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

Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 99 posts

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#11

Post by squirrelicus »

This year I learned that God is real.

I'd been an atheist since 14 and have spent the majority of my life an atheist. I believed that there was insufficient evidence for the existence of God.

In many ways I still believe that. I dont believe in a magic transdimensional entity most people believe in when they talk about God.

However, much like you feel the spirit of celebration when your team scores a goal, or the spirit of accomplishment when you complete a difficult task, or the spirit of Ares when your kid dumps a cup of water on your computer and laughs in your face, God is the spirit of knowing the right thing to do.

God is, at least, a very real force that exists, in part, within us all in Western culture. We've inherited God. That's my conclusion anyway.

To be clear, I'm Christian now, as of August. I take the Bible seriously now. But to be extra clear, I believe it's all metaphor. Metaphor that tells you deep truths about yourself.

For those interested, the catalyst for me was Jordan Peterson's series "The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories", available in full for free on YouTube

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#13

Post by drieddust »

philwelch wrote: post #12

Here’s another interesting perspective on the “Provider Hero” thing you mentioned: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kobe-bryant...

Thanks, it makes so much sense. In my case some of the people were so wise and trustworthy that I never realised they were taking me for a ride.

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#16

Post by war1025 »

askafriend wrote: post #2

As a relatively younger person, I definitely had a much different impression/expectation of the American political system than what I'm seeing play out. It seems far more brittle and volatile than I had envisioned it growing up. Now, something sacred like the concept of checks and balances seems a distant ideal at best. Was the "adult perception" that government is always this chaotic, am I just more perceptive to al…

I think government is one of those things that is clean cut and beautiful in the abstract, and an absolute clusterfuck in reality. There are plenty of people who would say the same thing about the Obama era. It really just depends what team you're rooting for.

The thing, in my opinion, that is the single biggest merit of the American political system is that reality that most people are self-interested jerks is built in. People are expected to not see eye to eye, the "checks and balances" are in place not to make us all agree, but to keep things functioning well enough that we don't turn violent.

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#17

Post by WaddyJones »

squirrelicus wrote: post #11

This year I learned that God is real. I'd been an atheist since 14 and have spent the majority of my life an atheist. I believed that there was insufficient evidence for the existence of God. In many ways I still believe that. I dont believe in a magic transdimensional entity most people believe in when they talk about God. However, much like you feel the spirit of celebration when your team scores a goal, or the spi…

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#18

Post by drieddust »

RickS wrote: post #8
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #5

I've learned that if you don't make a decision, that decision will be made for you. This is the most important lesson i learned this year. Never procrastinate on making important decisions, be decisive and be ready to weather consequences.

I heard a really similar thing about suffering – which can be a decision if you want it to be. Choose what you'll suffer for, or someone else will choose for you. In other words, you're going to hurt, and struggle, and have your patience tried for something . Pick something you actually want and suffer intentionally for it, or you'll suffer for nothing as a consequence of trying to avoid hardship.

I am stealing this quote from you. It is print worthy. On similar lines I have started to feel that happy life is not necessarily a good life. Often they don't gel together well.

Unhappy struggle for the principle is way better than living a false Facebook Happy Life.

Re: Ask HN: Did you learn any life changing lessons this year?

#19

Post by drieddust »

naavis wrote: post #15

I learned that I need coworkers and a proper work community. Joining a good company as an employee after running my own business from home feels like such a great breath of fresh air.

That is an interesting choice. Most people try to go from Employee to Business.
Post reply on HN