I rebooted my social life • Hacker News Board

Re: I rebooted my social life

#111

Post by hypeatei » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

NoImmatureAdHom wrote: post #71

hypeatei wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think about all the things going on under the current US administration which include but are not limited to: flag burning ban[0], retribution against law firms for supporting opponents of the admin[1], antifa being designated a terrorist organization[2], deportation of anti-Israel protesters[3], threatening broadcast licenses[4], or suing pollsters because he didn't like the results[5]? We're equating th…

The president is a person and can make whatever proclamations he wants. Sometimes people will even do what he says! But the way the system works is: - orange man makes dumb obviously unconstitutional proclamation about flag burning - most likely nobody does anything about it, but if someone does there is a law suit - the courts are like 'lol no' - back to status quo ante

So you'd be fine with say, Kamala, running on a campaign of crushing dissent because the courts will say "lol no"? Is that what I'm reading?

I certainly don't think any camp would be okay with that, let alone MAGAs (and for obvious reasons)

It's a common trope of centrists and republicans to say that it's okay for Trump to explore the outer limits of legal theory and executive power, but at the same time freak out at what a Democrat might do with the government.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#112

Post by throw4847285 » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

deadbabe wrote: post #109

throw4847285 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most jaundiced, obviously false, and self-pitying statement I have maybe ever encountered. Have you seen a group of people paint Warhammer figurines together? Or do Gunpla? Or play a roleplaying game? Are they cool and attractive? No! Are they having fun and bonding? Yes! The only incentive one would ever have to deny this is self-loathing covering up a fear of rejection. Go out there and do something dor…

All I'm saying is if you're going to invite people to something dorky, you will have better success if they are dorks.

I know many "hot" dorks and many "uggo" dorks. The difference in how much fun they have doing Warhammer is negligible.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#113

Post by iamnothere » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:22 PM UTC

gilrain wrote: post #49

squigz wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't you have an online community? littlecranky, put your reply back please; it was a good one.

Because they can’t reach you when there’s a power outage to check that you’re warm. They can’t share boiled water with you when the mains break. They can’t invite you to a meal when you’re lonely. They can mostly only ever wish you well.

Neighbors can provide these things if you’re willing to reciprocate. And you don’t have to be close with them, just friendly.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#114

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #99

I keep expecting fraternal orders to make a comeback. It seems like they were a solution to this problem, but have been deemed old fashioned. I knew someone with the last name ‘Mason’, who would often get asked if he was a Freemason or a decent of one. Eventually he got asked so many times that he decided to join. After that it seemed like he went from not having much of a social life to going out all the time with h…

I've been getting closer with the Unitarian Universalist church in my town. I'm an atheist and they're the only church in town that's friendly to atheism / humanism.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#115

Post by fenomas » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

squigz wrote: post #32

Throaway198712 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a brief period where ignorance reigned and Dan Brown was considered an actual historical writer. That drove a lot of book sales, when in fact Dan Brown doesn't write anything remotely historical.

I was reading Brown at like.... 12 years old. The idea that anyone legitimately thought of it as historical fact is hard for me to believe. Not impossible, though... Did people also think of National Treasure as historically accurate?

The Da Vinci Code has a frontispiece page titled "FACTS" or similar, that lists various elements mentioned in the book and claims they're historically factual. That's the stuff lots of people believed (as did Dan Brown, one presumes).

Re: I rebooted my social life

#116

Post by andrewl » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC

iamnothere wrote: post #110

As someone who used to have a highly active social life and now finds IRL socializing to be mostly a dull chore, I always find it confusing to see so many people commenting to the contrary. My partner is slightly more social than me and gets out slightly more than I do, but generally we are homebodies and we like it that way. Other people (at least in this country) are generally emotionally messy, unwilling to tolera…

What country are you in?

Re: I rebooted my social life

#117

Post by cjdell » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

Joining a hackspace/makerspace suddenly introduced me to a high quality real-life social network. It's an excuse to engage with your hobbies but also hangout with like minds and pick up new skills.

This won't be an option for everyone. I have to travel for an hour each way to get to mine, but it's worth it. If I had more energy I would start one in the city where I live.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#118

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

squigz wrote: post #15

altmanaltman wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The critics said his writing was clumsy, ungrammatical, repetitive and repetitive. They said it was full of unnecessary tautology. They said his prose was swamped in a sea of mixed metaphors. For some reason they found something funny in sentences such as “His eyes went white, like a shark about to attack.” They even say my books are packed with banal and superfluous description, thought the 5ft 9in man. He particu…

So he just writes poorly and people are angy he still got rich because people like his books? I feel like including him in a list next to Hitler is a bit... much.

[deleted]

Re: I rebooted my social life

#119

Post by abirch » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC

6thbit wrote: post #91

I came to the same conclusions as the author. Then I tried something like this and failed to get people interested. It’s draining for me to reach out to try and convince people, not sure if the social anxiety or the lack of executive functioning. Any tips for someone that understands and wants community but struggles with the building process?

  1) Do something you enjoy *and* that others in your area enjoy.
  2) Look for opportunities to be a first follower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ
  3) Build a routine. E.g., this event will happen every 2nd Tuesday of the month.

Re: I rebooted my social life

#120

Post by 1shooner » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:43 PM UTC

>I sent the details to friends and acquaintances who appeared in my notifications, or to mutuals who appeared on my timeline. But anyway, to my relief, on the night itself, a whole bunch of people actually turned up.

If the author was able to pull 'a bunch of people' to birthday drinks with nothing but an invitation, this story is more about underestimating his social capital rather than creating new capital.