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Ego Death

krisnova.net

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Re: Ego Death

#51

Post by Clent »

Sounds like they are describing an addiction.

Not everyone's social media experience is the same.

The author was participating in the noise, stuck in the culture of substance abuse.

Their experience is that this is the only experience.

To the most casual observer this is clearly untrue.

----

Anyone paying attention to the science on social media is aware there are people stuck in this cycle.

It's cool that this person woke to it but there is nothing larger here and there is no indication their habits are going to change longer term. They are determined to continue to participate in something they admit harms them.

Re: Ego Death

#52

Post by mock-possum »

Clent wrote: post #51

Sounds like they are describing an addiction. Not everyone's social media experience is the same. The author was participating in the noise, stuck in the culture of substance abuse. Their experience is that this is the only experience. To the most casual observer this is clearly untrue. ---- Anyone paying attention to the science on social media is aware there are people stuck in this cycle. It's cool that this perso…

Yeah I’m pretty tired of people who have a problem with social media assuming that that means everyone has a problem with social media - or that social media itself is a problem. If it doesn’t work for you, then don’t do it. Stop projecting and start taking responsibility for yourself.

Self worth comes from yourself. If you’re getting your worth from an outside source, that’s external validation, which is a wholly unsatisfying strategy. You’re always going to be chasing it. Not everybody has that problem.

Re: Ego Death

#53

Post by coldtea »

lo_zamoyski wrote: post #27
netsharc wrote: post #9

> We aren’t using social media to drive action. We are using it to farm a false sense of worth. To cast stones at anyone who foolishly stumbles into the latest virtue-trap. Yeah, it feels like most of social media is now shit-flinging and calling the "outside group" stupid so one can feel "At least I'm not a stupid horrible person like that idiot!". I notice on Instagram you can "like" comments but not dislike them,…

Social media simply amplifies what is already common among human beings. One way it seems to do this is by flattening and legitimizing impropriety. Normal societies are "chunky", that is, you have niches and enclaves and varying distance unified in some increasingly "thin" manner. This enables various kinds of relationships to flourish (think of how marriage creates a special space for the couple, and then another sp…

>Social media simply amplifies what is already common among human beings

We all have some anger in us too. But we're not all frequently beating up or even killing people in powerful fits of anger. Something that "simply amplifies" pre-existing violent tendencies can have a dramatic detrimental effect on society.

Human beings have many potentialities. Amplifying some of them as opposed to others, is enough to change major parts of our behavior, personality, and even society.

Re: Ego Death

#54

Post by bombcar »

unsubstantiated wrote: post #29

>I deeply believe everyone is virtuous, as they personally define it. For the most part, I believe the world’s virtues are common. We all want peace, joy, safety, and comfort. We all want to smile. Well I don't. And this belief isn't any more valid or invalid than mine, or anyone else's. Regardless of the flimsy definition of virtuousness, there are people out there who are hellbent on causing harm, and some are pett…

It’s almost a weakly stated version of the ancient philosophical discussion about desiring the good (where good is basically “that which is desired” and evil “that which is not desired”) - it needs much more development to become a useful discussion.

And it becomes even more vague on a societal size - if I had a button that when pressed would take one dollar from everyone in the USA and give it to me, would I press the button? $350 million versus large amounts of people only out a dollar …

Re: Ego Death

#55

Post by seszett »

unmole wrote: post #43
saagarjha wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how Mastodon works right now. I assure you, there’s plenty of this kind of content there.

This. People keep saying how the Fediverse is awesome and different. But everytime I go to sign up for Mastodon, I'm greeted with culture war rage bait and I decide against joining.

But it's not the case for me, how comes?

Surely you must willingly follow people who post this kind of content, or inflammatory tags? Because I think it's the only way this content can reach you.

Re: Ego Death

#57

Post by [deleted] »

netsharc wrote: post #10
john-radio wrote: post #7

> Stay tuned for more. :(

Also: > Over the past months I have began mountain climbing again, and in many cases I have rediscovered a sense of self-respect for my ability to accomplish my goals when nobody is watching. Ouch... I hope it wasn't a seeking of this feeling that lead to her fatal accident.

[deleted]

Re: Ego Death

#58

Post by alganet »

russelldjimmy wrote: post #46
rwhyan wrote: post #14

Funny how many "I"'s and "my"'s in this piece. This was especially ironic: > " I want to kill my ego , or at least substantially break it"

It is at least a beginning. When someone is learning something new, they will naturally take some time to be good at it. They are merely expressing their awareness that the ego is something that is the root of their suffering. For now, they are comfortable expressing it from the ego’s point of view… because it’s familiar! We’ve all been there at some point, and most of us don’t even move on from it. It seems to me th…

The whole text reads to me as a huge ego trip.

Look at these quotes:

> You can’t tweet your way to self-respect.

> How can anyone farming a void on emptiness internally enact change?

> I see millions of empty users crying out for more validation

The author is web buddha and just achieved nirvana, others are just validation-seeking, void-farmer, self-disrespectful egotistical losers (I'm exaggerating, of course, but that's the gist of it).

I mean, I get it. First step to solve a problem is to recognize you have a problem. But does the text really does this, or just shifts it to a more generic, "it's everyone and not just me" problem?

Re: Ego Death

#59

Post by while1malloc0 »

bastawhiz wrote: post #2

I find it so irritating and difficult to read when authors needlessly make most of their paragraphs a single sentence. Or use lots of tiny sentences that read like fragments. I guess it's to add effect? Except it doesn't read like it's profound, it's just annoying. Please stop doing this and just write like you talk. Unless that's also how you talk, in which case please just don't do that.

Given that the author died last Wednesday—this being her last post is likely why it’s front page of HN—I suspect your writing advice might go ignored in this case.

Re: Ego Death

#60

Post by unmole »

seszett wrote: post #55
unmole wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. People keep saying how the Fediverse is awesome and different. But everytime I go to sign up for Mastodon, I'm greeted with culture war rage bait and I decide against joining.

But it's not the case for me, how comes? Surely you must willingly follow people who post this kind of content, or inflammatory tags? Because I think it's the only way this content can reach you.

> Surely you must willingly follow people who post this kind of content, or inflammatory tags? Because I think it's the only way this content can reach you.

Really? Right now, if I go to mastodon.social, I'm redirected to https://mastodon.social/explore and 3 out of the first 4 posts are people fulminating about "red states", "anti-racism" and "Twitter" respectively.

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