Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore • Hacker News Board

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#111

Post by sverige » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 7:40 AM UTC

xapata wrote: post #100

sverige wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One is a genius of entertainment. He's on TV five times a week. TV doesn't do him justice -- he's much more interesting in person. He always knows exactly what to say in any given situation. One is a genius of memory. He memorized the entire Norton Anthology of Poetry when he was a child. (I'm not even kidding.) In college we all played a game where we would give him the first line of a poem. He would then supply the…

No need to restrict yourself to friends. Feynman, Da Vinci, Alexander the Great, ... there are countless individuals who have done more . I used to (and still occasionally) suffer from staring out into the stars at night and realizing how insignificant I am. We should all be like Zaphod, eh? Just remind yourself that life in an absurd universe is pointless, so there's no need to achieve anything beyond having a nice…

I am reminded that Julius Caesar was very distraught upon reaching the age of 33 years and realizing that Alexander had accomplished everything of his life by that age.

And yes, exercise is excellent for nearly every malady. (See Plato for specifics.)

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#112

Post by sverige » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 7:41 AM UTC

trentmb wrote: post #75

sverige wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I have seen several psychiatrists and psychologists and counselors over the years. They're generally pleasant but useless people, though a couple of them provided perspectives and comments that were useful at the time. The biggest help has been that I no longer value social acceptance so highly. It's terrible, I know. Feel free to call me an obnoxious asshole if it helps you. Several have and I've survived.

> The biggest help has been that I no longer value social acceptance so highly. Sure you do- hence your performance, hence your need to reply to me. I suspect you expected a reply in the vein of mine. EDIT: i reply => a reply

Uh oh, I've been caught.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#113

Post by sverige » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 7:42 AM UTC

chillwaves wrote: post #81

sverige wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I have seen several psychiatrists and psychologists and counselors over the years. They're generally pleasant but useless people, though a couple of them provided perspectives and comments that were useful at the time. The biggest help has been that I no longer value social acceptance so highly. It's terrible, I know. Feel free to call me an obnoxious asshole if it helps you. Several have and I've survived.

Can you just stop with the "me me me" show for a minute?

Not tonight it seems, unfortunately. But after tonight, back to normal, stiff upper lip and all that. Right. Now then.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#114

Post by sverige » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 7:46 AM UTC

da02 wrote: post #103

sverige wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One is a genius of entertainment. He's on TV five times a week. TV doesn't do him justice -- he's much more interesting in person. He always knows exactly what to say in any given situation. One is a genius of memory. He memorized the entire Norton Anthology of Poetry when he was a child. (I'm not even kidding.) In college we all played a game where we would give him the first line of a poem. He would then supply the…

Do any of them have any quarks or eccentricities? What are their views of politics and economics?

With the exception of the poet, who is quite conservative and traditional, they universally participate in the leftist hivemind. All of them (including the conservative) are quite eccentric sexually, and in different ways, based on what they have said and I have seen. Beyond that, they are only eccentric in the particular calculus of their flaws, as is each individual when closely observed.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#115

Post by 3131s » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 7:55 AM UTC

sverige wrote: post #113

chillwaves wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you just stop with the "me me me" show for a minute?

Not tonight it seems, unfortunately. But after tonight, back to normal, stiff upper lip and all that. Right. Now then.

No worries, the reason you're upvoted to the top is because many of us see bits of ourselves in you.

I'm also of the opinion that many of us are capable of genius-level accomplishments, but it requires a confluence of mental and physical well-being, life circumstances, and luck that doesn't always come easily. So, I am driven to do better and learn more day by day, but I also won't rebuke myself too harshly if I never bring to fruition some big, world-changing idea.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#116

Post by smaddox » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 8:05 AM UTC

arghimonmobile0 wrote: post #106

faraggi wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what he means. why 'fast idiot'? All I come up with is you guys are lawyers?

Computers are high-speed morons, according to folklore. If I had the source I'd quote it.

I'm not sure he was the first, but Feynman talks about computers being really fast but dopey filers in one of his lectures for laymen.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#117

Post by mtdewcmu » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 8:09 AM UTC

arghimonmobile0 wrote: post #108

sverige wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, how many times have I done this. I think it is a side-effect of growing up in a time when the idea of genius was especially promoted, and also of being raised by parents who were teachers and who thought geniuses were important. Thankfully, I have a good counterbalance of extensive readings in philosophy and theology. Now, for a real sense of loss, two days ago the grandmother of my best childhood friend died. Sh…

I don't have anything constructive to say, except that you sound like a quite special and definitely very perceptive person. It is random meetings in meatspace with people like you seem to be (I am likely projecting, but near with me) that light up my life. That is no recognition in a public sense, and perhaps not bona fide genius either, but I'm sure that you contribute more than you realise to more people's experie…

The sense I get from him is that he enjoys storytelling, and the stories should not be mistaken for literal truth.

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#118

Post by da02 » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 8:25 AM UTC

sverige wrote: post #114

da02 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do any of them have any quarks or eccentricities? What are their views of politics and economics?

With the exception of the poet, who is quite conservative and traditional, they universally participate in the leftist hivemind. All of them (including the conservative) are quite eccentric sexually, and in different ways, based on what they have said and I have seen. Beyond that, they are only eccentric in the particular calculus of their flaws, as is each individual when closely observed.

I'm sorry, but I feel compelled to ask: "eccentric sexually"? Overactive libido or something else?

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#119

Post by warent » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 8:38 AM UTC

Psychthowaway wrote: post #22

As a public figure, it wasn't worth burning my reputation to type this out, but I think that speaks to the state of discourse around mental health today. The article is uses the word "psychopathology" which is a general term for the study of mental disorders. However I want to talk specifically about Psychopathy as a disorder, because I recently came to understand that I am a psychopath. My guess is that there are pr…

I'm a rather emotional person with a very pronounced sense of empathy. I can, to an extent, feel physical or emotional stimuli that others feel, even if they're fictional characters or animals. It can be crippling but also very rewarding.

Given that short context, your post is interesting to me partly because, from my perspective, it sounds like you're searching for some empathy from me so that the channels of communication will open.

So either you aren't wanting us to empathize with your way of life being exhausting, in which case the purpose of the post eludes me, or you do wish for us to empathize. And finally, you certainly don't wish that you had the ability of empathy to minimize your (potential; real or theoretical) damage to other people's life experiences or feel other people's joy.

In other words, this logically deduces to being entirely self serving. You wish for us to empathize with you so that you can make a personal gain, not because you wish to do better by other people.

Isn't everyone self interested? To an extent, yes. I "selflessly" help someone, which increases my fitness as an organism because I experience their positive experience. If this goes both ways, it's a 4x net gain vs. 1 self interested individual. Two self interested individuals with aligned goals still only get 2x net gain, which is half as much as two selfless individuals.

Maybe I completely missed the mark but that's my evaluation. I'd be interested in hearing more on your perspective.

I have one question: can sociopaths express altruism?

Thanks for your valuable time!

Re: Both geniuses and madmen pay attention to what others ignore

#120

Post by Pica_soO » Sun, Mar 12, 2017, 8:41 AM UTC

The pattern-matching gone haywire visible in schizophrenia, applied in mild dosages on principles not related is in my opinion the secrect ingredient that allowed in the early days of science for the "genius" myth to occur.

So madmen might be usefull- but not all the time, and not in all situations. The true art in project managment is to keep the madmen around against all resistence ("That guy is constantly reinventing the wheel"), prevent the usual specialization silos from walling off against this and get a stuck project to "shift gears" as in, temporarily withdraw the usual project-management ("We need fast, easy solutions- not something custom made") - and get the recombined stuff at least discussed.