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While writing, it occurred to me that this might be the primary effect. There appears to be some sort of counter in my head that counts awesome comments. Ther

While writing, it occurred to me that this might be the primary effect. There appears to be some sort of counter in my head that counts awesome comments. There is no counter, however, for number of awesome users, or number non-awesome comments. I ignore them without effort. But due to this selection bias, the awesomeness counter gets to such a big number that it's quite overwhelming, and it feels that 100% of comments are awesome. I suppose I can accept the fact that the majority of people don't represent anything to get flustered about. However, there are people way more talented than me, doing much more important-seeming (that is to say, things that are getting more attention) things, and in general just being more successful than I. I truly mean it when I say "good for them," but it eats away at me. Quarter-life crisis I suppose. I was on this site as a different name over a year ago and have recently returned. I can tell you that I noticed a pretty significant difference in the quality of users now on this site. There are more low/medium quality comments, and the quips aren't as clever. What's more concerning is the upvote counts on those comments... That being said, there's no other place I'd rather be.

galois 16y ago
What makes you think you're talented? You say people have always told you you were a smart kid. Do you have any actual achievements to back this up? I come on here and find that the vast majority of people are well below my intelligence level. I find that this site is basically a bunch of talentless wantrepreneurial pundits. I come on here to test my patience with idiotic circlejerks - praise Apple, bash Facebook, on and on. Most people I know with real talent feel similarly about HN. Heck, I even know YC guys who feel this way about it.
- chitabox 16y ago
  Ignore post's questioning your talent, If you've been on HN long enough, you'll know where you stand in terms of talent in the LAMP world. Talking of talent, ping me on duxy786 at google's mail and maybe we can work together!
- photon_off 16y ago
  I cannot know whether or not you would qualify my abilities as "talent". The way you've constructed your response leads me to believe that if I told you I won the Nobel Prize in Javascript, you'd list stupid things that Nobel Prize winners have done. Even if this site is mostly "talentless wantrepreneurial pundits," which has some truth to it, you're not the slightest bit overwhelmed at the amount of high quality information here?
  - baxter 16y ago
    My awesome comment counter just went up by one.
  - GBond 16y ago
    spotting trolls should be an intelligence test
- DrJokepu 16y ago
  Intelligence has may sides. In my opinion, one of them is being able to handle people. Offending people is rarely a clever thing to do. I'm not talking about criticism here, I'm talking about offending people. Even if someone's super-intelligent in terms of science, being rude to people means that he or she has never managed to learn how to interact with people. This is an incredibly important skill; I've found that it's a lot easier to enjoy life if people like you or at least don't dislike you.
- kiwidamo 16y ago
  Hilarious. So why are you reading let alone commenting? Maybe you're just as thick as the rest of us.
- spokey 16y ago
  More often than not, it's these sort of comments that sadden me most when reading HN. I actually expected the OP to be about this very topic. Although my account isn't very old, I've lurked at HN off and on for quite a while. It is my impression that they are increasing, although maybe I only pay more attention now that I have an account.
- exit 16y ago
  ignoring the tone from galois - what do we think the untalented should do? certainly someone will be in the ops position (including reading hn / awareness of the wider tech industry) without actually being talented.
  - strait 16y ago
    I'm not sure that 'untalented' is really a significant concept, since being talented is much more a perception than a definite reality. It's like saying someone is uncharismatic. I guess the severity of such claims would depend on who was doing the assessment. Just as valid is 'latent talent' that even the potentially talented person may not be fully aware of until later in their life. Anyway, I think it's nearly safe to assume that anyone who has made it a habit of reading HN, would not have to risk the disappointment of actually being technically untalented.
- cwilson 16y ago
  Judging by the rest of your comments on this site you're far too intelligent to be commenting here in the first place, so why keep at it? My hunch is that you find enjoyment in talking about how intelligent you are and making others feel less intelligent then you. That or you have something to prove as a result of being inadequate your entire life, but internally, you just know how brilliant you are and have to shout it from the rooftops while bringing down others. I'm curious, what have you accomplished that's so great? Do YOU have any achievements to back up your arrogance? I'd venture to say that you're actually not that intelligent at all. An intelligent person would realize striking a balance between radiating their inner brilliance and being a modest and kind person is necessary in life. You have clearly not yet learned that lesson. Intelligence won't get you very far when no one wants to work with you because you're a huge dick to everyone around you.
  - dkersten 16y ago
    Judging by the rest of your comments on this site you're far too intelligent What comments are you talking about? The ones I see are either retarded, extremely arrogant (but not intelligent), or about average (relative to other comments on this site). From his previous comments, I would guess hes of average intelligence, for this site, but EXTREMELY arrogant. Not really a desirable combination, if you ask me.
    - lobo-tuerto 16y ago
      He was being a little bit sarcastic about it. ;)
      - dkersten 16y ago
        Well, that does make more sense.
  - youareanidiot 16y ago
    YHBT YHL HAND
- da5e 16y ago
  Okay, it's a jerk comment, but I do like that word, "wantreprenuerial". I knew a farmer who raised sheep and sold their wastes as fertilizer. Called himself an "entremanure"
- keefe 16y ago
  I think it was heinlein who wrote that you can break intelligent people into two categories. One sort knows (s)he is better than average but is concerned with levels of intelligence, how smart they are and is susceptible to flattery. Another sort knows they are intelligent enough not to worry about it, knows that other things are the limiting factors in their life and perhaps even feels like a bit of a freak. also I've seen enough from this username that I think, troll???????????????????????????
elblanco 16y ago
"However, there are people way more talented than me" Oh, and one thing that you have to learn to become comfortable with (or at least Zen about)...there is always somebody better at something than me.
- saratogacx 16y ago
  What is great about that is that there is always someone to learn from.
  - mikecaron 16y ago
    Unless you're Jon Skeet.
gizmomagico 16y ago
Admit it, you're awesome too :) But yes, I've felt like you do. There are people here that make me feel inadequate as a programmer. I realize that many - if not most of them happen to be people who live & breathe programming, and solving problems and quenching their thirst for knowledge. This means they're world-class programmers, and used to actually using their brains, but it doesn't mean that they're guaranteed to be considerably more intelligent than I am. Then there are people like patio11, for example. Whenever this guy says anything, it's always brimming with insight & razor-sharp wit. Now, he's kind of a bummer :)
da5e 16y ago
<i>However, there are people way more talented than me, doing much more important-seeming (that is to say, things that are getting more attention) things, and in general just being more successful than I. </i> Yes, Pinky, and there always will be. There's always a faster gunfighter.

galois 16y ago

What makes you think you're talented? You say people have always told you you were a smart kid. Do you have any actual achievements to back this up? I come on here and find that the vast majority of people are well below my intelligence level. I find that this site is basically a bunch of talentless wantrepreneurial pundits. I come on here to test my patience with idiotic circlejerks - praise Apple, bash Facebook, on and on. Most people I know with real talent feel similarly about HN. Heck, I even know YC guys who feel this way about it.

chitabox 16y ago
Ignore post's questioning your talent, If you've been on HN long enough, you'll know where you stand in terms of talent in the LAMP world. Talking of talent, ping me on duxy786 at google's mail and maybe we can work together!
photon_off 16y ago
I cannot know whether or not you would qualify my abilities as "talent". The way you've constructed your response leads me to believe that if I told you I won the Nobel Prize in Javascript, you'd list stupid things that Nobel Prize winners have done. Even if this site is mostly "talentless wantrepreneurial pundits," which has some truth to it, you're not the slightest bit overwhelmed at the amount of high quality information here?
- baxter 16y ago
  My awesome comment counter just went up by one.
- GBond 16y ago
  spotting trolls should be an intelligence test
DrJokepu 16y ago
Intelligence has may sides. In my opinion, one of them is being able to handle people. Offending people is rarely a clever thing to do. I'm not talking about criticism here, I'm talking about offending people. Even if someone's super-intelligent in terms of science, being rude to people means that he or she has never managed to learn how to interact with people. This is an incredibly important skill; I've found that it's a lot easier to enjoy life if people like you or at least don't dislike you.
kiwidamo 16y ago
Hilarious. So why are you reading let alone commenting? Maybe you're just as thick as the rest of us.
spokey 16y ago
More often than not, it's these sort of comments that sadden me most when reading HN. I actually expected the OP to be about this very topic. Although my account isn't very old, I've lurked at HN off and on for quite a while. It is my impression that they are increasing, although maybe I only pay more attention now that I have an account.
exit 16y ago
ignoring the tone from galois - what do we think the untalented should do? certainly someone will be in the ops position (including reading hn / awareness of the wider tech industry) without actually being talented.
- strait 16y ago
  I'm not sure that 'untalented' is really a significant concept, since being talented is much more a perception than a definite reality. It's like saying someone is uncharismatic. I guess the severity of such claims would depend on who was doing the assessment. Just as valid is 'latent talent' that even the potentially talented person may not be fully aware of until later in their life. Anyway, I think it's nearly safe to assume that anyone who has made it a habit of reading HN, would not have to risk the disappointment of actually being technically untalented.
cwilson 16y ago
Judging by the rest of your comments on this site you're far too intelligent to be commenting here in the first place, so why keep at it? My hunch is that you find enjoyment in talking about how intelligent you are and making others feel less intelligent then you. That or you have something to prove as a result of being inadequate your entire life, but internally, you just know how brilliant you are and have to shout it from the rooftops while bringing down others. I'm curious, what have you accomplished that's so great? Do YOU have any achievements to back up your arrogance? I'd venture to say that you're actually not that intelligent at all. An intelligent person would realize striking a balance between radiating their inner brilliance and being a modest and kind person is necessary in life. You have clearly not yet learned that lesson. Intelligence won't get you very far when no one wants to work with you because you're a huge dick to everyone around you.
- dkersten 16y ago
  Judging by the rest of your comments on this site you're far too intelligent What comments are you talking about? The ones I see are either retarded, extremely arrogant (but not intelligent), or about average (relative to other comments on this site). From his previous comments, I would guess hes of average intelligence, for this site, but EXTREMELY arrogant. Not really a desirable combination, if you ask me.
  - lobo-tuerto 16y ago
    He was being a little bit sarcastic about it. ;)
    - dkersten 16y ago
      Well, that does make more sense.
- youareanidiot 16y ago
  YHBT YHL HAND
da5e 16y ago
Okay, it's a jerk comment, but I do like that word, "wantreprenuerial". I knew a farmer who raised sheep and sold their wastes as fertilizer. Called himself an "entremanure"
keefe 16y ago
I think it was heinlein who wrote that you can break intelligent people into two categories. One sort knows (s)he is better than average but is concerned with levels of intelligence, how smart they are and is susceptible to flattery. Another sort knows they are intelligent enough not to worry about it, knows that other things are the limiting factors in their life and perhaps even feels like a bit of a freak. also I've seen enough from this username that I think, troll???????????????????????????

elblanco 16y ago

"However, there are people way more talented than me" Oh, and one thing that you have to learn to become comfortable with (or at least Zen about)...there is always somebody better at something than me.

saratogacx 16y ago
What is great about that is that there is always someone to learn from.
- mikecaron 16y ago
  Unless you're Jon Skeet.

gizmomagico 16y ago

Admit it, you're awesome too :) But yes, I've felt like you do. There are people here that make me feel inadequate as a programmer. I realize that many - if not most of them happen to be people who live & breathe programming, and solving problems and quenching their thirst for knowledge. This means they're world-class programmers, and used to actually using their brains, but it doesn't mean that they're guaranteed to be considerably more intelligent than I am. Then there are people like patio11, for example. Whenever this guy says anything, it's always brimming with insight & razor-sharp wit. Now, he's kind of a bummer :)

da5e 16y ago

<i>However, there are people way more talented than me, doing much more important-seeming (that is to say, things that are getting more attention) things, and in general just being more successful than I. </i> Yes, Pinky, and there always will be. There's always a faster gunfighter.