Live data from Hacker News

Guilty Displeasures

hopefulmons.com

71–80 of 120 posts

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#71
post #57

Probably the most obvious for this community is being very enthusiastic about technology but loathing anything with "smart" in the name. (I still use a flip phone and 15+ year old appliances) Similarly I grew up always enjoying video games but it feels like a burned out husk in the modern era. Most of the big dollar "video game" market is now just MTX gambling and even a LAN party probably routes everything through S…

I agree with you with respect to smart, cloud, etc I think we should support people who are uncomfortable about this stuff, don't ridicule them with "tinfoil hat much?" type sentiments By the way, GOG.com treats you well wrt cloud/privacy/etc. All games they sell are drm-free and can be downloaded, installed and played offline.

[deleted]

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#72

"Guilty" seems like the wrong word. Calling something like exercise a "guilty displeasure" just doesn't seem right

It's much more simply stated as: "displeasure"

No. The author doesn't like pop music, but that's not a guilty displeasure, because he doesn't think he should like it.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#73

Dogs - I know they are good for humanity with getting their owners for walks, loyalty, etc. But have no idea how people get hooked on them with the picking up hot feces and 25% chance of getting a barking/jumping lunatic that you have to rearrange your life every 6 hours around their bathroom habits...

From your description, I will assume you never had a dog as none of what you said happens like that

I have never had a dog and I have still picked up hot dog poop just from walking a relative’s dog. I assume you have yours toilet trained.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#74

Dogs - I know they are good for humanity with getting their owners for walks, loyalty, etc. But have no idea how people get hooked on them with the picking up hot feces and 25% chance of getting a barking/jumping lunatic that you have to rearrange your life every 6 hours around their bathroom habits...

The same reason people generally don't regret having kids even though the commitment and overall change of your life are much greater than what you described for dogs.

Expressing regret about having kids is, in addition, a strong social taboo.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#75
For OP's calibration since he is working on “that problem”

> A younger version of myself felt guilty at disliking reading scientific papers. Then I realized I just didn’t want to be a scientist, and stopped caring. (Also, I realized that nobody really enjoys it, so it’s kind of a moot point; when I realized this I tried to solve the problem for everybody, and now work for a startup that is making real progress against this problem.)

(my emphasis)

I did enjoy reading papers, a lot. I wish I had had more time for it. I don't think your mental model is substantiated.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#76
post #75

For OP's calibration since he is working on “that problem” > A younger version of myself felt guilty at disliking reading scientific papers. Then I realized I just didn’t want to be a scientist, and stopped caring. (Also, I realized that nobody really enjoys it , so it’s kind of a moot point; when I realized this I tried to solve the problem for everybody, and now work for a startup that is making real progress again…

I also have problems reading math, even though I work in a math heavy field. I have no problem with actually understanding math, just with forcing myself to read the symbols.

My problem stems from being very good at speedreading, being hyperlexic, and since I was a kid I devour books very fast, and I cannot transfer that skill completely to math and this disappoints me.

I know very good mathematicians who have problems reading both literature and math, and because there is no discrepancy, they don't experience it in a "I hate math" way as I do.

I actually managed to apply my "superpower" by reading a lot of what smart people say about math (e.g. introductions to papers, long mathoverflow answers, blog posts) and thus I internalized a lot of math thinking processes without actually doing the work (I know people say "there is no royal road to geometry" but for me it worked).

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#77

Probably the most obvious for this community is being very enthusiastic about technology but loathing anything with "smart" in the name. (I still use a flip phone and 15+ year old appliances) Similarly I grew up always enjoying video games but it feels like a burned out husk in the modern era. Most of the big dollar "video game" market is now just MTX gambling and even a LAN party probably routes everything through S…

I resonate with what you said, but I kinda don't know what it has to do with the article The article defines guilty displeasures as things you don't like but you hope you like. I don't think you hope yourself to like modern AAA games.

Different person's POV here: I fully expect from my mind to enjoy video games.

Then I open Steam, and feel the strong sense of rejection, like eww this is well and truly a disgusting selection of repackaged Unity assets, and I'd like to have absolutely none of that please.

It's this cognitive dissonance maybe, that's the guilty displeasure. Because I do keep coming back, we all do.

In the grim darkness of the right now, with former gaming companies focusing on live services and loot boxes and advertising, core gamers' very conception of video games is simulacra, a copy without the original.

With time, this will fade; like when searching for Jesus, you don't really expect to physically find the dude hidden in the corner of the church. Expectations decay.

Maybe I will visit Steam on the Internet Archive and still browse, when everything is gone and dead, and the guilty displeasure feeling will have outlived the displeasure, and the guilt.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#78
My life got a lot better years ago when I became honest with myself about the things I like and dislike, regardless of whether or not they are "in character" or even "normal".

I really, really hate being outdoors. I don't like jazz. I really enjoy Lady Gaga. Oasis is a great band, despite their fanbase being mostly wankers. MCU movies are for the simpleminded. ebooks on an e-ink device offer a much better reading experience than paper books. Dogs and young children are terrible to be around.

Live your life. You don't have to go around advertising how weird you are, but don't be afraid to live authentically.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#79

Dogs - I know they are good for humanity with getting their owners for walks, loyalty, etc. But have no idea how people get hooked on them with the picking up hot feces and 25% chance of getting a barking/jumping lunatic that you have to rearrange your life every 6 hours around their bathroom habits...

You need to have one to understand the unconditional loyalty, love, and the bond. You come to appreciate it even more once you lose them. Having a dog is the best and worst thing in the world. Just lost our fur baby a week ago...

The unconditional loyalty and love is what disgusts me about dogs. Unconditional renders it meaningless and worthless.

Re: Guilty Displeasures

#80
post #75

For OP's calibration since he is working on “that problem” > A younger version of myself felt guilty at disliking reading scientific papers. Then I realized I just didn’t want to be a scientist, and stopped caring. (Also, I realized that nobody really enjoys it , so it’s kind of a moot point; when I realized this I tried to solve the problem for everybody, and now work for a startup that is making real progress again…

I also have problems reading math, even though I work in a math heavy field. I have no problem with actually understanding math, just with forcing myself to read the symbols. My problem stems from being very good at speedreading, being hyperlexic, and since I was a kid I devour books very fast, and I cannot transfer that skill completely to math and this disappoints me. I know very good mathematicians who have proble…

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Upon reading I felt identified (hyperlexic having trouble reading math as if it was prose). I still tell myself “I like math”. But it's true that when I think of “doing math”, I envision a study situation with the stressors removed.

I also had a similar experience with meta readings, funny.

Post reply on HN