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Comment by Terr_ | Hacker News Reader

I read the whole post, and it's just left me with a strong sense of unease. A gut-feeling that strongly reminds me of self-stories I've heard from certain people in real life, among them a next-cubicle coworker who was eventually institutionalized.

> When he finally responded, I was so excited that I sent him a long story (like this one) explaining my life, and gave him a link to a website with some of my ideas. After receiving no response, I realized how selfish I was to think he had time to read all of that.

> I still had hope though, so I narrated all of it and sent him .mp3 files so he could listen to it while he was jogging or something.

Putting your autobiography on tape for a prospective employer after already sending a text version... well, I think it's a sign.

In all seriousness, I believe the author could see big personal benefits from some kind of professional counseling about this stuff, as opposed to throwing it all out on the internet.

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>I think the author needs some kind of mental help or therapy which I am not qualified to provide.

Maybe, but I doubt it. This just seems like inexperience. It took me a very long time to figure out the transition between worlds that are about you (school) to worlds that are not about you (work). The transition is not one of "selfishness" as much as it's about perspective.

PG describes the dichotomy well in "Two Kinds of Judgment:" http://paulgraham.com/judgement.html

Venkatesh Rao explains similar phenomena in his Gervais series: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-o...

Thank you for expressing it better than I had. When I tried to see my actions from his perspective, that's when I wanted to apologize.

If I were to give you some advice, it would be to:

a)keep working at any job you can find. Wading through sewage for minimum wage? Take it.

b) Spend as little money as possible. Put all your earnings in a big pile on the kitchen table if you have nothing else to do with them. Your wife may be able to help in terms of keeping expenses to a minimum.

c)Since that job will most likely suck, spend off hours looking for a better job. Don't quit the first one until the second one is in the bag. Meanwhile, do good work at the first job. It's not like you're going to stick around for 20 years, so why not do great?

d) Repeat steps a-c until you have enough saved up for EITHER a bachelor's in a technical field + living expenses for the time OR some other boring, predictable, spreadsheet-friendly investment.

e) email me any time at dropit.sphere at google's email service if you need someone to talk to. I earned a perfect SAT score and am working as a valet, so I know how it is.

> I earned a perfect SAT score and am working as a valet, so I know how it is.

Whoah—that seems like a fascinating story. Have you shared it?

If you don't want to post a link on HN (this crowd can be pretty aggressive), my email is morgante@cafe.com

Yeah, I got the same vibe. Don't forget coming up with a world-changing solar energy breakthrough that nobody responds to simply because he doesn't have credentials. I mean, it's certainly possible. But what is the _likely_ scenario here?

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