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Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
61–70 of 157 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#62Attempting to be as accomplished/skilled as the union of people you read on the Internet is a fool's errand. You have to accept you'll never know everything and that, for almost all things, there will be someone -- or a lot of someones -- much better than you. Pretend you were working at a company with a hundred engineers. Do you understand how easy it is for every single one of them to simultaneously feel like you d…
I would appreciate HN for what it is; the confluence of some of the smartest minds in technology. Let it challenge and inspire you, not intimidate you. Also, do realize that not everybody is right on here all of the time either, despite some of their egos. Despite occasionally butting heads with some of the people on here, I really do appreciate the community here for what it is; you really can't find a smarter group…
I'm not sure that HN is the confluence of the smartest minds in technology. Indeed a lot of very smart people are publishing stuff here, but for the first HN is rather a confluence of young more or less trend-driven technology enthusiasts, which are able to present themselves.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#63What you are feeling is the exact opposite of hubris. It is good that you feel overwhelmed by looking at the universe of possible technologies and the pace of change within them. It sounds to me like you need to make peace with that, and then decide for yourself where you want to build expertise. You can extreme depth, extreme breadth, or something in between. According to IDC, worldwide IT spending is going to be ar…
I think the opposite of hubris is called nemesis, or what happens after hubris.
I'd say the OP is describing humility, a quality which is essential imho
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#64Oh, you will feel much better once you have mastered: 1. Programming chips in binary, machine code, and C. You need a variety of chips. Try to learn at least 5 from each manufacturer. 2. Learn at least 37 Javascript frameworks, as evenly divided between front-end and server side as you can. (Good news: angular 1 and 2 count as 2 frameworks). 3. Learn Scala, Rust, Haskell, C, C#, Java. (Python and Ruby go without sayi…
You are being sarcastic, right?
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
You forgot entrepreneurial skills. Obviously at the top of that list should be the ability to raise funds from VCs.
Small quibble: fundraising is not an entrepreneurial skill. It's a substitute for lacking those skills. If a business is solid, no funding is needed. Or, if it is needed, it's easy to get.
To be an entrepreneur is to raise funds. I thought this was accepted as absolute truth in Silicon Valley.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#66Attempting to be as accomplished/skilled as the union of people you read on the Internet is a fool's errand. You have to accept you'll never know everything and that, for almost all things, there will be someone -- or a lot of someones -- much better than you. Pretend you were working at a company with a hundred engineers. Do you understand how easy it is for every single one of them to simultaneously feel like you d…
This is one of the most helpful comments I've read on HN, thanks! :)
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#67You'd benefit from clarifying what it is that you really want.
More money, better work environment, be better at computer science, etc etc.
These are all different things and require a different approach. The sooner you figure out which one you value more, and understand that you'll have to neglect some other things in order to succeed in that area, the better you'll feel.
For example you didn't mention any education - if you want to not feel like a fraud, you'll have to educate yourself on all the things a common 4 year program teaches you. There is no way around it.
You may score a nice paying job in something like web-dev or mobile where there's a lot of demand, but you'll be blindly stitching other people's code together for a long time if you continue down that route.
The solution is to take some time to go fill in the fundamentals.
The more solid your fundamentals, the smarter and more interesting the projects you can be involved in, but you'll have to sacrifice time and money to get there.
Clarifying your real intention is important.
As for not feeling overwhelmed - by being good at your area of expertise. If you know you're better than most people at one specific thing that's in demand, you don't need to worry that someone else is kicking ass in augmented reality, big data or whatever hype phrase of the year is :)
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#68I feel underwhelmed...
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#69I am a cognitive neuroscience post-doc. In my work I have to be an expert or at least competent in: cognitive theory relevant to my specialty, brain science relevant to my specialty, neuroimaging methodology, non-trivial statistical methods, as well as a competent paper writer, grant writer storyteller, and talk giver, I regularly need to write bash and python scripts, administer and operate a linux compute cluster. I also need to be a good dad and husband, and that takes practice.
I read HN and am impressed with all the expertise and competence and also feel overwhelmed. I'd like to try some ML on my imaging data, but I'm stretched too thin already. Maybe someday. Or I'll partner up with someone. I have the urge to do it all, but I'm not smart enough and I don't have superpowers to manipulate time. I'm aging. Time is running out. Oh my god.
Pause.
Take a walk.
Do what you can.
It is ok.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?
#70I sometimes feel the same way while reading HN. I can usually cure it by going to a Sharepoint developers' meetup, or something similar. Running into people who there who are doing consulting work and doing very, very well for themselves while working significantly less that 40 hours a week and using almost none of the cool stuff that gets mentioned on HN. I suppose the lesson there might be to avoid a game of one-up…
This is the best advice. There is mental masturbation (90% of HN) and then there is actually getting practical shit done.
You rarely hear about the practical stuff because the best of it gives some company a competitive advantage and they aren't going to share it (except perhaps via their sales teams.)