Jeez, dude, don't be so hard on yourself! Comparing yourself to other people is a losing game - no matter how awesome you are you'll always find people that are "better" than you at whatever, as they would to, unless you're Michael Jordan. Find things you like to do that make you happy and do those things. That works for me. I'm a college drop-out/software developer with skeletons in my closet just like you.
> no matter how awesome you are you'll always find people that are "better" than you at whatever, as they would to, unless you're Michael Jordan. You mean failed minor league baseball player Michael Jordon? Remember that even if you are the best in the world at one thing, outside of your specialty people are going to be better than you.
Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
51–60 of 344 posts
Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#52Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#53Read Peter Thiel's "Zero to One" and rejoice then. One of the key ideas in the book is that to be successful you have to avoid competition, and build a monopoly on something to the extent you're able. The monopoly will be temporary, but you must have it to avoid race to the bottom which just makes everyone poor and depressed. The monopoly can be a technology, or a brand, or, in the case of a person a set of skills and a track record. In fact it could also be all of the above, but you _must_ have it in order to really succeed.
It is very unlikely that you're talented at nothing. It is very likely that you're fairly talented at 2-3 different things in fact, you might just not know what they are. So if you find those things and get good at them, you'll very likely to be one of the few people in the world who are good at those 3 things at the same time. And unless those three things are "watching Youtube", "shitposting on Twitter" and "scrolling Instagram", this skill stack could be very valuable, and someone would look at you much like you look at others and wonder how it is they themselves are so worthless next to your greatness.
For me the reason of the past 30 years or so, even the smartest people are not uniformly good at everything, and you can easily be better than them at a myriad of things outside their field of expertise. And that's why teams work better than individuals, no matter how talented that individual is.
> Now, I’m an unimportant technical writer composing documents for developers and users.
See, you're good at something others aren't good at. Most engineers can't write docs normal humans can read. Add a few things to the mix, change jobs 2-3 times to establish an upward trajectory, and you'll be unstoppable.
> My talents are shallow and honestly quite useless
Well, deepen them and make them useful then? You must differentiate to succeed, either through the quality of your skills, or through your skill stack, or preferably both at the same time.
> I blame it on the lack of time
Based on what you wrote, I blame your lack of time on excessive use of social media and the internet in general. You know it's true. Give it up, and you'll be able to focus again, have better relationships, better sleep, more confidence, deeper thoughts, more skills.
And for the love of god don't tell other people you're "bipolar schizoaffective". I'm sure it's a real problem for you but others don't want anything in common with that. Paraphrasing a vulgar Russian proverb: "Why would I want a Dick without a dick if there are plenty of Dicks with dicks?" ("Нахуя мне без хуя, когда с хуем до хуя?"). Don't ruin your chances out of the gate if your disease is manageable. And also don't use your disease as an excuse to not succeed. Plenty of people overcame much greater adversities than you'll ever experience.
Above all, if I could leave you with one thought: nobody will respect you until you learn to respect yourself. Do not self-deprecate. Do not use false modesty. If you're good at at least anything (such as technical writing), put it front and center and develop more skills in your skill stack.
Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#54I've played RollerCoaster Tycoon, and I'm sure I've seen the developer's name more than once, but don't remember. You didn't repeat it in your post, so you probably saw it and immediately forgot. That's the extent of fame they got from that.
Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#55Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#56Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#57I know the feeling but I will leave you with this: "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. ― Ernest Hemingway"
There are a lot of people who look at that past self as being something they fell away from. In some cases by choices they made and regret and in others where they suffered some accident. I'm not sure how the Hemingway quote is supposed to make them feel.
Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#58One method to assist in developing this thinking habit, is to put a notepad on your nightstand, and every day, before going to bed, write down a couple things that you appreciate.
Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#59Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing
#60Not exactly sure what that is, but yeah that sounds like stuff that has an impact on everything.
Otherwise, just remember that the Meaning of Life is: "Try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."
Oh and super-achievers aren't less miserable.