Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stop Acting Like You're Famous

ajkprojects.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 282 posts

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#71

Post by timwaagh »

keiferski wrote: post #65

I haven’t studied the topic enough, but it would be very interesting to see when this dichotomy of money-making vs. self-interest really embedded itself into the act of creation. Somewhere during the Industrial Revolution, I suppose. But I also think the default mode of “art as self expression” plays a big part, and that’s more early-mid 20th century. Because when you read about creators during say, the Renaissance,…

In the sense of the article artists have always done their best to cater to the taste of the people who might pay them. At least from the 16th century. They were typically paid for and protected by a mecenas (wealthy Merchant or nobility). There are no doubt exceptions but in general the art was to please their mecenas.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#73

Post by damsalor »

m463 wrote: post #59
asta123 wrote: post #47

My son put effort into dressing up for his Year 10 formal as that is what you do. But during the event he observed that most kids focused on how they looked rather than noticing others, and thought he should have spent a lot less effort into his outfit :)

I think kids are constantly comparing. Watch how many of them are buying exactly what their friends buy, so they can fit in and relax a bit.

Not just kids

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#74

Post by keiferski »

timwaagh wrote: post #71
keiferski wrote: post #65

I haven’t studied the topic enough, but it would be very interesting to see when this dichotomy of money-making vs. self-interest really embedded itself into the act of creation. Somewhere during the Industrial Revolution, I suppose. But I also think the default mode of “art as self expression” plays a big part, and that’s more early-mid 20th century. Because when you read about creators during say, the Renaissance,…

In the sense of the article artists have always done their best to cater to the taste of the people who might pay them. At least from the 16th century. They were typically paid for and protected by a mecenas (wealthy Merchant or nobility). There are no doubt exceptions but in general the art was to please their mecenas.

Right but (and I could be wrong here) it seems like lamenting this is largely a recent thing. Renaissance artists were focused on creating the best possible work, not lamenting that they had to make paintings for money and not for their own desires.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#75

Post by imhoguy »

Well, there is also a thing called reputation, especially when job background checks include internet/social-media scan these days. So I try to build trashy things under my anonymous nickname(s), it is much more fun like in 90s.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#76

Post by fcatalan »

This resonates with me. I can't have relaxing hobbies: I take them up, find some measurable/competitive/social aspect in them, smash my way from "rookie" to "advanced beginner" to "top 20 percentile" in very little time and then agonize about the ensuing plateau and how getting into the top 1% would require complete dedication or might be realistically out of reach for me.

By that time I stop enjoying doing whatever the thing is. Not fun anymore.

People will sincerely praise me and it will feel empty because I know there are millions of better painters, my laptimes are a full second off the ultimate pace, my guitar skills only good enough for playing alone in my office, my leisure programming projects all pointless and abandoned.

I envy two kinds of people: those that have found some thing they are very good at and keep enjoying it forever, but also those that can enjoy something for years even if they are realistically mediocre at it and never improve.

And the money making part is also true for me. I took up miniature painting and quite soon was at the level where people will pay you decent money to paint their miniatures for them. I started getting offers and accepted one, not for the money, probably just out of pride. It was complete hell, I hated the result and every minute I spent painting it. The client was happy, me, I guess I learned my lesson: never again.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#77

Post by kynetic »

Hackbraten wrote: post #35
sph wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I defiantly do not want to see people's typos move the language forward, especially when it's native speakers always making the same silly mistakes, for some reason (could of, they're/their, your's, etc.). I do like non-native speakers translating and incorporating their local sayings into English prose.

If enough people are making the same mistake, won't it eventually stop being a mistake?

Literally, yes.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#78

Post by VelesDude »

sph wrote: post #56
Hackbraten wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If enough people are making the same mistake, won't it eventually stop being a mistake?

Not until my dying breath. The English language is a mess because of its haphazard evolution mostly driven by immigration over centuries. Which is what bugs me about native grammar mistakes: only native people make them. No one that has learned English as second language could ever construct "could of" as it makes no sense. And the act of being defiant is very very different than being definite about something. Yet p…

I do see where you are coming from but alas, language is an ever moving democracy. As much as many would like to define it in certain terms - it is largely beyond control.

This is why the English of Shakespeare doesn't hold up today because we are constantly adding and changing these things in a wonderfully organic fashion. It just makes it difficult to define.

The question is should we define it or is it like catching the wind with a net?

Another example is the word Monetize. It used to mean to turn a item into a form of money like currency. Almost nobody uses it like this nowadays. Decimate is another one.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#79

Post by Techbotch »

I disagree to some extent. E.g. I like to tinker, repair and build stuff and then blog about it. I put quite some effort into the writing part and every finished post gives me joy. Blogging has become a hobby in its own right. It also helps with getting projects done, because now the project is finished only when the post is out. All of my three regular readers like the results, too.

Of course, earning money from that never crossed my mind – in that respect, I fully agree.

Re: Stop Acting Like You're Famous

#80

Post by bayindirh »

fcatalan wrote: post #76

This resonates with me. I can't have relaxing hobbies: I take them up, find some measurable/competitive/social aspect in them, smash my way from "rookie" to "advanced beginner" to "top 20 percentile" in very little time and then agonize about the ensuing plateau and how getting into the top 1% would require complete dedication or might be realistically out of reach for me. By that time I stop enjoying doing whatever…

Why not apply kaizen to your hobbies?

    1. Do the best you can.
    2. Identify the weakest part of the artifact you just made.
    3. Design an improvement to that part only.
    4. GOTO 1.
This will make you cherish the progress and only "compete" with yourself, on your terms.
Post reply on HN