The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging • Hacker News Board

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#21

Post by PakG1 » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:29 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #18

ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Or you have to be so good that nobody can ignore you.

Unless you're really lucky, that puts you at the peril of sociopaths who will just take advantage of you without rewarding you or giving you credit. Easy path to bitterness, unfortunately. People need to be able to stand out from the crowd in multiple ways, like it or not.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#22

Post by PakG1 » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:31 AM UTC

aikah wrote: post #13

sriram_malhar wrote: post #4

I am proud to say I have never bragged in my life. :)

> I am proud to say I have never bragged in my life. How is that figure of speech called in English?

I would call it sarcasm, except it's too funny for me to simply label it sarcasm.... Not that sarcasm can't be funny, it just sometimes has such bad connotations.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#23

Post by baxtr » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:36 AM UTC

ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Of course marketing on your own behalf is helpful, but I’ve found that the most successful people don’t brag about their achievements. Instead, somehow they get other people to talk about their merits within the organization.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#24

Post by the_cat_kittles » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:39 AM UTC

this is a fantastic read. i thought i was a connoisseur of bragging but this is next level. also a little painful- it may expose your own bragging to you. to the author: truly enjoyed this, thank you and keep writing!

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#25

Post by nl » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:41 AM UTC

This made me smile: I claimed that I was both a Haskell and Lisp programmer, a statement that you can roughly translate into non-programmer talk as “I only listen to My Bloody Valentine shoe-gaze and Radiohead B-sides played in reverse”.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#26

Post by Delmania » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:47 AM UTC

ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Do great work and tell others.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#27

Post by hnzix » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:48 AM UTC

It's almost as if we're a bunch of barely evolved primates jockeying over money, power and status for a limited pool of breeding partners and resources. Of course I realized long ago that I'm above such petty concerns.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#28

Post by brianmcc » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:48 AM UTC

Hi less_penguiny - absolutely loved this article.

Brilliant writing.

I'm also finding myself thinking a lot about social interactions, especially the dumb nonsense vast swathes of our populations carry out, and being currently in the middle of Desmond Morris "Human Zoo" (brilliant, slightly dated, but you'll love it if you're not familiar) your piece really struck a chord - particularly with "Bragging is personally imposing what-you-believe-to-be status-elevating thoughts on your audience". Status, tribes, dominance, all seem explain so much modern phenomena from a species which ought to know better.

In "About" you write "I was heartbroken by the tumbleweed response I got for my last writing project, so I don’t intend to spin my wheels writing in vain again."

Please don't feel discouraged I get much the same on pretty much every submission I post here, so it's not you, per se! Writing is the easy and fun part, but like a startup I suspect promotion, networking, and all that play a big part. Being an established name makes a huge difference too - it all gets much harder if you don't have a large following.

Are you on Twitter? That can be good for exposure. Happy to follow and RT!

Best of luck!

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#29

Post by amarant » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:48 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #10

sriram_malhar wrote: post #4

I am proud to say I have never bragged in my life. :)

"Think you're really righteous? Think you're pure in heart? Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art"

"in fact, I'm much more humble than you could understand"

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#30

Post by brianmcc » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 11:53 AM UTC

aikah wrote: post #13

sriram_malhar wrote: post #4

I am proud to say I have never bragged in my life. :)

> I am proud to say I have never bragged in my life. How is that figure of speech called in English?

You might call it "tongue in cheek" in the UK, a statement made with no pretense that it's true, with a gently humorous intent.