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Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#331

Post by geocar »

meowface wrote: post #301
geocar wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn't this exactly what an internal monologue is? Lack of internal monologue would be someone who thinks only abstractly or visually, without any words. I don't know. It's like reading though. I definitely don't hear a voice (mine or anyone else's). > If you can think in words, watch a TV show and later picture what the characters look like, and listen to a song and have it get "stuck in your head", then I think yo…

You did say this, though: >I think I can imagine sounds in my head, but it is a little like singing, or humming a tune without making noise. This seems like how I and I assume most people experience the phenomenon of recalling or thinking about sound. It's just more or less vivid and detailed for different people. Do you listen to music often? If so, you've never listened to a song and later had some sort of experien…

> If so, you've never listened to a song and later had some sort of experience where something about that song stayed remnant in your mind?

With listening? Never. I can remember the lyrics of songs, and I can remember (sometimes) the progression of notes, but no: nothing I would refer to as an “experience”. They might as well be written down.

> you try to imagine the loud alarm of an alarm clock, do you feel like you're experiencing something?

No. I know what an alarm clock is and I know they can go “ding ding ding ding ding” - but these things are just the same words I give to you. Again: I certainly can’t experience an alarm clock in my head (or experience being in the same room as an alarm clock or anything like that)

> Also, what happens in your mind when you hum something?

If I hum and then stop, I have a sensation of the vibration and of the way my breathing changes. I can then recall (in some way) those vibrations and then reintroduce heavier breath so we hear sound again.

Is this not like how it is for you? Do you remember “the sound” of your own hum and try to reproduce it?

> Based on what you've said so far, I think you potentially might have visual aphantasia

If you are a researcher working in this space, you can send me an email from an edu address and I’ll connect you with the people who ran tests on me in London.

If not, could you explain why you’re giving your opinion?

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#334

Post by A_Venom_Roll »

teknopaul wrote: post #293
mehphp wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if those with aphantasia tend to hate reading novels. For me, once I get into a book I basically "see" it playing out in my head and I won't even notice that I'm reading words. I could totally understand how it would be bland if you were just reading a description and nothing was coming to you.

I guess I have this thing, I had never heard of it before but I have it based on Wikipedia's description, I also have very few memories of my life, which can be disturbing, maybe this is why. For the record I love novels, inc fantasy fiction and descriptive sci-fi without having a minds eye to bring it into. e.g. Big fan of starship troopers (the book) which is completely set in an invented universe none of which I h…

Let's say somebody shows you a picture of a house for a couple of minutes and then takes it away, is there no way for you to recollect and reproduce anything that was on that picture (visually)?

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#335

Post by devenvdev »

http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-... About how simple tasks can have unexpected complexity, it didn't change my life but now I have something to send fellow developers when their "simple features" explode into a week of hard work.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#336

Post by judohacker »

davidwparker wrote: post #187

Definitely The Tail End by Tim Urban https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html ``` It turns out that when I graduated from high school, I had already used up 93% of my in-person parent time. I’m now enjoying the last 5% of that time. We’re in the tail end. ``` ^ This is the crux of it, in familial (parental) relationships, we spend most of our time with them early in life, and that we don't get nearly as much…

This is the one for me too.

But, as a parent myself, I looked at it from the other end. There are only a few years left of living with my kids. I try to make the most of it every day.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#337

Post by vitaminCPP »

barrenko wrote: post #88

This still haunts me https://www.nashvail.me/blog/stop-learning . You got to build stuff too, not just learn. Still, you also have to figure out if you're a builder or a "learner". I like to figure stuff out, once I know the solution, my interest is minimal.

This is good. It made me think at the "tutorial hell" concept.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#338

Post by hookedonwinter »

https://waitbutwhy.com/2018/04/picking-career.html

I read everything on this blog. This post made me realize how absolutely miserable I was running a company I had started, and led me down a path that resulted in selling my part of my company, taking time to be a stay at home dad, and getting back into tech. It also caused me to go off the deep end into 80000hours.org and read that whole site and associated books, and only apply for jobs with social impact.

Pretty influential post in my life!

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#339

Post by confidantlake »

bemmu wrote: post #23
shaneos wrote: post #20

Aphantasia: How it feels to be blind in your mind By Blake Ross https://m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params=%7B%22note_id%22%3A... Before reading this post I had no idea I had aphantasia and thought everyone else was the same as me, unable to see anything when they closed their eyes. This helped me understand myself and my relationships so much better than ever before. Thanks Blake!

I still can’t quite believe there are people who can see clear images in their minds. Maybe it’s more a matter of how you report your experience? I’m very conscious of how poor my mental images are, but maybe with a little less introspection I would also say I have great mental imagery.

I suspect that people that play chess without looking at a board must have a somewhat clear picture of the pieces in their mind.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?

#340

Post by confidantlake »

mehphp wrote: post #248
shaneos wrote: post #20

Aphantasia: How it feels to be blind in your mind By Blake Ross https://m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params=%7B%22note_id%22%3A... Before reading this post I had no idea I had aphantasia and thought everyone else was the same as me, unable to see anything when they closed their eyes. This helped me understand myself and my relationships so much better than ever before. Thanks Blake!

I wonder if those with aphantasia tend to hate reading novels. For me, once I get into a book I basically "see" it playing out in my head and I won't even notice that I'm reading words. I could totally understand how it would be bland if you were just reading a description and nothing was coming to you.

I have it and I love reading novels. Like I can't "see" your comment or any other comment but I understand what you are saying. Likewise I can't "see" novels but that doesn't mean I can't understand and find them interesting.
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