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Comment by Brendinooo | Hacker News Reader

I'll be forthright here.

I've realized over time that I don't live the most...focused, goal-oriented life; a lot of what I decide to do is constrained by what I can or cannot do. If I don't have the money, I don't do the thing. If I do and someone asks, or I'm feeling a little impulsive, I will.

In the digital world, there was a ton of stuff I was interested in doing but was unable to accomplish, either because I didn't have the technical knowledge or the time to do it.

AI makes you feel like anything is possible! A lot of people aren't used to the mental model of "having a team of people who can do stuff for you", and there's definitely a way we can get lost in that.

I'm thankful I have a wife that drags me out of my office enough that I think I've reasonably kept in touch with reality, ha.

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> I've realized over time that I don't live the most...focused, goal-oriented life; a lot of what I decide to do is constrained by what I can or cannot do.

The human experience. We all share it, many of us spend a lot of time ignoring it or pretending we can overcome it. There are many ways to describe it, and I'm happy for you that you can see it.

> AI makes you feel like anything is possible!

I can understand that some people feel this way, but it still shocks me how common this feeling is.

I feel the complete opposite. I used to spend hours reading and figuring things out on my computer, but since AI I can't wait to log off and get back to the real world.

I’m jealous, in a way.

I’m creating so much stuff. Music, games, candles, laser-cut jigsaw puzzles, and then a whole platform of test and CNC infra underneath it all.

If I had a thousand years I don’t think I’d finish everything I want to build.

But I kind of miss the gym, the outdoors, just… reading. It’s just so hard to disconnect when there is always some agent/project just waiting for the next bit of guidance.

Jealous of what? Everything you mentioned is within your power and trivial to achieve. If you miss going to the gym, the outdoors, reading, then go do those things! Go do any of them right now. If you can be on HN, you can pick up a book or go take a walk outside.

I’m sorry to say, and I say this without any judgement and as someone who can relate, but you’re describing yourself as an addict. You don’t have to pursue all those projects. Most to all of them don’t matter for anything except getting you your temporary “fix”. I understand it feels hard to disconnect, but that’s a purely psychological barrier, the physical action (not doing something) is tremendously simple.

Try to remember that the point of music is to listen/perform it, the point of games is to play them, the point of CNC is to build things with it that you enjoy using.

Try to tie everything back to the things you, at the root, enjoy, and to build in time for them, not just the things that enable them.

I was thinking about yesterday - and I can't find it now - a comment or an article about how dangerous LLMs are to folks with ADHD tendencies because it just supercharges the "oh I made this!" receptors and is really hard to break out of. It's like playing Minecraft or something on steroids.

thank you for sharing. i have a coworker whos disclosed their ADHD to me and i view them as WAY too deep down the context engineering rabbithole. were a small shop, and hes far past the point of diminishing returns. i hadnt made the connection and for a while have been wondering if and how to address my observation with him

just like the best con men. lots of people are easily conned if they lack a enough self-doubt

we have a bizarre emperors-new-clothes situation where one of the business managers keeps loudly telling everyone about the grocery list app hes "made" (vibe coded). other managers set him up as one of the presenters during a monthly dev show-and-tell we get to collaborate and discuss novel software dev stuff. the dev who runs this meeting capped the managers presentation by saying, "this reminds me of the first assignment i had in my coding bootcamp." woosh, went over the managers head

it seems like a chain where the loudest are getting rewarded for accelerating their ignorance. maybe things will swing back around but im hedging against that bet

> I've realized over time that I don't live the most...focused, goal-oriented life

Freeing as hell though, isn't it? I'm happy for you.

It depends entirely on how OP is taking it. They said they “realised” their life is like that, not that they accepted it. It’s at best ambiguous if they see that lack of focus and goals as a positive or negative. From the rest of their comment it seems to me (and of course I could be misreading) they feel it as a negative and are “filling the void” by engaging furiously with AI, to the point (by their own admission) they only think they’ve “reasonably kept in touch with reality”.

Doesn‘t seem to me that someone who feels freed by a lack of goals and focus would routinely engage in activities which shy away from interacting with reality. The opposite is true, that’s the definition of escapism.

For what it’s worth, I thought your first reply was super uncharitable.

Three fourths of that reply wasn’t even about you, it was a lament at the state of the world. The last fourth was directed at you but it was in no way meant to be insulting. On the contrary, it was a call to action, and when one is too deep out of it (which you suggested you might be), more forceful words are necessary.

I do apologise if my choice of words made you feel bad, as that was not my intention, but I stand by the sentiment. Tellingly, I’m not seeing you refute that your relationship with AI is harming your relationship with reality. I can only go from your words, and of course there’s always the possibility (which I have readily admitted) that I have misinterpreted them.

Your words have also suggested to me that you like your wife and that she cares about you, so I’ll say it again: If you’re in your office (presumably at home) and your wife is in the other room, get off your computer, be it HN or AI, and go hug her. You both deserve to be loved and there’s nothing on your screen more important than that.

It’s called prioritisation. You will never have time for everything and that’s a good thing. The goal of a technological society should be to improve the lives of its citizens so they all have the opportunity to pursue their interests, which might in turn enhance the lives of others too. Instead, we’re falling off the cliff in the opposite direction, everyone wanting to do everything on their own, with complete disregard for how it affects others. It’s me me me, we lock ourselves down in our rooms trying to achieve individual success, fame, admiration. What that has gotten us is a culture of child billionaires who think they deserve to be on top of the world stomping on everyone else, while wannabe influencers drool and promote that behaviour in the misguided hope of one day doing the stomping. It’s a bacchanal of inhumanity. We’re tripping so hard we’ve forgotten what real life is, and the hangover will be brutal and unforgiving. I only weep for those who have tried to do better, who will also suffer the consequences.

Get the fuck off your computer and go do something with your wife. I promise you whatever you’re doing with AI is worthless in comparison. If you truly are grateful, prove it by dragging yourself out of the office unprompted and go do something with and for her. She’s your wife, not your caretaker, go be together.

AI give you the illusion anything is possible. In reality, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Time for you to unplug.

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