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Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

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Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#241

Post by tomek32 »

Hey, I definitely relate to some of this. The trick is to turn it from passively consuming information to turning it into active learning. When you watch these documentaries, make notes of what you just heard. You start to become more engaged. This video helped me, https://youtu.be/V-UvSKe8jW4, How To Remember Everything You Learn

I realized I’m always curious to learn how things work. So I figured out I could use it to make it my center of focus and try to build a company around it. This is the start http://rigelblu.com

We make the world more complex than it needs to be sometimes. Probably often. Maybe you can use your curiosity in those subjects and interests to help make it easier for others?

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#243

Post by HWR_14 »

tomrod wrote: post #57
HWR_14 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That the future can still inspire, once they account for sunk costs being irrelevant even if emotionally difficult.

If you're so emotionally mature as to avoid the sunk cost fallacy, do you need the emotional boost of inspiration?

It's like saying "once you're happy, you're no longer depressed".

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#244

Post by mathgenius »

elteto wrote: post #78

I don’t know if you will get to see my comment by now but you are an incredibly good writer. Miles above the email churn I deal with daily. I found myself reading and just flowing over your ideas. Your pace is good, your writing is simple yet thoughtful. Your sentence are not too short or too long and your paragraph boundaries make sense to me. Honestly, you are a good writer.

I agree. It's good writing! So many artists complain about their lack of talent, this person is in good company.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#245

Post by etrautmann »

thevagrant wrote: post #169
DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it seems to me that the biggest problem OP faces is the relationship to themselves. Before you can effectively love others you need to be able to be good company to yourself. Because who will put up with you if you don't even think you're worthy of love. I stopped counting the number of times they mentioned that they considered themselves stupid. There is so much negative and toxic self critic in this post that my fe…

Your points are also true. In my life, kids helped me relearn what it was like to be young. It took me a number of years to realise I had bad depression / anhedonia. My kids helped my focus on what was important. I accepted myself for who I am and was able to feel happy again. My kids think I'm the great wizard with technology, even if I'm considered average. Message to OP We can't all be famous or the best at someth…

Interesting example though, given that Einstein had very little outward success until the middle of his life as well.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#246

Post by xiphias2 »

victorhn wrote: post #231
xiphias2 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

,,Also going to the gym is pretty easy, so if you know “the path to happiness” why not just take it?'' I'm doing it but I'm 40 and the gains are not the same...my girlfriend left me for a younger and much stronger guy (and no, just younger wasn't enough in itself). Also in the 90s whenever I asked a girl if she likes muscular guys, they usually answered ,,not that much''. They are much more open nowdays about what th…

You are smart, seems to be well off financially and still relatively young, so the future should not look that bad, probably you can get a younger girl too.

Sure, I have a much better and easier life than at that time when I was depressed, I just wanted to point out that just because a person goes to IOI, it doesn't mean that he's happy. Also finding a person to have a family with hasn't become easier, so I guess I'll just keep up with serial monogamy.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#247

Post by sanderjd »

dvh1990 wrote: post #153
sanderjd wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This gets at the crux of my angst along the OP's line: When I look at people who have dedicated themselves to that thing that they pored so many hours into, what I always wonder is, "How did they make the decision to put so much of their time into that thing ." Like, I agree with OP that the Roller Coaster Tycoon one man project is really impressive. But there's no world in which I could possibly care enough about bu…

Well how can you find something you like without giving it a serious try first? I've been playing guitar for 16 years. I'm not pro-level, but I'm as good as I want to be and I love it. Did I love it from the get go? Hell no. I actually hated guitar for the entire first year of practice, but I stuck with it and as I got better I eventually developed a deep love for it. Trying new things, REALLY trying for long enough…

That's the thing though, the number of things to try is unlimited, there is a large opportunity cost to really trying pretty much anything, and it's not at all clear a priori which things will be worth it.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#248

Post by aogaili »

1. Ignore toxic positively

2. Not everything is as it appears on the surface. You don't know what advantages people had, and challenges they had to overcome. You don't know how they felt, and perhaps at some point they felt like you

3. Everyone will eventually wither and die. Failure and decline are the norm and they are a shared universal human experiences, everyone before you is dead and forgotten. Everyone around you will eventually fail, give up and decline. There is no escape from this, the question is when, that is the fact of the human condition, the absurdity of life

4. Watch your own plate, only compare to improve. Comparing to others without value is an act of self harm, it does nothing but lower your self-esteem

5. Speaking of low self-esteem, make sure have enough Serotonin. Exercise, sun light exposure, do a little ego boosting so you can tackle something

6. Do something you like, get good at, then better at it, then great

7. By posting and sharing this, it told me than you're self reflective, have a solid realistic grasp of your situation, and wanting to improve. I can assure you that you are way better than you think you are

Good luck buddy.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#249

Post by xvilka »

Try to find some new hobby, something you haven't tried before. From swimming in the open water to dancing, from singing in a choir to learning ancient Sumerian, from playing nards to writing music, from drawing portraits on the streets to gardening, from participating into community charity work to religious devotion, etc. The list is endless, and high chances that if you find something you really enjoy doing, you wouldn't even think about the need to be great in it. You will dive into this new purpose just because you like it.

Re: Ask HN: I feel so shallow and dumb when I see what other smart people are doing

#250

Post by EugeneOZ »

paulpauper wrote: post #209
carnitine wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

John von Neumann could multiply eight digit numbers mentally and hold conversation in multiple languages by the age of six. How could that be attributed to anything but raw intelligence? Had his parents somehow stumbled upon the perfect formula for child rearing in 1900s Hungary?

dismissing IQ, intelligence is just another social fad. it's wrong.

Maybe you'll change your opinion after reading the list of his achievements. Or just after looking at the size of that list.
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