31–40 of 158 posts
Two suggestions:
a) Read Matt Ridley's Rational optimist : This shows the arc of progress and provides strong arguments on how our future will be better
b) https://thomasjbevan.substack.com/p/all-news-is-bad-news : Basically asks you not to read the news at all, unless there is something that you can use a year from now.
Advice on this sort of thing is always contextual. > So I work, always, because I'm anxious I won't be able to provide for the people around me, my sister won't earn enough to feed her family, my mom won't be able to retire even though her work is killing her, my dad's small business will be ruined if the economy collapses... This indicates a great attitude. You have a massive sense of personal responsibility, not on…
Do you kn ow what feeding a declining asset is? It's not just buying such things as Cars then paying the sunk operational costs. It happens when you charge hourly and form business models with that feature.
First step is to find some way to package something that is zero costs in copying as a service.
Second step is to market that new product.
Third, mediation helps with anxiety
My biases:
1. Recovered ADHD sufferer 2. Former hourly gig person now working on a service style model of software business models
I'm an anxious personality and a pessimist through and through, but I'm super optimistic in the long run. Humanity is resilient and beautiful as heck.
If you like watching Netflix 24/7, by all means, do it. If you want to make a change in the world, just begin. If you feel you're in a work treadmill, quit.
Find out who you are and what you want to do with your time. Don't just get lazy and build a skill tree that lets you win the game others have made for you. That's boring and hollow, and you're right to be anxious about it.
> Given my income and my economic situation I shouldn't feel anxious, yet I can't relax thinking every hour spent watching netflix is in a way costing me ~110$.
I make about $3000 net per month. I work 4 days per week. Currently working remote, I'm also currently single (since very recent). I'm in another country. I take long walks, I meet people, I chill hardcore, it's nice. I spend about $2500 by not even thinking about money and making very unoptimized decisions. The way I view it, life is good, especially because the place I work for also provides a pension and there is a small state pension. If the market goes completely sideways, I'm a software developer! I'll get by. I'll teach high schoolers math (or any other subject) if I have to.
My life feels like a vacation. I need the 4 day work week in order to stay mentally sharp. I don't want to mentally decline, it's a health thing. I happen to make money with it as well. I don't fully like doing it (software engineering), but I don't hate it either. IMO that's the sweet spot, it constantly reminds me to have something of a work ethic. Quite frankly, I love the whole situation.
> So when I don't have any more work for the week, I work on my hard and soft skills through certifications so I can up even more my hourly rate.
I also work on my soft skills! I do it through dating. I meet people while sitting remote working in a cafe, or when I go on my daily walks. People come from all walks of life. I guess you learn totally different soft skills though ;-)
Hard skills? I learn it when the time requires me to. I've seen so many languages, while there's a lot to learn for me, there is at the same time nothing new under the sun. When I started out in my computer science bachelor it felt I was too stupid. I had a very hard time wrapping my head around programming. I've never had those difficulties since, learning stuff now simply takes time.
How can I live like this you might ask? Well, it's better for me to be chill than to be all riled up. I provide a bigger benefit by being relaxed, positive and helpful to other people. I know the world is falling apart (just a bit, not too much IMO, read Factfulness, it's written by a Norwegian economist, he has an awesome ted talk too [1]).
I agree to a large extent with the rest, can't provide a counter point to that. Feel free to email me if you want someone to talk to, as a curious fellow HN'er that is :)
Email is in my profile.
[1] https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve...
>I feel like we are destroying our planet, destroying our economy, we make poor people poorer, stir political extremes, we alienate the younger generation with social medias, there is war in Europe, everything is about politics when it should be about science and people... I think my opinion is unpopular, but it shouldn't be, and perhaps the fact that it's unpopular is part of the reason why so many people find thems…
Not sure if you enhance the stigma by writing this though.
Be glad you are alive now and not 100 years ago before they invented modern medicine. Back then they had real problems and yet civilization did not end.
You're effectively saying "you don't have any problems". It's an abusive tactic in relationships.
Make for a plan B and C and chill out. I have a few weeks of food reserve and can sail away in an instant if things turns ugly, with the mean to feed my family straight from the ocean.