis, but it's bad long term. That's how I see it, at least.

“It’s bad long term” is an unsupported assertion. Why do you believe it?

Experience? Lying to yourself only seems to make things worse? It can be agonizing, and you rob yourself of agency. I'm surprised this is not self-evident. How do you see projections affecting people long-term?

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#135

Post by [deleted] »

morgengold wrote: post #106
appreciatorBus wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not watching/reading "news" or engaging in mass or social media is not withdrawal. Rather it is doing that which opens the space in your mind to be able to "choose a small area where you can make something better". As long as you are on a hamster wheel of "Trump said this" "Trump said that" you can't make anything better in your life, nor be of much service to anyone else.

I'm all in on a healthy information diet. I was more concerned with comments like: "I am apathetic to everything because there is nothing I can do about any of that. I am a speck of dust on a cog of a machine. There is absolutely no point of worrying about any of this."

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#136

Post by NatKarmios »

Lots of people suggesting consuming news / social media in a reserved and more healthy way. I agree, but I also suggest a step further; get involved in local community. You'll feel a much greater sense of agency and can have a measurably positive impact on people's lives when you're not so focused on the global stage.

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#138

Post by mejutoco »

mvcosta91 wrote: post #53
boyter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the above. Stop reading the news. It makes you depressed or angry. Go hiking. Walk on the beach. Play with a dog or your children. Climb a tree. Leave the slave slab phone at home, or delete every news and social app. Do not browse the web. Take a book and read. It will be hard at first. Then it gets easier. Best thing I ever did. Reminder. What passes for news today wouldn’t have registered for most people 10…

Seconding this. I only heard about Iran bombing 23 hours after it happened. I was playing SimCity 2013 with my 7yo. I’m reading older books, playing older games, exercising, and keeping a loose eye on AI so I don’t fall too far behind, but I always wait about two months before adopting anything new (like Claude Code, new tools, etc.). I know that’s pretty superficial, but the goal is staying sane, right?

Other people did the same as you and are now stranded halfway around the world waiting for flights.

I get the gist of it but I think being informed is useful. The best way is having access to quality news with a balance. It does not need to be constant outrage.

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#139

Post by mejutoco »

patrickk wrote: post #73
pendenthistory wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leaving your job has a different sense of finality now. When time comes to look for a new job, will the job even exist anymore? Makes the risk calculus a bit different. Maybe there won't be mass unemployment, but even a modest increase in SWE unemployment could make it so much harder and more stressful to find a job.

We’re already seeing the impact of AI in the jobs market for junior devs, and in marketing and more. So there’s unquestionably going to be a rough adjustment period. My thought on it is to build something concrete that I own, and take advantage of the disruption of possible, instead of being crushed by it.

I could be wrong but I feel like there are more opportunities in marketing now with seo being polluted by ai. Paying for ads seems more necessary.

Re: Ask HN: How are you all staying sane?

#140

Post by murm »

Well, the Hebrew word for adversary or opponent is satan. Regardless of whether you actually believe in satan or god(s), I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to point out that there are lots of adversarial things happening in the world at the moment. All sorts of things in opposition to peace, to harmony, to human flourishing, etc., which are the good things any sane human would pursue.

I think the main goal of an opponent, concrete or imaginary, is to leave you in a discouraged state. When you get discouraged, you start to lose your momentum and your will to live. You become anxious, paralyzed and confused, which is to say: easy to defeat. This is exactly what an adversary would want you to do.

So, to answer the question: I do everything in my power to not get discouraged. I keep on trucking, being productive, helping out people, taking care of my loved ones and maintaining a positive, lighthearted mindset. I am hitting back by the sheer audacity of staying cheerful in these times, because that would absolutely enrage an enemy that wants to see me discouraged and defeated.

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