181–190 of 277 posts
There's 8 billion people in this world, and one single John Carmack. Everyone's experience is unique, so do you. Think about what you can change today instead of focusing on the immutable past.
Way I see it, life is a little bit like Minecraft, (or the other way around. :) You know there's a dragon at the end, but the game is not about the end. You don't win the game. It has no meaning or goal inherent to it, you make up your meaning out of it, sometimes copy others. It becomes meaningless if you can't come up with a new goal anymore and can't find inspiration elsewhere.
I feel like people pry at each other's life way too frequently over the little windows they're provided, and whatever they see there, they take it as a high score board and take note of how low they score in someone else's life.
There's a certain image of happiness in our collective minds, and it leans very extroverted and centered around material gains. Of course, give it a shot, try some other passions and see if some stick, but in the end if what makes you happy is to play WoW, then take care of your responsibilities first, and then play WoW like there's no tomorrow.
Over time you'll discover new passions, and you might want to keep or ditch previous ones. That's something to celebrate, not to mourn. It's as if you unlocked a new chapter in life. If your passion happens to be the next Carmack, then you will work towards it, and enjoy the ride even if you never reach the destination.
tl;dr life is fleeting. chill out. enjoy the ride.
1. There are morons who are millionaires, and there are people who slack off through life and live in luxury.
2. There are genuses who are broke, and there are people who work their asses off through life and are still hopeless.
3. It is possible to fail upward every time you screw up.
4. It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. (a.k.a. the Captian Picard advice)
Life isn't fair--It just is. And before you beat yourself up over the time you wasted playing video games, realize there are people who did the same thing you did and are suicidally depressed, as well as there are people who did the same thing you did and are now happily married with kids and became wealthy by owing fifty dry cleaners in their state. None of it is fair. There is no justice, or reason, or determinism in the universe.
Carmack didn't become "The Great John Carmack" by cosmic fate. He didn't achieve because he studied hard or worked his ass off. He didn't get there by squeezing productivity out of 100% of his time. So much of it was luck and circumstance and fortuitous timing, and any one of us could have been him if the billions of dice rolls that happen every day everywhere came up differently. Coming to terms with this has made me a whole lot happier and more satisfied with my life's meandering trajectory.
I'm certain you have a completely different level of understanding of social dynamics and culture in those spaces. If I would be building a team targeting something around metaverse, I may prefer your profile over mine (depending on team balance and profile), given that you still pass the bar otherwise.
Many people credit MMOs with their ability to do effective teamwork online both synchronously and asynchronously even under high pressure and I believe it.
I'm certain you have something to show for it, whatever it is for you. Play your strengths.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You feel that becoming a particular type of engineer you aspire to is meaningful, but once you get there you’ll realize you’re still yourself and you didn’t ascend to some higher level of being. This viewpoint sounds to me like it’s coming from someone who is depressed. I’ve had a long career with a lot of accomplishments and I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. Yeah someday the sun will consume the inner planets…
Hard disagree, I am not depressed at all and side with the parent comment's perspective. Everything is pointless. This also doesn't invalidate your enjoyment of your career and other accomplishments. They're good things [for you and those you touched], yet still ultimately pointless, merely tangential randomness to everyone outside of your little bubble. The Earth is a tiny, insignificant blue dot in the vastness of…
Context matters and you seem to have ignored all of it and misunderstood what I was saying. We can agree that everything is ultimately pointless - as I said myself in the comment you’re responding to, one day the sun will engulf the inner planets before becoming a red dwarf.
What I find unsettling though is the context in which “life is pointless” was brought up.
It was essentially, “don’t feel bad about not accomplishing anything because life is pointless and accomplishing anything will not fulfill you anyway.”
Do you agree with that sentiment? I don’t.
My recommendation is to fill your mind——every waking moment——with ideas, plans, hopes that inspire you, that you want to chase whether anyone else ever sees or knows or appreciates. Things you’d chase on a desert island or the middle of Manhattan.
Then find people you can share them with, that can magnify what you love.
Occasionally you might find yourself tempted to make value judgements about what happens. Don’t do it. Things aren’t good or bad, wonderful or a waste. They just are. You can’t choose the thoughts that intrude, but you can choose how you respond to them. Practice choosing to respond by being in the moment, and making the moment be about pursuing something you love.
Most people I know are controlled by ideology. Imagined imperatives handed down from ancestors and influencers. Their loves take a back seat or remain undiscovered and they get old with regrets. What I propose is the opposite. Let the philosophies and values of the day burn. They can't offer you anything you can’t offer yourself. Make the things you love eclipse everything else around you. You only live once. This is your chance to be free.
Best of luck.
Regret can only exist while looking at the past.
Do you wish to do away with regret...?
Then focus on achieving your future goals instead.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hard disagree, I am not depressed at all and side with the parent comment's perspective. Everything is pointless. This also doesn't invalidate your enjoyment of your career and other accomplishments. They're good things [for you and those you touched], yet still ultimately pointless, merely tangential randomness to everyone outside of your little bubble. The Earth is a tiny, insignificant blue dot in the vastness of…
I am not depressed at all and side with the parent comments perspective. Everything is pointless. Context matters and you seem to have ignored all of it and misunderstood what I was saying. We can agree that everything is ultimately pointless - as I said myself in the comment you’re responding to, one day the sun will engulf the inner planets before becoming a red dwarf. What I find unsettling though is the context i…
I agree with you 100%, that is a self-defeating nihilist sentiment.
I'm 33 and started playing a new instrument and am more creative and driven than I have ever been. There is not a time limit for getting good at something, it just takes dedication and time.
That lame proverb: "The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The 2nd best time is today" is absolutely true.
Also... don't compare yourself to the 0.001% of talent. They succeed due to a mixture of timing and luck. Well, maybe not Carmack. He is sincerely a genius. But also grew up during the most prosperous age of American history and had a stable home life. And also had the timing to have the passion and training for a game as simple as Doom to be released and make a huge splash. If Carmack was 10 years older or younger, where would he be?
There are tons of people who started programming/drawing/playing music in their early life and now just... don't do it anymore. They didn't become John Carmack or Thundercat.
One thing you have to face is your time management probably sucks and you need to improve it if you want to be different. A therapist can help with this.
If you want some recommendations on how to have better time management:
1. Deep Work - Cal Newport
2. Atomic Habits - James Clear
3. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management - Kevin Kruse