Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

731–740 of 1001 posts

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#731

Post by dirtybirdnj »

It doesn't matter if you do nice things for other people. Do it because you enjoy helping others, not because you want a response.

You are acting incredibly selfishly if you help people because you feel it entitles you to a specific outcome.

I now see why people have called me childish. You have to let people have their own agency and decide whether they want your help or even like what your doing. You can't get upset if they don't think it's as good as you do.

Find people who care and lean into those. Forget the rest. Don't get emotionally attached to people who don't care about you. You can never "nice" them into liking you. Fake friendships are everywhere and you may seem "rude" by realizing this or pointing it out... but you can both live better lives by not continuing the charade.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#732

Post by high_byte »

f3b5 wrote: post #725

Not waking up earlier to the fact that the meat section in the supermarket is a product of systemic, gruesome torture of intelligent beings. Like probably many of you who read this, I usually felt a bit guilty when I was confronted with the ugly facts we are all vaguely familiar with. I justified my meat consumption with specieist arguments (humans are so much better than pigs, cows, etc). My wife challenged me to wa…

you would probably love Cowspiracy and the less gruesome and more wholesome The Game Changers. both on Netflix.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#733

Post by Dowwie »

gongdzhauh wrote: post #690

I used to be a NIMBY. I thought small neighborhoods that have nice characteristics should never evolve or change, I thought places with tons of people were unpleasant to live in, I looked down on people who could afford market-rate new housing ("evil techies"), I thought new development increased rents (it doesn't). 20ish years later, seeing the homelessness, property crime, and housing crisis in the Bay Area, I am c…

George Carlin presented another solution for housing development: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSRCjG-VLk

(2:38min if you want to skip ahead)

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#735

Post by mcnnowak »

015a wrote: post #710
achenatx wrote: post #578

Ive modestly tried to lose weight my whole life. Ive never been fat, but still had to work to keep my calories low. Im 5' 9", and it took 10 years to go from 170 to more like 160. Losing weight made me weaker and caused me to lose muscle. Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. On…

Any advice/links on getting started lifting?

Generally my advice when people ask me is as follows:

1. In the beginning, going to the gym is the hardest part. Incentive: if you go to the gym consistently for a while you are rewarded with no more post workout muscle soreness, and easy newbie gains.

2. Do compound lifts if you can (squat, bench, deadlift (warning deadlifts are not for everyone, and may not be all that beneficial), pullups/pulldowns.) Add a bit of weight or reps each week. Aim for 3-6 sets. No one will care if you start with an empty bar. If you add reps, if you get up to around 10-12, add weight instead. These number are flexible and there is no right answer.

3. For accessory exercises or things that target single muscles: try a bunch of stuff and try new stuff often. If you don't like it, don't do it. If you like it, work it into your routine. These are generally fun but unnecessary until you hit a plateau/wall in another lift and do some research on what you want to do to get past that plateau/wall.

4. Good form is more important than adding weight. Don't hurt yourself.

5/Bonus. Try watching some cringey YouTube fitness influencers and see if they're doing anything that looks fun and try that.

Also follow the golden rule: clean up and put your damn weights back.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#736

Post by exogen »

OK here's a dumb one. You know how the label on EVERY toilet bowl cleaner bottle always says "Step 1: flush toilet"? I always dutifully followed those instructions, thinking "hmm, the extra splashing water must be pretty important and help it mix or something."

But no. One day I realized it's just that my toilet always started from a flushed state... like a normal person. But they knew somewhere out there, someone would try to clean their toilet still full of piss and shit.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#737

Post by KMnO4 »

f3b5 wrote: post #725

Not waking up earlier to the fact that the meat section in the supermarket is a product of systemic, gruesome torture of intelligent beings. Like probably many of you who read this, I usually felt a bit guilty when I was confronted with the ugly facts we are all vaguely familiar with. I justified my meat consumption with specieist arguments (humans are so much better than pigs, cows, etc). My wife challenged me to wa…

Curious, do you still eat meat? And if you do, do you prefer small farm butchers?

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#739

Post by timeon »

vlunkr wrote: post #594
xyzelement wrote: post #19

I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.

As a religious person who has deeply considered leaving it, I've never understood the arrogance of some atheists. For me it was disturbing to try to internalize the ideas that the universe is uncaring, that good and evil are made up, that your consciousness is basically like the contents of a stick of RAM that will vanish when it loses its power source. Even the original "God is dead" quotes from Nietzsche sound mour…

For me believing in omnipotent and good god seems arrogant as well. Is good that some people were born disabled?

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#740

Post by 13415 »

vlunkr wrote: post #594
xyzelement wrote: post #19

I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.

As a religious person who has deeply considered leaving it, I've never understood the arrogance of some atheists. For me it was disturbing to try to internalize the ideas that the universe is uncaring, that good and evil are made up, that your consciousness is basically like the contents of a stick of RAM that will vanish when it loses its power source. Even the original "God is dead" quotes from Nietzsche sound mour…

Just like some atheists need to the corresponding lesson about theists, it's worth taking a step back and remind yourself that not everybody was raised in a religious way.

Don't forget that to some of us religious stories contain nothing of particular interest or are similar to ancient fairy tales, and the history of various churches and religions is a mere part of the general human history of power struggles between elites in various countries. When you haven't been raised in religious ways, you feel no guilt about making blasphemous remarks and do not fear the wrath of supposed supernatural entities.

Post reply on HN