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I think you're patting yourself on the back too much. I was reading about a woman in Cambodia who escaped from torture and near death with her two children and
by makeshifter 14y ago
I think you're patting yourself on the back too much.
I was reading about a woman in Cambodia who escaped from torture and near death with her two children and survived in the jungle for 3 years. They never stayed in the same place two days in a row and ate nothing but roots and bugs.
Despite this mother's best efforts, her youngest child starved to death and died in her arms.
A few years later, she founded a safehouse for depressed women who had been raped and tortured like her.
Now SHE is an awesome person and I respect her a lot more.
- microcentury 14y agoShe does sound like an incredible person, but what are we supposed to do with that information? Does it mean we should not try and do anything, given there is always someone out there who has a 'better' (for very wide definitions of 'better') story? I don't write this to be snarky, and I used to think in a similar way myself, but this is not a good way to see the world.
- SpaceDragon 14y agoHere's what I took away from the story: there are incredibly humble people who have overcome incredible hardships and went on to help and heal others. A lot of the "accomplishments" I read on HN like raising VC money or blogging for a year straight is weaksauce in comparison.
- wwosik 14y agoSo? If we never achieve such greatness, does it mean we shouldn't go for the weaksauce? My answer is no - not every has to be the hero. If one's a decent one, it's great already in itself.
- MortenK 14y agoI think OP is just making a general call for people to be a bit more humble. Fueled by this particular case where a guy declares himself to be awesome, because he wrote a blog post every day for a year, and self-published 3 PDF's.
- microcentury 14y agoFair point, noted and accepted :-)
- bdunn 14y agoWhat is wrong with you?
- makeshifter 14y agoOops. I'm sorry. I introduced another perspective into the discussion.
- guynamedloren 14y agoyou introduced another perspective on the vague, arbitrary concept of 'being awesome', but the article was actually about a method for practicing and learning new skills... not about 'being awesome'. Yeah, that lady sounds awesome and inspiring, but I think you missed the point.
- ctdonath 14y agonon-sequitur != different perspective
- rfrey 14y agoI wonder if it would be possible to find someone who endured even more hardships than the woman you read about? Or someone who dealt with them with even more courage or more grace? If so, I wonder if that means the Cambodian woman's story should never be told, in any context?
- goblin89 14y agoThing is, the fact that you give more of your respect to that woman than to Chris changes little. True, we can try and “rate” these accomplishments, and that woman probably would receive higher “mark”. However, it obviously makes little sense—because we're unable to judge the outcome, since causal relationships are too complex; because what matters is doing things, not recognizing and/or ranking others' achievements.
- sebphfx 14y agothe woman didn't decide her fate. It was accidental. He accomplished something with resilience. Why do we have to compare everything in terms of heroism? Who cares about heros. The lady wasn't a heroine neither is he.
- ramblerman 14y agoIma let you finish but Beyonce had the best album of all time!