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Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

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Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#161

Post by samatman »

vldx wrote: post #142
samatman wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to elaborate on this, and strongly urge OP to see a psychiatrist. The answer to your dilemma might be a new career. It might be cognitive behavioral therapy. It also might be an SSRI or modafinil. I have my guesses but they aren't at all interesting, the point is to get in touch with a professional who can help you figure this out. What you're experiencing isn't normal, or inevitable, and it doesn't mean you…

How modafinil might help? As treatment of potential undiagnosed ADHD?

Yeah, distinct possibility IMHO.

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#162

Post by datavirtue »

ci5er wrote: post #78
throwaway88p wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I'm stupid, but I do believe that most people have a sort of "ceiling" in regards to their capabilities, intellectual or otherwise. I'm mostly curious about what to do when those something they're interested in 's fall outside of your capability.

This is interesting to me. I used to be very "into" agent-based computation economics - trying to synthesize macro from micro. And small-worlds neetworks and the intersection, and a a fair amount of systems biology. After a blow to the head that caused some noticable brain damage and loss of IQ points, I'm still interested, but it's a LOT harder! I remember thinking much vaster thoughts than I can think now. Which su…

People have experienced nearly full recovery from traumatic brain damage (pieces of brain missing etc) by quaffing Nordic Naturals Pro Omega 2000. The case I know of (used that brand) was under the care of medical professionals and documented (though I couldn't turn it by a quick search).

This might point you in a good direction though: https://omega3innovations.com/blog/the-road-to-brain-injury-...

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#163

Post by wolco »

aidenn0 wrote: post #100
Mirioron wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the question that inevitably pops up from this: what do you do if nothing interests you in this way? There are interesting things, sure, but those are usually fleeting. You'll be interested in something for a month or two and then lose interest in it. You can't earn a living on that. What do you do then?

A while back, I overheard a coworker of mine was complaining about a cousin that was couch-surfing his way through relatives, not getting a job, just playing video games all day and moving on to a different relative or friend after getting kicked out of the last place he stayed. The coworker and the person he was talking to were both very confused by how anyone could ever want to live that way. I had a very different…

A lot of people at age 22 live with their parents and play video games or do whatever.

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#164

Post by mr_gibbins »

I'd like to quote the inestimable and late Richard Feynman here.

“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”

“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#166

Post by punchclockhero »

dennis_jeeves wrote: post #158

throwaway88p, I think you actually seem to a very mentally healthy guy, despite what the nerds over here suggest. The obsession to solve intellectual problems for the sake of solving problems with no grounding in reality ( or a made up reality) is what is glorified by these nerds here. While this obsessive trait (hard wired) does result in some extraordinary benefits for humanity, it is not mentally rewarding for som…

I remember reading an old post on here by some anon who managed to make themselves enjoy math using a carefully crafted psychedelic trip. Could be a fluke on the level of curing OCD with a gunshot, but also an interesting possibility.

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#167

Post by [deleted] »

twomoretime wrote: post #39

I'm going to buck the trend here and say that if intelligence is approximately normally distributed, there will always be some proportion of the population that doesn't meet the minimum in the necessary dimensions. The point is not to demoralize someone, but to prevent them from spending a lifetime of angst and anguish in a field that is not totally beyond their grasp but always just far enough above their head to ke…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#168

Post by dennis_jeeves »

punchclockhero wrote: post #166
dennis_jeeves wrote: post #158

throwaway88p, I think you actually seem to a very mentally healthy guy, despite what the nerds over here suggest. The obsession to solve intellectual problems for the sake of solving problems with no grounding in reality ( or a made up reality) is what is glorified by these nerds here. While this obsessive trait (hard wired) does result in some extraordinary benefits for humanity, it is not mentally rewarding for som…

I remember reading an old post on here by some anon who managed to make themselves enjoy math using a carefully crafted psychedelic trip. Could be a fluke on the level of curing OCD with a gunshot, but also an interesting possibility.

I can agree here, most psychedelics ( and to a lesser degree foods and other drugs) will have some mind altering effects. There was someone online a long time back who claimed that there is very reliable way to forget certain memories ( useful when trying to forget traumatic events) by using some combination of substances.

Re: Ask HN: Not smart enough to a programmer, where to take my life from here?

#170

Post by giardini »

punchclockhero wrote: post #166
dennis_jeeves wrote: post #158

throwaway88p, I think you actually seem to a very mentally healthy guy, despite what the nerds over here suggest. The obsession to solve intellectual problems for the sake of solving problems with no grounding in reality ( or a made up reality) is what is glorified by these nerds here. While this obsessive trait (hard wired) does result in some extraordinary benefits for humanity, it is not mentally rewarding for som…

I remember reading an old post on here by some anon who managed to make themselves enjoy math using a carefully crafted psychedelic trip. Could be a fluke on the level of curing OCD with a gunshot, but also an interesting possibility.

punchclockhero says*>"Could be a fluke on the level of curing OCD with a gunshot, but also an interesting possibility."No need to get so drastic: our OP should simply sign up for the military.

After several years of someone else telling him what to do in no uncertain terms, he will develop a clear direction of his own. Plus they'll train him in a skill! I suggest plumbing, b/c there are plenty of jobs and it pays well!8-))

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