Ask HN: How can I come to peace with the years I wasted on pointless things?

It’s good to be inspired by the greats like Carmack, but understand that they are a representation of a transcendent ideal to strive for.

Also when you were in your formative years, your time playing video games was not entirely wasted. During young adulthood your brain is still growing, video games are giving your neocortex practice at:

- Fine grained motor control - The ability to concentrate - Understanding the complex interactions of rule based systems

Now that you’ve got a little older you are starting to appreciate and question the strategic value of those actions and not just the tactical benefits - welcome to adulthood - your perception of time is broadening, your meta-cognition had formed, and you’re ready to enter the world and push at the edges of yourself.

Self doubt is normal, but make sure that it’s driving constructive criticism of your actions and not over analysis that leads to paralysis. Failures are a necessary part of the path, so take every valuable learning from each failure, re-orient yourself upwards, and keep going. We have never been in a better position as a society for industrious people to launch companies, for the information to self teach to be freely available, and for an ambitious young person to maximise their potential, keep going!

Agreed, burnout is a spectrum. It sounds like we're on the same page.

If this is something you've struggled with, I feel for you. It sounds terribly frustrating and disappointing. You are not alone. I hope you find a way to get your mojo back and rediscover or recover the joy you previously found in programming!

If you enjoy something it is not wasted time. Listening to speakers like this and engaging in communities like this can cause negative feedback loops. Don't be frustrated about it. Just realized you are normal and a human being with your own unique circumstances. Don't judge yourself based on the backgrounds and privileges of others. If you have an interest in something meet new people and see if you can explore interests together. Sadly our current world doesn't allow for people to be able to do this outside exclusive groups. To say the least don't feel down about your situation. If you weren't part of these groups originally the likelyhood of you joining them is low. We as humans naturally tend to exclude newcomers.

Your generation is taught to be unreasonable in their expectations, this website is basically made up of prodigal children who all missed some substantial developmental milestones but who ended up being rewarded for years of interest in very specific topics. Bertrand Russell correctly stated that time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. If you have now decided you want change, then great. However, you have played so much World of Warcraft, you are beginning to view life as some sort of RPG you need to min/max. You don't. While removing distractions can be useful, your interest led you where it led you. I'm much the same and am now happily employed as a dev and I still game in my 30s. I have fantastic and substantial memories of virtual worlds and summers with amazing people and alone. 23 is ridiculously young, by western european standards these days you are effectively still an adolescent.

In terms of comparisons, John Carmack made some decent contributions, but you have zero insight into the costs of it. Much of compulsive recreational thrill seeking is due to emotional instability from childhood, so I think a small amount of therapy, and cutting yourself some slack is in order.

When I saw the title I thought this might be from someone in their 50s or 60s.

At 23 you haven’t wasted anything. You’re just getting started. I would argue instead how boring things would be if you just picked something at 10 and only did that.

We’re supposed to change as we get older. You’re not the person you were before so just focus on who you are now.