3 ms·

This has to do with why people specialize (and the right chunk of stuff to specialize in) - it's determined by the time you have to dwell in the info-place of a

This has to do with why people specialize (and the right chunk of stuff to specialize in) - it's determined by the time you have to dwell in the info-place of a thing. No-one, not even the smartest human, can dwell in more than a few places at once because to dwell in a place is as much about the people and emergent social structures there as it is about the tech. Maybe we dwell in one or two places, and then skim the rest, to do integration work. We become "users" of these other spaces, visitors, not natives. The OP is unusual because they dwelt in so many places, which is quite rare, I think. Most people don't dwell anywhere, I suspect. I wouldn't feel too bad about pulling back - it actually sounds exhausting. Maybe one day you'll rejoin a particularly important space, and focus on really being part of that group long-term.

tempodox 3y ago
I think this is a great observation. I find it indeed hard to dwell on anything because I'm interested in so many things, and to specialize in one of those enough so you could call it dwelling would be tantamount to giving up on many others, which I'm not prepared to do. I feel between a rock and a hard place in that respect.
hilbert42 3y ago
"Most people don't dwell anywhere, I suspect." ...And I suspect you're correct. And for reasons the author of the story gives (I've also dropped almost all my mailing lists). If I consider myself as dwelling anywhere specific then it has to be HN for reasons it's a 'filtered' gateway to just everything that I would find interesting—and my interests are diverse. That HN can effectively filter out what I (and seemingly many others) consider to be internet dross and junk yet still provide enormous diversity makes it a very effective gateway.
MichaelZuo 3y ago
> No-one, not even the smartest human, can dwell in more than a few places at once because to dwell in a place is as much about the people and emergent social structures there as it is about the tech. John von Neummann was fine 'dwelling' in several dozen places. I get why it's hard to admit that outliers several standard deviations above exist.
- svnt 3y ago
  While there are certainly outliers, the OP is making a different point, and I’ll see if I can align it with yours. von Neumann was primarily active in mathematics and physics. He published 150 papers. He moved subfields but he did so on timescales of years. He too could only dwell in a place or two at a time; he was skilled and fortunate to be able to move between dwelling places over a career that spanned decades. Polymaths are primarily declared polymaths only at the end of a career with the benefit of hindsight. At any given moment they are temporary specialists.
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    Your extrapolating your own experiences to someone much more intelligent, hence why it's so difficult to believe. There's plenty of evidence to suggest the limit for him was not 1 or 2.
    - svnt 3y ago
      And I could say you are overassigning individual agency to someone whose output is mostly a consequence of their environment, and how would we ever know who was correct?

tempodox 3y ago

I think this is a great observation. I find it indeed hard to dwell on anything because I'm interested in so many things, and to specialize in one of those enough so you could call it dwelling would be tantamount to giving up on many others, which I'm not prepared to do. I feel between a rock and a hard place in that respect.

hilbert42 3y ago

"Most people don't dwell anywhere, I suspect." ...And I suspect you're correct. And for reasons the author of the story gives (I've also dropped almost all my mailing lists). If I consider myself as dwelling anywhere specific then it has to be HN for reasons it's a 'filtered' gateway to just everything that I would find interesting—and my interests are diverse. That HN can effectively filter out what I (and seemingly many others) consider to be internet dross and junk yet still provide enormous diversity makes it a very effective gateway.

MichaelZuo 3y ago

> No-one, not even the smartest human, can dwell in more than a few places at once because to dwell in a place is as much about the people and emergent social structures there as it is about the tech. John von Neummann was fine 'dwelling' in several dozen places. I get why it's hard to admit that outliers several standard deviations above exist.

svnt 3y ago
While there are certainly outliers, the OP is making a different point, and I’ll see if I can align it with yours. von Neumann was primarily active in mathematics and physics. He published 150 papers. He moved subfields but he did so on timescales of years. He too could only dwell in a place or two at a time; he was skilled and fortunate to be able to move between dwelling places over a career that spanned decades. Polymaths are primarily declared polymaths only at the end of a career with the benefit of hindsight. At any given moment they are temporary specialists.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  Your extrapolating your own experiences to someone much more intelligent, hence why it's so difficult to believe. There's plenty of evidence to suggest the limit for him was not 1 or 2.
  - svnt 3y ago
    And I could say you are overassigning individual agency to someone whose output is mostly a consequence of their environment, and how would we ever know who was correct?