[xiaoma]

Sebastian's blog strikes me as intensely arrogant, self-centered and tasteless. Like others, I'm sure, I have my doubts about the truthfulness of some passages from his blog such as the following:

"I got into a shouting match protecting some McDonald’s employees from a mob boss in Hong Kong. A riot cop came to break it up, I was almost in a fight with three mafia guys.

I had two guys try to mug me the other day in a dangerous area. Bad mistake, doubled one of them over with a kick the stomach and shouted at the other one, “YOU WANT TO DIE? BACK DOWN, STAY BACK.” He did, he let me walk away while his criminal buddy was doubled over."

Even if every word of the above were true, which I doubt, it wouldn't impress me. It just makes me think the guy is stupid. The post bragging that he'll be making 250k/month in 10 years was similarly in-your-face, yet uninspiring. Ditto for the comparison of "high born" and "low born" people. Other posts push credulity in similar ways and give me the sense he's a runaway narcissist.

Honestly, I don't have a problem reading really odd stuff if there's enough value to take from it. One example would be Steve Pavlina's blog. I have little to no interest in new age philosophy and some of his posts come across as downright nutty. But they're thought provoking, though. Many of the earlier posts on online business and a wider set of personal development topics were solid gold. I rarely feel like it's wasted time to read that blog, even when I disagree with it.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Sebastian's blog or so-called "get victory" newsletter. Thus far, I haven't found a single article that's genuinely helped me (a high bar, I know). There isn't nearly enough substance to offset the obnoxious tone. Until he actually is a VC with all kinds of internet properties, making 250k/month, a lot of people just won't be interested in reading about his opinions, goals or tall tales.

As I said, I don't know the guy. He could very well be a great guy to hang around with, especially with his interest in self-improvement. Maybe if I did know him offline as you do, I'd have a greater appreciation for his blog. This comment isn't meant as a personal attack. It's a rationale for why I agree with zuckerborg's comment and why HN would be a better place without a constant stream of victory spam.

[lionhearted]

I can understand why you'd be skeptical - most people are unwilling to put themselves in harm's way to break up a fight, protect people around them, or explore the slums of a city to understand more about the development of humanity.

I do do those things. I don't know exactly what to tell you if you want to doubt that - there was a guy yelling and spitting on the floor of the Tsim Sha Tsui McDonald's in the late night/early morning, yelling at the staff. He was with two of his buddies. I told him to knock it off. Shouting match ensued.

I've had three attempts to mug me in my life - once in Shanghai, once in London, and once in Saigon.

You can dislike me - that's your call - but I dunno man, I don't say things that are untrue.

> Thus far, I haven't found a single article that's genuinely helped me

That's too bad. You've obviously been around my site a fair bit, and I do try to make it of value to a visitor. I cover lots of stuff that a lot of people have found useful - what are you trying to do exactly? What have you tried that I've written/advocated on that didn't work for you?

[xiaoma]

Sorry it's taken so long to notice your comment. It definitely deserves a reply.

Here's what I'm really interested in:

Languages: I've put a great deal of time into Japanese and Mandarin, some into Taiwanese, Cantonese and Spanish and a little into several others. I love language learning and I'm pretty confident in getting started with new ones, but I'm still not that confident in bridging the gap from very advanced to near-native. I don't come to HN looking for help with this.

Drawing: I've recently gotten really into sketching, but HN isn't for that either.

Programming: I've done bits on an off for 10 years, but have no real experience beyond simple scripts, a FF plugin and a couple of simple flash games. Resources for various programming things come up on here on occasion and I love them.

Business: I was partner in a small business in Taiwan for a few years. This whet my entrepreneurial appetite, and I'm very interested in stories about how founders or managers of successful business got started, overcame obstacles, etc. Mixergy is one of my favorite sites that comes up on here. Maybe this is something you could share (if you haven't already). I seem to remember you mentioning in passing that you ran a company. Personal stories (rather than opinions about things not so related to tech or business) would be interesting to me.

Fitness: Have you ever run a sub 3 hour marathon? Maybe gotten your bench over 350? Limbered to the point where you can do the splits? Trained to where you can dunk a basketball (if you're under 185cm). All those kind of things would be interesting to read about.

Resources: Found a great FF (or Chrome) plugin? A useful reference for something programming related? Share them!

News: First and foremost, I come to this site for news. It probably wouldn't fit well with your blog, but if there's something you've created or you want to share your progress on something, that might be interesting. Even something like the 250k/month goal would be interesting and possibly educational if you've made progress towards it that surpasses the norm.

Hope the feedback is constructive, even if it's not the most pleasant thing to see!

[alnayyir]

>What have you tried that I've written/advocated on that didn't work for you?

You're missing the point. You're handing out advice with no demonstrable expertise on...anything.

You don't discuss anything that requires talent, intellect, experience, or domain knowledge. You write about things you pull out of your head or other content you Tom Sawyered other people into collating for you.

Speaking of "content", that neuroplasticity and habits post is a travesty.

Your whole blog is so thoroughly preoccupied with your person that I can only think you are suffocating on the fumes of your own alternate reality.

In brief you are:

1. Without demonstrated accomplishment

2. Arrogant

3. The only thing you're superlative in is narcissism

4. Giving out advice to deluded hopefuls who want to have a site about nothing and to be paid for zero productivity and not work a day more of their lives than they have to.

People with work to do, work they love, they don't need people like you.

Bonus time! Since people don't seem to get it yet, I've taken the liberty of making an annotated version of the front page of his 'blog'.

http://i.imgur.com/ET2hf.png

With that, I'm done chasing this matter. I am exhausted with battling this banality.

Exeunt.

[bobz]

In brief, and only because vicious attacks on writers I enjoy just rubs me wrong:

1. It is not Sebastian's duty to demonstrate his accomplishments to you.

2. Arrogant? If you hate yourself so much that you can't stand a person with ambition and grand intentions, that's your problem. I'll take Sebastian's "arrogance" over your condescending "objective criticism" any day.

3. On what basis can you say this?

4. I spend my entire LIFE working to build things to help fix the problems in the world. I enjoy reading Sebastian because he writes about doing the same. And from what I can tell, he is one of the hardest working and honestly self-critical writers on the internet.

> People with work to do, work they love, they don't need people like you.

Sebastian hasn't asked anything of you. He's a valued contributor around here for a great number of reasons, and has found a writing style that resonates with many around here. If it doesn't resonate with you, that's fine. We're all in a different place. But there's no cause or excuse for this type of attack. As Sebastian points out below, 17 posts? That is a bit scary. Remember, beneath the posts and karma there's real human beings around here, some of the smartest on the internet, and they all deserve a measure respect, regardless of your thoughts on the value they provide the world for free. What exactly are you trying to prove, and to whom?

[lionhearted]

> 4. Giving out advice to deluded hopefuls who want to have a site about nothing and to be paid for zero productivity and not work a day more of their lives than they have to.

Chris -

1. You've replied seventeen times to this thread, pretty much all negative and nasty. 17.

2. Now you're taking screenshots and drawing on them in a thread no one's looking any more. We're getting into borderline stalking territory.

3. You've apparently never read beyond a surface reading of my site, where I've always advocated really hard work and doing more through doing right by and serving other people.

4. I've achieved pretty high levels of professional success, mastery in hobbies/skills/disciplines, and other things. But hell, even if I hadn't, it still wouldn't put you in a position to

5. Please stop your borderline stalking. You're at 17 replies already here, and it's honestly getting to the point where it's scaring me. There's lots of important things in the world you could be working on, building, fixing, or improving - there's no possible way this is worth the entire hours of your life you've spent here.

[alnayyir]

>HN would be a better place without a constant stream of victory spam.

A beer on me if we're ever in the same city. I was starting to think I was alone in fighting the good fight.