Ask HN: Anybody feeling like the more you learn the unhappier you are? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Anybody feeling like the more you learn the unhappier you are?

4 pointsJumpinJack_Cash4 comments

I feel like this is what’s going on with me and most of my peers.

Information overload is a thing even if you filter out the stupid politics or the stuff that is purely distributed as a means of propaganda .

If you remove politics and culture wars you buy yourself some time, but as you get in the nitty gritty of the actual fields of interest and learn about all the cool stuff that is happening, the enthusiasm of discovery is replaced by the unhappiness of knowing that your odds of being involved in the cool stuff that happens at the frontier are basically zero.

Further even if you make peace with not being at the frontier, it will be years if not decades before the discoveries that are made at the frontier have a significant impact on your life as a citizen/consumer.

All the above is so depressing that I wonder if it wouldn’t be more efficient to just avoiding learning anything, turn one’s curiosity all the way to zero and just hangout , sure enough when the advances in a field becomes material to one’s life then the result will be seen regardless of one marginal person having taken interest beforehand

Eh, I feel like a perspective shift is needed. Don't think of it as "oh I'm not at the frontier and I never will be, therefore I'm depressed." Instead, marvel at how extremely difficult it is to reach the frontier, and be grateful for the fact that there are humans out there who are able to make that difficult journey to the forefront of their fields, slowly dragging the rest of us up with them. I used to think similarly to you, but over time I've just become happy with the fact that technology will continue to march forward regardless of whether or not I'm contributing anything to it.

Indeed, we are truly standing on the shoulders of giants. This insight is extraordinarily profound.

The phrase “cool stuff” suggests that there is some general agreement on what’s interesting. There isn’t. You get to define what’s cool-for your tastes, not what others say it should be.

In fact, the best that any large group of people (i.e. society) can do to is to define the mean (i.e. mediocrity): that which the majority of people can agree on. The interesting stuff isn’t at the mean, it’s in the tails.

Life is about discovering things and discovering yourself. You’ll find the gems if you just start digging.

Unless you are working as a researcher in a very specific field you are unlikely to be breaking through frontiers. I find that focusing and furthering my skills in practical areas brings me the satisfaction of accomplishments. So far I have learnt carpentry skills, taken up several musical instruments, learnt foreign languages, learnt to cook signature dishes. I'm not sporty, but even bettering my record for a 12km run is cool.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com