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Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

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Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#51

Post by SoftTalker »

fsloth wrote: post #49
SoftTalker wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also doesn't have to be very complicated. patio11 on here famously got his start selling a program that made bingo cards for teachers. And then doing automated appointment reminders for doctors. Neither of these ideas was complicated or original -- you just need to solve a problem that enough people have, and (critically) be able to market it.

The marketing part is potentially quite challenging. As well as finding a niche market that is underserved. patio11 is famous because what he did was really non-trivial even though he is such a humble person he discusses his work in very homely terms.

Right, didn't intend to understate the achievement. Mostly emphasizing that the product idea does not have to be complicated or original. Success is overwhelmingly about it filling a need for the target market, execution, and professionalism.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#52

Post by waterbadger »

tasuki wrote: post #34
waterbadger wrote: post #25

[flagged]

Why Catholicism specifically? Why not any of the myriad of other Christian denominations? Why not Islam? Why not Buddhism? Why not any other religion?

That’s a great question! Basically all of the religions make truth claims, and these truth claims are contradictory. For example christianity says that there is one God and that Jesus is the son of God, fully human and fully divine. Every other religion makes truth claims as well. So we can kind of look at this in a patronizing way and say the truth claims don’t matter, just the effect of believing in them matters, which is kind of the modern approach, but obviously you are not seriously engaging with the beliefs at that point.

So I would say that christianity has the most logical, comprehensive and historically/experientially validated truth claims. As to why catholicism specifically its the church Jesus, ie God himself, founded. All the other christian denominations were founded by men hundreds or thousands of years later.

Plus (as does the eastern orthodox) for various reasons it has valid versions of all 7 of the sacraments, especially communion which is kind of the summit of the Christian life.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#53

Post by waterbadger »

evanjrowley wrote: post #39
waterbadger wrote: post #25

[flagged]

OP is based in Iraq

That is probably a very challenging situation and I don’t know the state of the church there. But I would say life is short and the benefits so enormous I would encourage anyone to do their best to pursue becoming a part of the church in whatever way they can. And I’m sure God will provide them with whatever resources they need over time, miracles certainly do happen and sometimes the intention from us is what matters the most.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#54

Post by waterbadger »

selimthegrim wrote: post #37
waterbadger wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(I would also recommend going to your local mass and introducing yourself to the priest! they are usually very nice. this is actually a good time of year I think that lots of places have “ocia” classes starting in the fall for people who are curious about the church)

He’s in Iraq.

I believe there are catholic churches in Iraq but that is certainly a more challenging situation! Would still encourage starting somewhere, even just learning to pray the rosary can bear a lot of fruit.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#55

Post by prewett »

AfterHIA wrote: post #50
brokencode wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please explain how a "neoliberal assault on occidental values" could be causing a deficit of programming jobs in Iraq? I feel like you're just coming in with an ax to grind that has no relevance to the question being asked here.

[flagged]

The world has a future, and a species that flourishes from the freezing Arctic to the tropics is not going extinct any time soon. But if you don't think you have a future, you are likely to not have a very good one. Nihilism isn't a helpful philosophy.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#56

Post by prewett »

brcmthrowaway wrote: post #28
waterbadger wrote: post #25

[flagged]

Whats the best intro to Catholicism?

I'm not Roman Catholic, but Bishop's Barron Youtube channel seems to be a good introduction to Catholicism and how Catholic teaching interacts with with current events. It's not systematic like a catechism, though, but quite thoughtful.

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#57

Post by prewett »

You could try software consulting agencies like Toptal. However, international freelance work as a junior dev is probably an uphill battle (especially since experienced local developers are having troubles finding work). If there's nothing local to you, and you cannot move, the only options that I see are software-adjacent jobs in other industries. IT would be an obvious choice. But even outside of IT you might be able to be able to write internal tools and ooch into a de facto software position that way. Try exploring work in another area that interests you, and look for things that are repetitive, annoying, or error-prone. Those are things that are possible candidates for tools, or also possible entrepreneurial opportunities.

I also found Erwin McManus' approach to finding what you like do helpful. Take a sheet of paper and make to columns: "I love this!", "I really dislike this". Over the course of a couple weeks, when you're feeling one of those, write what you are doing in the appropriate column. You'll get start seeing some patterns after a while. His theory is that what we excites us is pretty specific, so look for things like "writing tools for others" rather than "programming". (However, while I think he's right, I also think we are much broader than that, so you might look for things that are not even related to programming. You might find something completely unexpected that does have local opportunities.)

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#58

Post by lazide »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #8

Are you in Iraq? If so, understand the legalities involved - most companies simply won't hire someone or do business with someone in Iraq because "can't be bothered to figure the sanction situation out". So - solve it for them. Figure out all the answers, set up all the stuff that will make it easier for a prospective employer and have it all at the ready.

Are you thinking of Iran?

Re: Ask HN: How Do I Get over My Existential Crisis?

#60

Post by adastra22 »

hnfong wrote: post #33

It looks like you're in Iraq. The first thing that comes to mind is, if I wanted to hire you remotely, how would I pay you? I don't know whether it's a common question you have from prospective employers, but if I'm running a business (FWIW, I'm not), I'd be worried that regularly sending money to Iraq might trigger some alarms (anti-money laundering, sanctions, etc.), and this probably trumps any other consideration…

Iraq is an ally and not currently sanctioned.
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