4 ms·

Well then I do have one advise. Do get excited. And next time it happens, scream a little. Laugh out loud. Hug the person next to you. "There is no growth in co

Well then I do have one advise. Do get excited. And next time it happens, scream a little. Laugh out loud. Hug the person next to you. "There is no growth in comfort".

rue 15y ago
Some of us just aren't wired that way. It's not that I don't appreciate something, or find something funny, or scary, &c., it's that I don't demonstrate it as enthusiastically. I have the same range of enthusiasm, I think; the scale is just smaller. (It's probably a good bet that I actually don't get excited as easily as many, but that's harder to verify.) It is a bit awkward to try feign enthusiasm just to fit in. Fortunately those who know me better can interpret the subtler changes in mood.
cycojesus 15y ago
wouldn't that qualifies as hypocrisy? I know all the enthousiasm I see around startups and in tech marketing in general, the constant overuse of superlatives that have now completly lost their meaning feels like hypocrisy to me. I frankly don't care if you find something "awesome", and the more noisy you get about it the more annoyed and put off I am.
bitops 15y ago
Agree - enthusiasm is not a one-dimensional thing.
tristanperry 15y ago
Why was this downvoted? (Have just + voted). It might not be an opinion everyone shares, but that's not a downvote-worthy reason?
- rglullis 15y ago
  Because it makes it sound like Gabriel's behavior is wrong. I don't know him, but I don't think that he "needs more excitement" in his life. It's just that his bar is set higher. If anything, I relate to the OP. When everything "is super exciting", nothing is. We already live in a world filled with over-stimulation and kids growing up to thing that "to have fun" is the only important thing. I wish we had move people that manage to keep their cool like Gabriel, instead of writing something that makes him look like a downer.
  - frou_dh 15y ago
    I recall reading several rants about the word awesome along the lines of No, being handed a snack is not awe-some.
    - _delirium 15y ago
      I think that one is in part a linguistic shift, rather than a change in people's perceptions--- the word has just acquired a weakened meaning over the centuries, so people using it aren't intending to mean it in original, stronger and more literal sense. There's an interesting chapter in the book Hyperbole in English (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521766354/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=abxxm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0521766354 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521766354/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...), Ch. 6 on Conventionalisation, on how, with some words, what started as hyperbole has caused a meaning shift such that later users don't always perceive themselves to be using hyperbole, but just to be using the contemporary meaning of the word.
    - JohnLBevan 15y ago
      I'm in some kind of middle ground here. I generally fall into the same category as Gabriel (the blog author), but try to compensate by using words like awesome and cool to the extent that I have polite tourettes. I buy a coffee and when the barista hands it to me I reply "that's amazing, thank you"; someone tells me their mum's died and in the desperate struggle to think of an appropriately empathetic response mumble the words "that's cool, nice". Hmm, not sure where I'm going with this comment - started out as giving an amusing anecdote / fishing to see if others fall into the same boat, but just realised I may have started using HN as some kind of therapy site, so will stop now. Replies are still welcome though. Awesome.
palish 15y ago
Oh, sod off. Some people simply can't. I know, because I'm one. We're still excited -- we just don't show it. Literally, we can't. You may as well be asking us to detach our arm.
- gallamine 15y ago
  You can't perform those physical actions? Were not talking about conjuring a feeling, were talking about emulation the actions that usually accompany them.
  - _delirium 15y ago
    Isn't forcing yourself to emulate an expression pretty weird, though? It reminds me of the companies that demand everyone be "enthusiastic" and love their "fun workplace", rather than just allowing people to be quietly good at their job (http://www.kmjn.org/notes/funsultants_and_gamification.html http://www.kmjn.org/notes/funsultants_and_gamification.html).
  - palish 15y ago
    That's correct. Ever seen Mythbusters? Think Jamie.
rohit89 15y ago
That's like asking an introverted person to suddenly start orating in front of a crowd. People are just different. Worse, unless you're a good actor, people will see through the pretend and realize its fake.

Well then I do have one advise. Do get excited. And next time it happens, scream a little. Laugh out loud. Hug the person next to you. "There is no growth in comfort".

rue 15y ago

Some of us just aren't wired that way. It's not that I don't appreciate something, or find something funny, or scary, &c., it's that I don't demonstrate it as enthusiastically. I have the same range of enthusiasm, I think; the scale is just smaller. (It's probably a good bet that I actually don't get excited as easily as many, but that's harder to verify.) It is a bit awkward to try feign enthusiasm just to fit in. Fortunately those who know me better can interpret the subtler changes in mood.

cycojesus 15y ago

wouldn't that qualifies as hypocrisy? I know all the enthousiasm I see around startups and in tech marketing in general, the constant overuse of superlatives that have now completly lost their meaning feels like hypocrisy to me. I frankly don't care if you find something "awesome", and the more noisy you get about it the more annoyed and put off I am.

bitops 15y ago

Agree - enthusiasm is not a one-dimensional thing.

tristanperry 15y ago

Why was this downvoted? (Have just + voted). It might not be an opinion everyone shares, but that's not a downvote-worthy reason?

rglullis 15y ago
Because it makes it sound like Gabriel's behavior is wrong. I don't know him, but I don't think that he "needs more excitement" in his life. It's just that his bar is set higher. If anything, I relate to the OP. When everything "is super exciting", nothing is. We already live in a world filled with over-stimulation and kids growing up to thing that "to have fun" is the only important thing. I wish we had move people that manage to keep their cool like Gabriel, instead of writing something that makes him look like a downer.
- frou_dh 15y ago
  I recall reading several rants about the word awesome along the lines of No, being handed a snack is not awe-some.
  - _delirium 15y ago
    I think that one is in part a linguistic shift, rather than a change in people's perceptions--- the word has just acquired a weakened meaning over the centuries, so people using it aren't intending to mean it in original, stronger and more literal sense. There's an interesting chapter in the book Hyperbole in English (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521766354/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=abxxm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0521766354 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521766354/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...), Ch. 6 on Conventionalisation, on how, with some words, what started as hyperbole has caused a meaning shift such that later users don't always perceive themselves to be using hyperbole, but just to be using the contemporary meaning of the word.
  - JohnLBevan 15y ago
    I'm in some kind of middle ground here. I generally fall into the same category as Gabriel (the blog author), but try to compensate by using words like awesome and cool to the extent that I have polite tourettes. I buy a coffee and when the barista hands it to me I reply "that's amazing, thank you"; someone tells me their mum's died and in the desperate struggle to think of an appropriately empathetic response mumble the words "that's cool, nice". Hmm, not sure where I'm going with this comment - started out as giving an amusing anecdote / fishing to see if others fall into the same boat, but just realised I may have started using HN as some kind of therapy site, so will stop now. Replies are still welcome though. Awesome.

palish 15y ago

Oh, sod off. Some people simply can't. I know, because I'm one. We're still excited -- we just don't show it. Literally, we can't. You may as well be asking us to detach our arm.

gallamine 15y ago
You can't perform those physical actions? Were not talking about conjuring a feeling, were talking about emulation the actions that usually accompany them.
- _delirium 15y ago
  Isn't forcing yourself to emulate an expression pretty weird, though? It reminds me of the companies that demand everyone be "enthusiastic" and love their "fun workplace", rather than just allowing people to be quietly good at their job (http://www.kmjn.org/notes/funsultants_and_gamification.html http://www.kmjn.org/notes/funsultants_and_gamification.html).
- palish 15y ago
  That's correct. Ever seen Mythbusters? Think Jamie.

rohit89 15y ago

That's like asking an introverted person to suddenly start orating in front of a crowd. People are just different. Worse, unless you're a good actor, people will see through the pretend and realize its fake.