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I have the same feelings, and I suspect it's what makes many people keep reading sites like HN. There are these sentences which you say to yourself as a child

by manmal 14y ago

I have the same feelings, and I suspect it's what makes many people keep reading sites like HN. There are these sentences which you say to yourself as a child - mine was "little boy wants to have everything" (that's what I said, actually, my mother still often tells me :)). My life pretty much resembles that - I have much, I do much (too much?), but I'm still wanting (everything). I think it boils down to the question "What is life for, anyway?". The answer I like best (found it in some book) is "For feeling love and joy, in every moment". Sounds corny, but whenever I follow it, I'm feeling at peace and content. Feeling unsatisfied with what you have is what drives you and the rest of humanity forward, but it's certainly not healthy to remain in this state constantly. I bet in most cases the root cause is a feeling of inferiority, instilled by our parents' believes (which we have adopted) or traumas in childhood. We do great things (or feel bad because we don't do them) to silence this nagging feeling. We ought to be great externally, because we don't feel great internally. We want to prove that we are no failures.

galfarragem 14y ago
Good phrases Manmal. Thanks: "I have the same feelings, and I suspect it's what makes many people keep reading sites like HN." Reading HN somehow makes you feel that you still have a chance, that you are still "training" with the best ones and feeling the "market competitors" (that are represented by HN readers). You didn't abandon the game and accepted to be a failure. You are not "competing" with a low rank community that you can find anywhere. Somehow in an unconscious way society around wants you to be a failure, or better they want you behind them, unless they see you as a god that they think that they cannot surpass. "50 years ago - with our skillset (I assume the average HN reader), we would have been heroes in our local communities - teachers, engineers, perhaps inventors. There was so much low-hanging fruit for people with brains." I'm not sure about what i'm going to say now but I think that in every community there is a limited need for people with brains. Few people with brains are enough. The problem is that nowadays there is a tendency to larger but fewer communities, meaning that less people with brains are needed, and to suceed you'll need "super brains". Not great words but I hope you (HN readers) understand the meaning.

by manmal 14y ago

galfarragem 14y ago

Good phrases Manmal. Thanks: "I have the same feelings, and I suspect it's what makes many people keep reading sites like HN." Reading HN somehow makes you feel that you still have a chance, that you are still "training" with the best ones and feeling the "market competitors" (that are represented by HN readers). You didn't abandon the game and accepted to be a failure. You are not "competing" with a low rank community that you can find anywhere. Somehow in an unconscious way society around wants you to be a failure, or better they want you behind them, unless they see you as a god that they think that they cannot surpass. "50 years ago - with our skillset (I assume the average HN reader), we would have been heroes in our local communities - teachers, engineers, perhaps inventors. There was so much low-hanging fruit for people with brains." I'm not sure about what i'm going to say now but I think that in every community there is a limited need for people with brains. Few people with brains are enough. The problem is that nowadays there is a tendency to larger but fewer communities, meaning that less people with brains are needed, and to suceed you'll need "super brains". Not great words but I hope you (HN readers) understand the meaning.