5 ms·

> If you don't understand how to employ false smiles as needed, you won't get very far in life. How do we measure how far we've come in life? Relative to what

by runeks 10y ago

> If you don't understand how to employ false smiles as needed, you won't get very far in life. How do we measure how far we've come in life? Relative to what is this distance measured?

avindroth 10y ago
This question is only asked by those who cannot measure how far they have come. We all have our subjective distances. But if you are a human being, some combinations of the following will be that distance: 1. Sustenance (food, water, housing, money) 2. Community (belonging, love) 3, Self-expression 4. Self-transcendence (altruism) This is a gross simplification of Maslow, but give me some slack. If you question every person saying "you won't get very far in life" with "how do you measure getting very far", you are not only annoying the other person, but also yourself. Spend that time trying to measure how far you have come.
- kross 10y ago
  I appreciate your reference to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Assuming you have met safety/security (#1), general philosophy of living presently would ask "why measure at all?"
- runeks 10y ago
  > Spend that time trying to measure how far you have come. Why? Who is the intended recipient of this information, once I have formulated it into words? Myself? I don't enjoy repeating things to myself I already know. Formulating into words how far you've come can only happen while you know how far you've come. And while you're in the state of knowing how far you've come, you don't need to repeat to yourself how far this is. You know.
rwallace 10y ago
Neurotypical people often err in the direction of overvaluing social status (presumably because in the ancestral environment, it made a large contribution to evolutionary fitness in a way that it does not today). If you find yourself smiling and nodding at the above, however, bear this in mind also: we geeks often err in the direction of undervaluing social status. If you haven't acquired basic skills in areas like networking and office politics, X effort invested there might do more for you than 10X effort invested in further honing your technical skills.
- avindroth 10y ago
  Given the vibes in this thread, this is an appropriate comment.

by runeks 10y ago

> If you don't understand how to employ false smiles as needed, you won't get very far in life. How do we measure how far we've come in life? Relative to what is this distance measured?

avindroth 10y ago

This question is only asked by those who cannot measure how far they have come. We all have our subjective distances. But if you are a human being, some combinations of the following will be that distance: 1. Sustenance (food, water, housing, money) 2. Community (belonging, love) 3, Self-expression 4. Self-transcendence (altruism) This is a gross simplification of Maslow, but give me some slack. If you question every person saying "you won't get very far in life" with "how do you measure getting very far", you are not only annoying the other person, but also yourself. Spend that time trying to measure how far you have come.

kross 10y ago
I appreciate your reference to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Assuming you have met safety/security (#1), general philosophy of living presently would ask "why measure at all?"
runeks 10y ago
> Spend that time trying to measure how far you have come. Why? Who is the intended recipient of this information, once I have formulated it into words? Myself? I don't enjoy repeating things to myself I already know. Formulating into words how far you've come can only happen while you know how far you've come. And while you're in the state of knowing how far you've come, you don't need to repeat to yourself how far this is. You know.

rwallace 10y ago

Neurotypical people often err in the direction of overvaluing social status (presumably because in the ancestral environment, it made a large contribution to evolutionary fitness in a way that it does not today). If you find yourself smiling and nodding at the above, however, bear this in mind also: we geeks often err in the direction of undervaluing social status. If you haven't acquired basic skills in areas like networking and office politics, X effort invested there might do more for you than 10X effort invested in further honing your technical skills.

avindroth 10y ago
Given the vibes in this thread, this is an appropriate comment.