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> Larry and Sergey may well have been the last truly happy human beings on the planet. I really don't get this kind of writing. The millennial angst that suffu

> Larry and Sergey may well have been the last truly happy human beings on the planet. I really don't get this kind of writing. The millennial angst that suffuses all my social circles is just bizarre. Is this guy also a millennial or is he just trying to emulate one?

kev009 7y ago
Hyperbole. The distilled version of the post is things have changed since these two wrote their paper, not necessarily for the better, and these two paradoxically opt out of the future they created because they have the luxury and wealth to do so. Hyperbole is a literary tool to get you to think for yourself and relate it to your knowledge and experiences to agree or disagree. So, by nature of your attention to read it and then take a further action to respond, the writer was successful.
- ghfhg 7y ago
  Thanks. That does make sense.
warent 7y ago
I don't think it's intended to be taken literally. They're just illustrating a kind of lifestyle that doesn't genuinely exist anymore--now we're just memes within memes shrouded by emoji spam.
- larnmar 7y ago
  If you honestly feel that way, you should probably take a break from the internet for a while. The real physical world is still out there, and it’s still fantastic. You don’t need to go cold turkey internet, but it’s probably a good idea to reduce your exposure.
  - warent 7y ago
    You seem to be misinterpreting the comment. I wasn't making a desperate cry for help on HN so that someone would provide me with random unsolicited advice which is somewhat obvious and unhelpful. The comment was just sharing an interpretation of what the author is saying, and it refers to the cynical way in which the newest upcoming generation relates to the internet and technology. I don't personally feel that way about life, but I do think much of social media has been reduced to that. I think it's important we don't accidentally buy into the temptation of playing the role of an armchair internet psychologist for strangers with whom we have little to no context. If someone seriously needs help, anyone who isn't a professional is likely to just cause more harm than good, and if they don't need help then the discussion just ends up getting derailed.
davidajackson 7y ago
I second this. Why do writers use hyperbole to make points when their hyperbole is not an exaggeration, but rather just false? It makes me as a reader not trust anything they say afterward.
- rrss 7y ago
  I don't think there is any objective metric for whether Page and Brin where the last "truly happy" people, so I'm not sure what it means for that subjective statement to be just false. If Carr thinks they might have been because he believes the "idealism and confidence" that they had is not possible any more, then maybe they were, according to Carr's definition.
- kev009 7y ago
  Writing is a tool. Think of this article like a runway, and you the reader as an airplane trying to take off. Hyperbole can and did introduce a bit of turbulence to induce lift in your mind to get you out of follower mode and thinking critically whether you agree or disagree with the author. To complete the metaphor achieving lift off and thinking your own thoughts on the topic. It's not dishonest because anybody can clearly reason the statement is tautologically false, there are no tricks like numbers or misleading statistics or anything explicitly duplicitous and dishonest. You may dislike that the author effectively caused you to do this, thinking for yourself is dark and scary versus gently pulling you along for the ride but then would you have even read or commented? All I see is a skilled writer ruminating on an interesting topic. The comments on this thread already greatly outweigh the length of the piece, it's a pretty nice piece of writing.
rrss 7y ago
> Is this guy also a millennial or is he just trying to emulate one? Carr was born in 1959.
aspaceman 7y ago
> "The millenial angst" It's called depression.
- ghfhg 7y ago
  It's not. I have been depressed. Performing depression and being depressed are two very different things. The folks that are constantly online and constantly touting their depression are really just putting on a show for everyone else.
jambrosia 7y ago
Curious what generation you hail from that you boil this down to a millennial issue.
chc-sc 7y ago
Millennial angst...? He didn't even assert it or anything
- fhffhf 7y ago
  I consistently see this kind of melodramatic language everywhere. It's not positive and the folks I see it most from I'd describe as "angsty". That was the comparison I was making since that's what it reminded me of.
  - kick 7y ago
    'dang dislikes people making new accounts for every comment. You've made like three in this thread alone. Why?
    - fhfhf 7y ago
      Because saying something is worth more than developing an online persona. I had an account before and it made me a worse person.
    - hgggfgf 7y ago
      Does he pay you to say that?
dang 7y ago
Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN? You've been doing a lot, and we're trying for better than that here. Also, could you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We ban accounts that do that. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. HN is a community. Users needn't use their real name, but do need some identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0&query=by:dang%20community%20identity https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...

kev009 7y ago

Hyperbole. The distilled version of the post is things have changed since these two wrote their paper, not necessarily for the better, and these two paradoxically opt out of the future they created because they have the luxury and wealth to do so. Hyperbole is a literary tool to get you to think for yourself and relate it to your knowledge and experiences to agree or disagree. So, by nature of your attention to read it and then take a further action to respond, the writer was successful.

ghfhg 7y ago
Thanks. That does make sense.

warent 7y ago

I don't think it's intended to be taken literally. They're just illustrating a kind of lifestyle that doesn't genuinely exist anymore--now we're just memes within memes shrouded by emoji spam.

larnmar 7y ago
If you honestly feel that way, you should probably take a break from the internet for a while. The real physical world is still out there, and it’s still fantastic. You don’t need to go cold turkey internet, but it’s probably a good idea to reduce your exposure.
- warent 7y ago
  You seem to be misinterpreting the comment. I wasn't making a desperate cry for help on HN so that someone would provide me with random unsolicited advice which is somewhat obvious and unhelpful. The comment was just sharing an interpretation of what the author is saying, and it refers to the cynical way in which the newest upcoming generation relates to the internet and technology. I don't personally feel that way about life, but I do think much of social media has been reduced to that. I think it's important we don't accidentally buy into the temptation of playing the role of an armchair internet psychologist for strangers with whom we have little to no context. If someone seriously needs help, anyone who isn't a professional is likely to just cause more harm than good, and if they don't need help then the discussion just ends up getting derailed.

davidajackson 7y ago

I second this. Why do writers use hyperbole to make points when their hyperbole is not an exaggeration, but rather just false? It makes me as a reader not trust anything they say afterward.

rrss 7y ago
I don't think there is any objective metric for whether Page and Brin where the last "truly happy" people, so I'm not sure what it means for that subjective statement to be just false. If Carr thinks they might have been because he believes the "idealism and confidence" that they had is not possible any more, then maybe they were, according to Carr's definition.
kev009 7y ago
Writing is a tool. Think of this article like a runway, and you the reader as an airplane trying to take off. Hyperbole can and did introduce a bit of turbulence to induce lift in your mind to get you out of follower mode and thinking critically whether you agree or disagree with the author. To complete the metaphor achieving lift off and thinking your own thoughts on the topic. It's not dishonest because anybody can clearly reason the statement is tautologically false, there are no tricks like numbers or misleading statistics or anything explicitly duplicitous and dishonest. You may dislike that the author effectively caused you to do this, thinking for yourself is dark and scary versus gently pulling you along for the ride but then would you have even read or commented? All I see is a skilled writer ruminating on an interesting topic. The comments on this thread already greatly outweigh the length of the piece, it's a pretty nice piece of writing.

rrss 7y ago

> Is this guy also a millennial or is he just trying to emulate one? Carr was born in 1959.

aspaceman 7y ago

> "The millenial angst" It's called depression.

ghfhg 7y ago
It's not. I have been depressed. Performing depression and being depressed are two very different things. The folks that are constantly online and constantly touting their depression are really just putting on a show for everyone else.

jambrosia 7y ago

Curious what generation you hail from that you boil this down to a millennial issue.

chc-sc 7y ago

Millennial angst...? He didn't even assert it or anything

fhffhf 7y ago
I consistently see this kind of melodramatic language everywhere. It's not positive and the folks I see it most from I'd describe as "angsty". That was the comparison I was making since that's what it reminded me of.
- kick 7y ago
  'dang dislikes people making new accounts for every comment. You've made like three in this thread alone. Why?
  - fhfhf 7y ago
    Because saying something is worth more than developing an online persona. I had an account before and it made me a worse person.
  - hgggfgf 7y ago
    Does he pay you to say that?

dang 7y ago

Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN? You've been doing a lot, and we're trying for better than that here. Also, could you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We ban accounts that do that. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. HN is a community. Users needn't use their real name, but do need some identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0&query=by:dang%20community%20identity https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...