4 ms·

perhaps this is the conclusion all would reach if they were as smart as your brother

somurzakov 7y ago
when you are smart and don't have a need to prove others how smart you are - you will end up just enjoying your life in full [by playing video games]
- gridlockd 7y ago
  "Playing videogames" isn't enjoying your life "in full", especially if you're smart and could do things that are really meaningful instead. I'm pretty sure he knows this deep down inside, but that "have fun, don't give a fuck"-attitude is just a too convenient rationalization for being a lazy coward.
  - goatlover 7y ago
    Maybe being one of the best violinists in history wasn't meaningful to him. Or maybe he got tired of the expectations.
    - imtringued 7y ago
      Being the best violinist isn't meaningful to me. If he pursued that goal then maybe he would actually reduce his meaningfulness from the perspective of someone else.
  - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
    > "Playing videogames" isn't enjoying your life "in full", especially if you're smart and could do things that are really meaningful instead. Why is "playing videogames" considered not meaningful? I have a group of friends that I have played video games with for over 10 years. We have shared a number of life ups and downs together and have met up in person numerous times. I would argue that we all bonded over videogames and it was the door that opened a broader friendship among each of us. Oh yeah, to be a bit a dick, we all make over 200 on average, with one way north of that. Every one of us is well-adjusted and now married. That's really what you wanted to measure, right? How "successful" one is. Stereotyping isn't helpful. It blinds you to things that exist as they are. Grow up.
    - gridlockd 7y ago
      Of all the things you talked about here, the "videogame" part is obviously not the meaningful one. It could've been any other activity that lets you socialize. Sure, some people may socialize through videogames, but the guy in the example likely doesn't. Even if he does, socializing itself isn't enough. > Grow up. Part of growing up is recognizing that you don't get to set your own values. You're not biologically capable of ignoring how other specimens judge you and how you measure up against them. Even if you don't believe in these "natural values", your own nature will be telling you that you're too maladapted to be part of the future. It'll make you wither and die, to make room for everyone else. That's not a happy ending.
  - imtringued 7y ago
    It sounds to me like you missed a pretty big memo. There is no such thing as meaning in life. Meaning is just a human created construct to achieve certain goals, primarily ones that we ourselves consider important to us. Because every human mind operates independently no global meaning can exist. The upside is that there is no central god like entity that arbitrarily defines meaning and you can do whatever you want (within your own cognitive framework). What you are doing is to simply impose your own selfish values onto other people.
    - gridlockd 7y ago
      Meaning may well be subjective to some degree, across individuals of the species. However, to say that there is "no such thing as meaning in life" is nihilism. That may well be true at a cosmic scale, but at an individual scale it's just a rationalization that absolves you of any responsibility to live up to your potential. You'll be a loser that has wasted a life, and everyone recognizes that, even though they'll never dare tell you. You will most likely recognize it yourself at some point, or maybe your cognitive dissonance will protect you, but I wouldn't count on it.
faissaloo 7y ago
Or perhaps we have a society that does not give these people a meaningful place.
- glaive123 7y ago
  if that were the case, he's smart enough to just say that. but he did not say that
  - invalidOrTaken 7y ago
    Or perhaps smart enough to know how it could be seen to say so.
    - faissaloo 7y ago
      Indeed, people often exaggerate the abilities of smart people so much so that their achievements seem unreachable, then when they hear them complain they think 'how ungrateful of them'.
  - faissaloo 7y ago
    Not necessarily.

when you are smart and don't have a need to prove others how smart you are - you will end up just enjoying your life in full [by playing video games]

gridlockd 7y ago
"Playing videogames" isn't enjoying your life "in full", especially if you're smart and could do things that are really meaningful instead. I'm pretty sure he knows this deep down inside, but that "have fun, don't give a fuck"-attitude is just a too convenient rationalization for being a lazy coward.
- goatlover 7y ago
  Maybe being one of the best violinists in history wasn't meaningful to him. Or maybe he got tired of the expectations.
  - imtringued 7y ago
    Being the best violinist isn't meaningful to me. If he pursued that goal then maybe he would actually reduce his meaningfulness from the perspective of someone else.
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  > "Playing videogames" isn't enjoying your life "in full", especially if you're smart and could do things that are really meaningful instead. Why is "playing videogames" considered not meaningful? I have a group of friends that I have played video games with for over 10 years. We have shared a number of life ups and downs together and have met up in person numerous times. I would argue that we all bonded over videogames and it was the door that opened a broader friendship among each of us. Oh yeah, to be a bit a dick, we all make over 200 on average, with one way north of that. Every one of us is well-adjusted and now married. That's really what you wanted to measure, right? How "successful" one is. Stereotyping isn't helpful. It blinds you to things that exist as they are. Grow up.
  - gridlockd 7y ago
    Of all the things you talked about here, the "videogame" part is obviously not the meaningful one. It could've been any other activity that lets you socialize. Sure, some people may socialize through videogames, but the guy in the example likely doesn't. Even if he does, socializing itself isn't enough. > Grow up. Part of growing up is recognizing that you don't get to set your own values. You're not biologically capable of ignoring how other specimens judge you and how you measure up against them. Even if you don't believe in these "natural values", your own nature will be telling you that you're too maladapted to be part of the future. It'll make you wither and die, to make room for everyone else. That's not a happy ending.
- imtringued 7y ago
  It sounds to me like you missed a pretty big memo. There is no such thing as meaning in life. Meaning is just a human created construct to achieve certain goals, primarily ones that we ourselves consider important to us. Because every human mind operates independently no global meaning can exist. The upside is that there is no central god like entity that arbitrarily defines meaning and you can do whatever you want (within your own cognitive framework). What you are doing is to simply impose your own selfish values onto other people.
  - gridlockd 7y ago
    Meaning may well be subjective to some degree, across individuals of the species. However, to say that there is "no such thing as meaning in life" is nihilism. That may well be true at a cosmic scale, but at an individual scale it's just a rationalization that absolves you of any responsibility to live up to your potential. You'll be a loser that has wasted a life, and everyone recognizes that, even though they'll never dare tell you. You will most likely recognize it yourself at some point, or maybe your cognitive dissonance will protect you, but I wouldn't count on it.

faissaloo 7y ago

Or perhaps we have a society that does not give these people a meaningful place.

glaive123 7y ago
if that were the case, he's smart enough to just say that. but he did not say that
- invalidOrTaken 7y ago
  Or perhaps smart enough to know how it could be seen to say so.
  - faissaloo 7y ago
    Indeed, people often exaggerate the abilities of smart people so much so that their achievements seem unreachable, then when they hear them complain they think 'how ungrateful of them'.
- faissaloo 7y ago
  Not necessarily.