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Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#171

Post by sakerbos »

jiggywiggy wrote: post #37
MrDresden wrote: post #25

Feeling no particular drive for having children for most of my adult life, that changed when me and my partner got the very shocking news that she was pregnant last november. We were there to start the process to harvest her eggs, as she was about to undergo aggressive cancer treatment that would leave her unable to conceive children afterwards. The pregnancy turned out to not be viable, and two weeks later the treat…

Wait till you get them ;). Sort of joking. I know the feeling, also had that. Getting them is very different from this high, but probably even more worth it. Although you will be more tired and busy then ever before.

You will never be bored again

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#172

Post by solarmist »

hahnchen wrote: post #53
paskozdilar wrote: post #46

I remember a conversation with a dear friend of mine. I was studying CS at the time, he was studying Philosophy. We went into a discussion over some esoteric topics, and we got stuck on a definition of a word, so I asked him "but how do we know what exactly does [the word] mean ?", to which in response he paused, looked me in the eye, and just said: It means whatever the hell we agree it means. That sentence has been…

Yeah it’s interesting how much people unknowingly fight over semantics. > Ever since I've been spending a lot of time learning how to communicate effectively How exactly do you learn this?

I learned the mechanics of this from Conscious Business [1]. The point of view is in business, but you can transfer all of these lessons to personal communication too.

Fighting over semantics is like negotiation or discussions on 'alignment' in business. Ensuring you're talking about the same thing by ensuring you have a common point of understanding and purpose in the discussion.

[1] https://www.embracepossibility.com/blog/conscious-business-h...

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#173

Post by solarmist »

paskozdilar wrote: post #46

I remember a conversation with a dear friend of mine. I was studying CS at the time, he was studying Philosophy. We went into a discussion over some esoteric topics, and we got stuck on a definition of a word, so I asked him "but how do we know what exactly does [the word] mean ?", to which in response he paused, looked me in the eye, and just said: It means whatever the hell we agree it means. That sentence has been…

This becomes apparent when studying another language as well. Words don't map cleanly because, ultimately, definitions are arbitrary and decided by tradition and shared understanding.

I still had problems with this, though, because I took the "assuming the other person has exactly the same understanding of the word as we do" to the other extreme and got pedantic in my conversation, frequently side-tracking to explain every important concept.

Since I read Conscious Business, I've changed to more of what you describe and only detour when we seem to be butting heads on something unexpected.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#174

Post by jareklupinski »

golly_ned wrote: post #148
sowbug wrote: post #142

Three. 1. Saw an ad in 1980 for a Radio Shack TRS-80 for $499. Suddenly understood that computers were more real than the spinning tape reels shown in movies. Started learning BASIC at the local Radio Shack while my mom was grocery shopping next door. Got offered programming jobs at least twice during those sessions (or maybe they were child predators). I've been exchanging code for money for the 40+ years since. 2.…

What was the thing that was trying to kill you?

self-doubt

it's a metaphor :P

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#175

Post by sakerbos »

throwaway378037 wrote: post #161

Learning about ayahuasca in 2011, randomly when at a business lunch - the day after breaking up with my girlfriend - and taking it a year later for the first time Changed my life fundamentally

Interested to know how it changed your life?

My wife and I have been watching a show on Netflix called "How to Change your Mind" and have been contemplating trying either LSD, shrooms or ayahuasca (we're not really druggies, we're just really interested in living more connected and meaningful lives and it seems those substances really help in initiating the process).

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#177

Post by kickaha »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #16

Honestly my whole career has been a series of these. Growing up no one in my family had a professional job. Most of them didn't even work. So while I knew that in theory I could get a CS degree and have a software career, it wasn't something I really felt in my bones. Even after I got the degree I did not feel confident that one of "us" could get a job like one of "them", especially when you're raised with that worki…

Golly, brother. I feel you all the way down to my toes. My parents just openly, declaratively resent my leaving misery behind for a rewarding and financially secure career.

Wanna hear the super effed up part? I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND their feelings! Like so many other modalities of code-switching I’ve learned, with just a little concentration I can go back and forth: having my kids do better than me is the main objective in life [VWOOP!!] the worst misfortune that can befall a parent.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#178

Post by lioeters »

ghoomketu wrote: post #83

Not sure if really life changing but in primary school I saw a senior draw a big circle with two eyes in GW BASIC and all I could think about that day was "woah.. the possibilities." That silly thing consumed me so much I even had a dream about it that night. That time we had computer labs in which access was pretty limited and the teacher had to authorise students and small kids weren't allowed. Didn't get to do it…

> a 386 that finally my dad sold his car and got me one

That's beautiful. It shows how much your father trusted and believed in you - and it literally changed your life. Much respect.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#179

Post by throwaway_4ever »

ramesh31 wrote: post #112

In 2007, I joined the US Army infantry at the height of the Iraq war, two months after my 17th birthday. I had grown up brainwashed into the idea of military service being the single best thing a person can do, and wanted nothing more at that point than to get out of my small hometown. As I was training with my unit for deployment, we were spending days on end practicing combat drills to storm buildings. This was the…

Thank you for your service.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever had a changed-your-life moment?

#180

Post by zak-wrench »

Three. First was when i was 19, I took a year off after highschool and went to a new town to study and accumule as much knowledge on physics, until one day when my roommate brought some hump, i took some of it as I was about to watch "the social network" and made me switch from physics to spending the rest of the year learning c++, and eventually getting an engineering degree on systems informations. Second and third was when I came to the realisation that i had to temporarily stop my studies and go back home, because my mental health and psyche was deteriorating, which in turn was affecting my whole life and grades. After a few months I realised that my religion was the source of my misery because i was following it as it was meant to be followed, but the environment(which is "99% religious") wasn't comforming to its values. And the fact that my religion defined my identity, I found myself in an "interesting" position where I had to reshape my identity from scratch.
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