Ask HN: How do you accept your place in the world?

I have the same idea. It’s easy to join all these efforts spanning years together in your mind after reading some of the internet. You’re then overwhelmed how much is there to achieve to get better than this brilliant-average. The fact is, it is still many years of hard work of many independent or parallel roles. It’s not an instant average, it’s a sum over time. If you’re a wide pro, it would be hell of a job getting “up there”. If you’re a sharp pro, it would be very hard to widen. You don’t have to be below average to feel this pressure, we in tech are just like these girls scrolling instagram, in a sense.

You don't have an alternative to being yourself, so there is nothing to think about.

By all means, do what you feel you would enjoy doing and balance it off with the needs of society (by making sure you earn enough currency to live).

If you feel you want to become a better researcher or a better chess player, go and do it. Keep in mind there is no reason comparing yourself to others. Everyone's life is vastly different.

Maybe that brilliant researcher has a broken family, maybe a great philosopher is broke and living in a barrel. What's the point of comparing yourself to someone else? Compare yourself to your past self and try to improve. And don't fret if you become worse, you'll have the rest of your life to improve.

I'd recommend reading something about stoicism: https://www.orionphilosophy.com/academy-stoicism/stoicism-fo...

My 2-cents.

> I feel like I know that I'm a nobody. I try not to compare myself; but I'm also unable to shrug these feeling off, however indirect

Everyone is a nobody even famous people. Everyone also feels that way, if you don't feel that way you are probably a psychopath, but that's also fine.

Focus on what matters, wealth, leisure time, whatever you pick keep in mind the clock is always ticking.

Small clarification fame really does not matter, it just makes wealth easier to attain usually.

Contribution to science or humanity in general should never be your focus, it usually happens as a side-effect of work you do either for money or because you enjoy it.

You are in a system that is telling you to be the greatest, and that anyone can be the greatest is the are smart and just try hard enough.

It’s bullsht.

You can either decide to try stop playing the game of capitalism, or look down instead of looking up while playing it.

The later means you are still playing the game, but it will be easier to cope with your suffering and you might just make some friends.

You are only seeing a deep truth that others cannot see; your work is insignificant. Go out and help someone less fortunate and you will see your true significance.

If you want to write a crazy compiler, I’m sure you can if you go take the time to bother.

The problem with life is that you only have so much time to do what you want to do. So it’s up to you where you spend your efforts.