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Achievement Porn

petermichaud.com

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Re: Achievement Porn

#41

Post by rortian »

electromagnetic wrote: post #16
rortian wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this guy seems so full of it. Why is climbing a mountain not a fake achievement?

Agreed, climbing a mountain serves no purpose other than to say you've climbed a mountain. I climbed aboard a plane and got much higher than any mountain climber did on land, and I did it at a far more economical price. If you believe sitting in a cubicle is meaningless, then don't sit in a fucking cubicle, it's common sense . I can't stand office work, it's just something I cannot do because it feels like a laboriou…

I think that is well put. It is fairly trivial to project (in the mathematical sense) most any human activity in a way that makes it seem useless or worse than. Strangely these projections tend leave the projector in a still elevated position.

Re: Achievement Porn

#42

Post by cynicalkane »

rortian wrote: post #11
mixmax wrote: post #10

This gem is from the posters resume page: So this guy dies and goes to Heaven, and when he gets to Heaven, he’s trying to explain to God how he spent his life. Wait, wait, God says. Let me get this straight I gave you a body able to swim oceans and climb mountains Yeah, the guys says. and you sat in a cubicle? Right. I gave you creativity, and you made widgets? Yes, the guy says. The one thing I withheld from you, th…

Yeah this guy seems so full of it. Why is climbing a mountain not a fake achievement?

Because it's a test of fitness, physical ability, and a lot of other skills that are extremely valuable to the human organism?

Re: Achievement Porn

#43

Post by Psyonic »

electromagnetic wrote: post #22
barrkel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the corollary: you may be a master of the universe, and bring in lots of profit, yet not actually add substantial value. As the article says, moneymaking is its own treadmill, its own fake achievement.

By this rational everything is a fake achievement, so just off yourself and save us this boring shit from being on the HN front page. The majority of our life is doing useless, thankless tasks. Simply by spending 15 minutes in the shower every day I will have wasted an entire year of my life in the shower. By sleeping in 1 hour on Sunday I wasted 1/2 a year of my life, equally anyone spending an hour in church also w…

Right. You could say that. That said, I'm sure that feels a little ridiculous to you. That money can be a treadmill, though, is as old as time. Haven't you seen A Christmas Carol? Scrooge and Marley made money like bandits.

Re: Achievement Porn

#44

Post by blubb »

rortian wrote: post #11
mixmax wrote: post #10

This gem is from the posters resume page: So this guy dies and goes to Heaven, and when he gets to Heaven, he’s trying to explain to God how he spent his life. Wait, wait, God says. Let me get this straight I gave you a body able to swim oceans and climb mountains Yeah, the guys says. and you sat in a cubicle? Right. I gave you creativity, and you made widgets? Yes, the guy says. The one thing I withheld from you, th…

Yeah this guy seems so full of it. Why is climbing a mountain not a fake achievement?

It's up to you to decide. Go climb a mountain, or go play WoW. In my view the guy's not full of it, he only wants people to be aware of, and make conscious decisions about how they spend their. Some people do, but many people don't. Including me, which is why I'm here at HN writing this comment. :)

Re: Achievement Porn

#45

Post by ekiru »

Although I don't disagree that one's achievements in a computer game aren't necessarily meaningful(although this is a personal decision), I disagree entirely with his assertion that all computer games are "treadmills that are impossible to fail at". Anyone who plays any game with a competitive focus will know this is false. It's very possible to fail at Starcraft or Warcraft III. I certainly fail at WC3. I'm not absolutely horrible, but if I played with any remotely good player, I would lose quickly every single time. It's not just possible to fail, it's normal for almost everyone to fail. In fact, if you consider losing a single game to be failing in that game, exactly 50% of all multiplayer SC or WC3 players fail. In free-for-all FPS games, the frequency of failure is even higher.

Re: Achievement Porn

#46

Post by pringle »

sgoranson wrote: post #19

Trying to define what should be meaningful for other people is pretty arrogant and an insular perspective on life. My personal take on reality is that the whole shebang is a "meaningless treadmill", but I'm willing to accept that it might not be true for the next guy.

I don't get the upvotes for this comment.

Most of the philosophers we revere did exactly this -- define and put forth universal ideas for what is meaningful in life. No one is forcing these ideas on you, and it's easy to take shots at the "man in the arena" who steps forward to tackle a subject. I found it pretty interesting, as I had never thought much about the impact of this new class of "achievement" modern society has created.

These kinds of reactions only stifle dialogue and debate. I think it's generally understood that this is his opinion, and that he doesn't have designs to become a dictator and make this opinion the law of the land.

Re: Achievement Porn

#47

Post by blubb »

electromagnetic wrote: post #16
rortian wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this guy seems so full of it. Why is climbing a mountain not a fake achievement?

Agreed, climbing a mountain serves no purpose other than to say you've climbed a mountain. I climbed aboard a plane and got much higher than any mountain climber did on land, and I did it at a far more economical price. If you believe sitting in a cubicle is meaningless, then don't sit in a fucking cubicle, it's common sense . I can't stand office work, it's just something I cannot do because it feels like a laboriou…

Exactly right. Life is in fact devoid of meaning except for the meaning you choose to apply to it yourself. This includes playing computer games, spending time on facebook, climbing mountains or a career ladder and having a wife, children and a happy dog.

Re: Achievement Porn

#48

Post by rortian »

cynicalkane wrote: post #42
rortian wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this guy seems so full of it. Why is climbing a mountain not a fake achievement?

Because it's a test of fitness, physical ability, and a lot of other skills that are extremely valuable to the human organism?

Lot's of things are tests of and do improve those things. I got really high is sort of a silly statement.

Re: Achievement Porn

#49

Post by afgeneralist »

sgoranson wrote: post #19

Trying to define what should be meaningful for other people is pretty arrogant and an insular perspective on life. My personal take on reality is that the whole shebang is a "meaningless treadmill", but I'm willing to accept that it might not be true for the next guy.

"Trying to define what should be meaningful for other people is pretty arrogant and an insular perspective on life." - I think this statement is lazy in that it's taking the cultural relativist approach. By this token, we shouldn't make judgment on female circumcision in Africa, or the one child rule in China. In their societies these practices have very important value but I think most of us probably feel like it's morally wrong.

I think we can argue there there is a world where there should exist universal qualities. I certainly wont knock the author for trying to argue video games inherently don't have the same value as say "going for a walk" and helping your family or community...

Re: Achievement Porn

#50

Post by sgoranson »

pringle wrote: post #46
sgoranson wrote: post #19

Trying to define what should be meaningful for other people is pretty arrogant and an insular perspective on life. My personal take on reality is that the whole shebang is a "meaningless treadmill", but I'm willing to accept that it might not be true for the next guy.

I don't get the upvotes for this comment. Most of the philosophers we revere did exactly this -- define and put forth universal ideas for what is meaningful in life. No one is forcing these ideas on you, and it's easy to take shots at the "man in the arena" who steps forward to tackle a subject. I found it pretty interesting, as I had never thought much about the impact of this new class of "achievement" modern socie…

If it makes you feel any better, I enjoy taking potshots at revered ethicists as well.
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