71–80 of 133 posts
A key mental transition to make is from asking the question "am I winning?" to asking the question "am I doing something worthwhile?"
Your point reminds me of Colbert's speech at Northwestern this year. Towards the end (the more serious part) he says something along the lines that, you don't really "win" at life. I'd say more, but Colbert says it better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6tiaooiIo0
It's hard not to compare with your peers, colleagues, and classmates. I was a year into my first job as a developer before being laid off and am now planning my next steps. At 23 this sounds fairly ridiculous but the feeling of running out of time weighs heavily on my mind. Here's what I'm struggling through. 1. Following the steps of alumnus a tried and true path seems to be going back to grad school for a masters d…
Beg to differ. I'd say that if you're not feeling pressed, that you have too little time left, then you don't have anywhere near an adequate view of the plausible future. A golden age lies ahead, of glittering marvels to make all that has come so far pale to insignificance. But unless we step up to the plate and master biotechnology a lot faster and better than is presently managed, all of us reading this now will mi…
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You got two or three options, as best I can tell. 1) Risk your life. Do something so close to the edge your heart is pounding in your ears and you can taste your life flashing by. (You have to mix it up though. Race cars today, skydive tomorrow, wrestle bears next month. Fear fades with time) 2) Get into shape. Like, really really good shape. The world becomes so full of life it's like it's on fire. 3) Get yourself l…
Having done all of those things it just isn't enough and always leaves you wanting more. It's similar to having a customer write you a check (not through some job, but directly to you or your business) for the first time. You want it again and again. 1) Skydived. It was awesome! 2) 4-5 years ago I decided I wanted to be really strong. I can deadlift over 500lbs now. 3) This is a great thing to do, especially by yours…
P.S. There's more to "in shape" than strong. I was thinking more of the running sort of "in shape" (and the fast kind, not the jog-walk kind). Ramping up the strength of your heart and your running muscles has a very different feeling than bulking up your lifting muscles. If I was to describe the difference, I'd say bulking up made me feel good & more confident, while recovering my running endurance makes me feel like leaping into the air, sprinting up stairs, or running circles in the park with dogs for the sheer joy of it. It doesn't surprise me it feels like that, as I am a believer that we are runners the same way birds are fliers.
It's hard not to compare with your peers, colleagues, and classmates. I was a year into my first job as a developer before being laid off and am now planning my next steps. At 23 this sounds fairly ridiculous but the feeling of running out of time weighs heavily on my mind. Here's what I'm struggling through. 1. Following the steps of alumnus a tried and true path seems to be going back to grad school for a masters d…
Take that year. Meet some people. Talk to business owners and other money creators. There's always opportunity to improve someone's life and improve or build on existing solutions using your skills. You might even find money in that.
Build your projects. Download the source for an open source tool you use. Learn how it works, write some documentation, and add functionality for yourself. Find problems that frustrate you and others and solve them. You might even find money in that.
Get a job as a freelancer, a server, a valet, a bartender, a hotel front desk overnight receptionist. You'll extend your runway, gain a lot of perspective and insight, pick up useful skills, and meet people entirely different from those you've met up to this point. You might even find money in that.
If none of that "works out" at the end of a year or two, start looking for a traditional programming job. The gap year(s) and lack of a Masters won't be detrimental; in the programming world, it's all about what you've done. Any company worth working for will take one look at your projects and start recruiting you to work for them.
As the article said, enjoy the journey. As Randall Monroe said, "...the solution [to seeing what each moment could become] doesn't involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of someday easing my fit into a mold. It doesn't involve tempering my life to better fit someone's expectations. It doesn't involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up."
Shake things up. Make your own path in the world and enjoy yourself along the way. Good luck!
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You'll have to explain a little harder how the great suffering currently afflicting hundreds of millions of people due to aging is both beautiful and good for them. Or the hundred thousand people who died from aging in the past 24 hours: was it good for them as individuals? How about their families and companions? In short, I don't think you've thought your position through particularly carefully.
Put it this way, I'd like to see human mortality conquered, but I don't want to be alive when it happens. If you think class warfare is a problem now, wait until only the so-called "rich" get to live forever. The others will tear the world apart.
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They would also take great effort to find black swans and long shot. Living a really long life can make you ambitious. If you're an old 75 years old, than you might be predisposed to the short term. The young don't know they have it, and the old don't care. If you're going to live on the average lifespan of a 100,000 thousand years and improving, than 50 years is no problem to be wasting your time on big projects. Yo…
Ironically, such a world would have to be populated by people born after the epoch, not before, to fully take advantage of the conceptual freedoms it would have to offer.
Beg to differ. I'd say that if you're not feeling pressed, that you have too little time left, then you don't have anywhere near an adequate view of the plausible future. A golden age lies ahead, of glittering marvels to make all that has come so far pale to insignificance. But unless we step up to the plate and master biotechnology a lot faster and better than is presently managed, all of us reading this now will mi…
We'll never live for ever due to entropy. Obey physics, it's the law!
Beg to differ. I'd say that if you're not feeling pressed, that you have too little time left, then you don't have anywhere near an adequate view of the plausible future. A golden age lies ahead, of glittering marvels to make all that has come so far pale to insignificance. But unless we step up to the plate and master biotechnology a lot faster and better than is presently managed, all of us reading this now will mi…
We already live in a golden age. Many people spend their time wishing they had lived in some romanticized past; you seem to take the opposite approach. Each new technology brings with it both novelty/convenience and a nostalgia for the past. Because of recorded music, we had a long stretch where few people knew the joy of creating and sharing music themselves. The whole point of the article was to enjoy the journey.…
Beg to differ. I'd say that if you're not feeling pressed, that you have too little time left, then you don't have anywhere near an adequate view of the plausible future. A golden age lies ahead, of glittering marvels to make all that has come so far pale to insignificance. But unless we step up to the plate and master biotechnology a lot faster and better than is presently managed, all of us reading this now will mi…
¨Life is preparation for death¨ no matter how long it lasts. We are beings of transience and impermanence. If you aren´t satisfied with 80 years, you won´t be satisfied with 8000.