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Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#71

Post by rroriz »

Read about the T-Shaped profile mentioned on the Valve's Employee Handbook[1]. It's a nice concept on how to know when to learn something new and when to learn more about something that you already know.

And calm down: HN users are really heterogeneous. Trying to be like everyone here is impossible. Even you find someone with the same profile as you, it is a nice thing to know that there is something new to learn. A bigger problem is when you don't have anything new to learn.

[1]http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.p...

Edit: And answering your question: I feel overwhelmed when I learn somenthing new here, and there is already another article telling me that what I learned is obsolete.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#72

Post by wonderwonder »

I used to feel this way and when I had time set aside to learn I would just sit there and waste almost all of my time figuring out what to study because there was so much. I would waste all my time doing this and not really learning very much because the breadth of stuff to learn was overwhelming.

Eventually I just forced myself to choose one thing and focus on it. When I get to the point where I feel competent in it, whether that's a day or 3 months, then I allow myself to move onto something else.

Don't get stuck in your head. Just choose something and commit, no one knows everything, the posts are by hundreds of people, each with skills in different areas. Know one knows it all.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#73

Post by SubiculumCode »

marmaduke wrote: post #63
abakker wrote: post #9

What 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

adds antonym knower on top of his to do list.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#76

Post by sr2 »

Endama wrote: post #47
patio11 wrote: post #30

Attempting 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 an excellent exploration of Impostor Syndrome[1]. Thanks for sharing! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

And its opposite:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandiose_delusions

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#77

Post by abakker »

marmaduke wrote: post #63
abakker wrote: post #9

What 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

I think you may be right, however, Hubris is a "feeling" while nemesis is an "Agent". So, it is possible for you to be my nemesis, but you can't be my hubris.

Humility vs Hubris do seem to be opposites.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#78

Post by yodsanklai »

A few comments come to mind.

Yes, there's so much to learn that you'll never have time for it, even if specializing in a small area. It reminds me of a Chomsky interview. He said that he has so many books left to read in his office alone that a lifetime wouldn't be enough. You're in good company.

It may sound obvious but don't forget that HN isn't one person. The guy that knows about particle physics is usually not the one that tell you about the latest type theory research. Don't compare yourself with a collective mind.

Besides, I'm sure there are people less bright than you in all positions you can imagine. Retrospectively, I realize that there are a lot of things I didn't even try for fear of failing or because I thought I wasn't smart enough. It's only a few years later that I realized I missed so many opportunities.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#79

Post by [deleted] »

rounce wrote: post #64
inputcoffee wrote: post #39

Oh, 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?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody else feel overwhelmed while reading HN?

#80

Post by joshvm »

rounce wrote: post #64
inputcoffee wrote: post #39

Oh, 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?

Not at all, in fact the OP was being generous. Where's computer vision and cryptography on that list?
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