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by gamegoblin 4470 days ago
Hanging out on sites like this definitely doesn't help. In every thread it seems like there is someone who is a perfect expert on whatever being discussed.

Need to diagnose a problem in a defunct modem using only an oscilloscope? Someone can. Strange behavior of the JVM? Oh, someone has implemented their own JVM on a 4kb machine as a hobby project.

Then you get username delineation and there is this idea of some abstract "hacker" of hackernews (or whatevertechsite.com) that can do everything with ease.

Because after seeing all that I think if I can't debug modems with oscilloscopes or implement the JVM I'm behind and subpar.
3 comments
michaeleloftis 4469 days ago
One of the things to keep in mind is that the guy who can implement the JVM, the girl who debugs modems, and the dude who has a PhD in theoretical physics, are (usually) all different people. Sites like this are good at surfacing the expert in threads, so that you spend time seeing people at their best. It looks like everyone is brilliant in everything, but in fact what is really happening is that many people are brilliant in their domain.
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thewarrior 4469 days ago
If I could be atleast half as good as some of the people on here in even a single domain that'd be great ;-)
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ZenoArrow 4469 days ago
You could see things like that, but the only reason I read comments at all is to get insights from people that are more knowledgable in a particular subject than myself (or to engage in debate with those that have an interesting point of view). Every time I learn something I value from a comment I've just broadened my horizons. You could see these people as competitors, but in reality we're all eternal students.
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npsimons 4469 days ago
There's two good reasons to hang out somewhere like HN:

1) It gives you perspective - yes, you're not "the best" and neither am I. Learn to live with it.

2) It helps you get better. There's a saying that goes something like "if you're the smartest person in the room, leave - there's nothing you can learn there." While pithy and not entirely true, it tends to push you in the right direction by making you push yourself. Maybe you never thought some of those things were possible, but if others can do it, there's a good chance you can too (whether you want to or not is another question), and you can learn a lot on HN.

Apart from that, yeah, HN can be a time sink.

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