racktash

10 ms·

61.
by racktash 3y ago
Most of the world's problems aren't solvable by everyday people. Better to focus one's attention on oneself, work, family and community, where a difference might be made. (Obviously it's also great if a person can donate
62.
by racktash 4y ago
I agree that we often don't hear about the 'kept failing' path of, presumably, the majority of would-be writers. For me, writing is a very frustrating drive... I've been writing novellas and short stories fairly seriousl
63.
by racktash 4y ago
Thank you for the tips!
64.
by racktash 4y ago
I agree regarding the usefulness of unpacking. I've been trying (with only limited success) to get better at verbalising thoughts/opinions and so on. It sounds like you may have had more luck than me – may I ask what has worked fo
65.
by racktash 4y ago
I'm definitely somebody who likes time to think things over and let my conflicting thoughts resolve themselves. I think in addition to this, though, I struggle to verbalise many of my thoughts and feelings no matter how long I'm g
66.
by racktash 4y ago
I'm drawn by media featuring stuttering. One of my favourite novels, for example, is Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, a book about a 13-year-old boy growing up in 80s Britain and who suffers a stutter. It captures wonderfully the si
67.
by racktash 4y ago
I'm definitely no textual criticism expert, but I do have a book recommendation. The Inner Citadel by Hadot is a great analysis of the Meditations. It explains extracts from the Meditations – such as references to certain people in Mar
68.
by racktash 4y ago
Epictetus has a wonderful quote. He is talking about moral / philosophical improvement specifically but I find it more broadly applicable when overly high expectations paralyse me from doing a thing: "What then? Because I have no
69.
by racktash 4y ago
You definitely aren't alone in feeling like this. For what little it's worth, hang tight and I hope things pick up for you. Life's a bit of a chaotic rollercoaster at times, and these last few years that has been dialled up t
70.
by racktash 4y ago
After a while, a lot of software development starts to look the same, at least if you aren't working in cutting edge tech. I still love software, but mostly I only write code for work now. In my spare time, I do other challenging hobbi
71.
by racktash 4y ago
The public political slogans on both sides were dominated by economic arguments. In the case of the Remain side, this was a concrete, measurable benefit that could be pointed to – a very powerful argument in favour of staying. On the Leave
72.
by racktash 4y ago
I voted Remain in the referendum and my stance on the matter hasn't changed. To me, it always made sense to be part of the EU. I say this up front in case what I say next is read in the wrong light. I get wary when so many people, or s
73.
by racktash 4y ago
I used to think this way about prose too, but a book called "First You Write a Sentence" by Moran changed my assumption on this one. As Moran points out, the "sound" of writing conveys meaning in itself. A little flouris
74.
by racktash 4y ago
I'm a similar age to the poster. This December, I've been doing a lot of thinking (and writing, in order to try to clarify things a bit) about how I want 2023 and the next few years to go. I've asked myself these three broad
75.
by racktash 4y ago
Thankfully there are much more interesting and positive ways to get over the fear of death than drugs: philosophy (existentialism etc.), humanistic psychology, religion (this one didn't work for me, but it seems to work for many people
76.
by racktash 4y ago
I genuinely don't mean this to sound negative, or defeatist – sometimes nuance is difficult to convey in plain text. I think giving up a dream can sometimes be the best choice, the sensible choice. Some dreams just aren't going to
77.
by racktash 4y ago
Hodges's book is excellent – delightfully thorough and detailed. After finishing it (I read it after watching the movie) I was rather shocked at just how many liberties the film had taken. I'm not against a historical movie tweaki
78.
by racktash 4y ago
My favourite nonfiction read of the year was a biography of Wittgenstein by Ray Monk called The Duty of Genius. Absolutely enthralling read about a really fascinating person. I find Wittgenstein's own writings almost impenetrable, but
79.
by racktash 4y ago
> Do you mean something like Scotland going there own way? Yes, exactly this – the four countries of the UK going their own way and the UK ceasing to be. (It's my personal opinion – people will of course have their own take, and goo
80.
by racktash 4y ago
I think the handling of Covid-19 (and there plenty of varied , legitimate criticisms to be made about that ) is definitely a UK-specific issue. Not that the mistakes made by the UK weren't also made by other governments, of course. A
81.
by racktash 4y ago
I genuinely fear for the UK. It's going to be a very different country in ten years, and I fear it will be a weaker, poorer and more divided one. I don't know for sure what the main cause of our current problems is, but I know tha
82.
by racktash 4y ago
Ah, simpler times. The photos really took me back to the early 90's and 00's, when I was a kid/teenager, happy to spend hours playing the same first-person shooters for hours, on the same maps, over and over again, with my
83.
by racktash 4y ago
If it actually came to that, he could just disable the videos/media feature. I don't personally like Mr Musk, and I don't approve of how he has handled this takeover, but I wonder if some of those hurrying forth with negati
84.
by racktash 4y ago
I started making total conversion mods for Half-Life 2 when I was a young teenager – I made the levels, models, wrote the gameplay code and so on. I never really recommend game development to anybody, because it can be quite an exhausting h
85.
by racktash 4y ago
This is probably the only death of a public figure that has really hit me hard. The Queen was a constant all of my life, all of my parents' lives and, indeed, a good deal of my grandparents' lives. The comfort she could bring to m
86.
by racktash 4y ago
For many, royalty is not a joke. In my view, the role of the Queen as a unifying and stabilising influence in the UK is invaluable. Has she been a perfect human being? Of course not, but her dedication to her duties has been inspiring to ma
87.
by racktash 5y ago
Obviously this is just my opinion. Apologies if my answer seems vague or waffly – I think our ability to analyse these kinds of things with words is limited. I think our personality and memories didn't prexist our birth, and they don&#
88.
by racktash 5y ago
I went through feeling like this when I was about 27. I felt like I had settled into a comfortable, but monotonous, way of life. Programming, my favourite thing to do then, had become challenging only because of problems created by things l
89.
by racktash 9y ago
Where I work, we use it extensively for analysing problems and designing code. It's invaluable for communicating and collaborating on designs.
90.
by racktash 12y ago
Merry Christmas! I've thoroughly enjoyed lurking at HN for the last year. Looking forward to another year of interesting articles!

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