There's so much going on politically that's set to change the world one way or another and I've been wondering what all the nerds of the world are doing in light of all the uncertainty.
My feelings go up and down, as they have for all human beings throughout history.
However, they trend down especially when I spend a lot of time on social media or news sites, including HN.
To put it another way:
Emotional state without "the internet" = varying around a general background of contentment.
Emotional state with "the internet" = varying around a general background of discontentment.
This is unrelated to current political events, which I view as an overcorrection to the state of unhealthy and extreme political correctness that we were falling into a few years ago (wokeness).
Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, towards an unhealthy and extreme focus on race and social differences, glorifying in political incorrectness (anti-woke).
It'll swing back again in a few years. Just how far it will go before then is impossible to say, but it's not something I can control and therefore shouldn't affect whether I enjoy life, since I'm lucky enough to not be directly affected, for the most part.
But if I go on the internet for hours every day and focus on it, it surely will make me feel terrible!
On the other hand, I want to stay informed and connected. Some amount of discomfort is acceptable to accomplish that. The trick is mindful use of the internet, and I'm afraid I don't always succeed there, when I have a distraction machine in my pocket all the time.
Not great. I've been trying to get into a real "career" track software job for the best part of a decade. I study, work on side projects, got to events regularly. And now the job market is even worse. I'm starting to feel like I've missed the boat. I wonder what would've happened if I had managed to get a job with chances to progress, learn and improve 10 years ago. I dream of earning 6 figures, people make it sound like it is so easy. I'll pick up any tech stack, go into any industry, move around the world, whatever it takes.
I'm worried the AI valuations bubble will collapse, pull the mag7 with it, that'll pull the us stock market with it considering they represent the vast majority of the value gain over the last years. That in turn will pull the dollar with it, even more than today. It'll make 2007 look like a picnic.
I'm worried about demographics vs retirement. I doubt retirement will be a thing for the children my generation has, I'm middle age now. I might get to retire because I've been lucky. Also related worries about the welfare state model overall.
I'm worried that Russia won't collapse quickly enough due to Chinese backing and pull us, northern europe, with it. They won't stop until someone makes them stop.
I'm worried about all the men struggling to find their place in society, the lack of constructive role models for young men and the right wing nazis happily channeling it.
I'm worried about climate change, it's basically gone of the agenda but that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. The chance of the gulf stream collapsing seems to increase for every new model they release.
It's difficult even being someone not from United States. Even more concerning is how most of the social media has been hijacked to echo views that should have been unthinkable a few years ago. For some, it's great news of course. It's free speech—they think. But, I am not sure future generation needs to across opinions like feminism is bad, or women belong in the kitchen.
I do believe that this is a temporary phase, and things would return to a bit of normalcy in a few years. It's my hypothesis that political pendulum swings between two extremes. 2016-21 was a period of extreme leftist opinions and it was problematic too in many ways. The other extreme is a hundred times worse and most people have lost taste for that, too. Secondly, the support for these movements mostly stems from an aging demographic, a lot of which are just passing their last few years.
But I would say social media needs to be clamped down/regulated, free speech be damned. It has caused enough evil already. Can't let a few billionaires decide the direction of world politics.
> 2016-21 was a period of extreme leftist opinions
Wouldn't that have been nice? This can only have appeared to be true for those people who are so far on the conservative side of things that they think Democrats are leftists.
Similar feelings and situation. The past two years have been very though. I think I might have learned something from it: stay calm, step by step, tomorrow will be better. Very simplistic, almost cliché but for the first time in my life I feel no stress anymore..Have I become apathic?
I'm really confused with myself. I should feel horrible. Things are going downhill for me for years, but I don't seem to hit rock bottom. I wonder how much worse it has to get for me to ... idk what - break down, learn from it, realize or something. I've been diagnosed with depression a couple years back (had a couple therapy sessions too), but I don't feel as dark as back then. I'm somewhat numb and apathetic. Lots of self-pity, I guess, but I don't seem to learn anything from it and that is really weird.
When was the last time you tried something new? I've been through some traumatic experiences and trying new things is what helped the most. I don't have depression, but my spine is broken, so maybe relatable, maybe not. 3D printing was what I picked up a few years ago, but it can be anything really.
>There's so much going on politically that's set to change the world one way or another and I've been wondering what all the nerds of the world are doing in light of all the uncertainty.
I've been following politics for decades. Ive seen ups and downs but this time it's different. It's looking like the end of a political movement. Europe ended it. Shocking, I know. There's not a great deal of uncertainty about it. Maybe timelines? The people in that political movement sure arent taking it well and are becoming politically violent. They'll lash out at this defeat. It's not the first time people have had to escape this political movement.
I'm not apart of this political movement, I see politics as finally healing. Once it's over, the political violence will end. A ton of repairs needed once it's over.
Then the hard part, the people whose world view is the dead movement will escape. Which won't be to europe or north america. But many will stay and while their political violence will end, they will almost certainly need to become a new religion. Probably not TESCREAL?
guys... stop reading the news... The world is not going to end, there is no extinction... the 24h/day media cycle is causing delusions on a massive scale... more dangerous than tylenol in vacciness... the biggest joke is so called rationalists that believe world is gonna end 100%... just go outside see the sun and smell some grass
My partner has been out of work and I was recently laid off. I greatly struggle with (treatment resistant) depression, so losing healthcare is huge.
Corporate America is draining, will run you into the ground, and strip all your humanity. Doing the job isn't enough. You need big yearly goals (which you're never given time for), take overtime, use Newspeak, worship "leadership", and put on a face like you care about _The Mission_. It's such a joke. The you get canned once profits, while increasing, aren't increasing fast enough.
The world feels like it's on fire. Political violence appears to be on the rise and many people respond to it by pulling out a scorecard. The president (US) is increasingly erratic. His base continues to cheer him on. Recently I was told that Democrats have _never_ expanded presidential power. Quite a bold claim. This is from a person I never thought of as treating political parties as team sports.
I have friends and acquaintances who are targets of the current administration. I can't fathom what it must feel like for them. How long until one of them disappears? Is it crazy to think that could happen?
Politically, I know deep-down what I believe to be our best path forward as the human race. Big picture. On the daily and weekly scale things are so upside down, flipped around, and twisted that it feels like my head is spinning. Have I lost my mind? Eveyone else too?
My family - well they voted for this. They are extreme religious fundamentalists and I thought that reducing contact to near-zero and moving away would get me a life free from their beliefs. They can do their thing and I would do mine. Instead they helped put a guy in charge that can reach me and those close to me from thousands of miles away.
Climate change is something we collectively decided to do nothing about. There's no going back. The changes to our planet are in motion. That I'm somewhat calm about. I hate that we're this stupid but the battle has been lost. The only thing to do now is let it happen.
I'm lonely and isolated. The vast majority of my time is spent with my partner. They're great but it's not enough. Society feels closed off. Add on top that I'm introverted. Good male role models are hard to come by. It's concerning that my fellow brethren seem to be taken in en masse by radical right-wing influencers.
On the upside of things. Working out consistently has been the one of the best things for me in all this. My strength has dramatically increased, phsyical health is the best it's been, mental health is impacted positively, and it forces my mind to shutup for a few hours a week. Cutting out social media (aside from HN) several years back was the right choice. Except in cases where I follow a link to Twitter/Reddit/etc. and see just how insane online discourse has become.
Based on this thread a lot of people are in the same virtual boat. It's somewhat comforting.
19 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 48.3 ms ] threadHowever, they trend down especially when I spend a lot of time on social media or news sites, including HN.
To put it another way:
Emotional state without "the internet" = varying around a general background of contentment.
Emotional state with "the internet" = varying around a general background of discontentment.
This is unrelated to current political events, which I view as an overcorrection to the state of unhealthy and extreme political correctness that we were falling into a few years ago (wokeness).
Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, towards an unhealthy and extreme focus on race and social differences, glorifying in political incorrectness (anti-woke).
It'll swing back again in a few years. Just how far it will go before then is impossible to say, but it's not something I can control and therefore shouldn't affect whether I enjoy life, since I'm lucky enough to not be directly affected, for the most part.
But if I go on the internet for hours every day and focus on it, it surely will make me feel terrible!
On the other hand, I want to stay informed and connected. Some amount of discomfort is acceptable to accomplish that. The trick is mindful use of the internet, and I'm afraid I don't always succeed there, when I have a distraction machine in my pocket all the time.
Communally I'm worried.
I'm worried the AI valuations bubble will collapse, pull the mag7 with it, that'll pull the us stock market with it considering they represent the vast majority of the value gain over the last years. That in turn will pull the dollar with it, even more than today. It'll make 2007 look like a picnic.
I'm worried about demographics vs retirement. I doubt retirement will be a thing for the children my generation has, I'm middle age now. I might get to retire because I've been lucky. Also related worries about the welfare state model overall.
I'm worried that Russia won't collapse quickly enough due to Chinese backing and pull us, northern europe, with it. They won't stop until someone makes them stop.
I'm worried about all the men struggling to find their place in society, the lack of constructive role models for young men and the right wing nazis happily channeling it.
I'm worried about climate change, it's basically gone of the agenda but that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. The chance of the gulf stream collapsing seems to increase for every new model they release.
I do believe that this is a temporary phase, and things would return to a bit of normalcy in a few years. It's my hypothesis that political pendulum swings between two extremes. 2016-21 was a period of extreme leftist opinions and it was problematic too in many ways. The other extreme is a hundred times worse and most people have lost taste for that, too. Secondly, the support for these movements mostly stems from an aging demographic, a lot of which are just passing their last few years.
But I would say social media needs to be clamped down/regulated, free speech be damned. It has caused enough evil already. Can't let a few billionaires decide the direction of world politics.
Wouldn't that have been nice? This can only have appeared to be true for those people who are so far on the conservative side of things that they think Democrats are leftists.
No, you are all left
P.S. My company (Yolo Group) just started layoffs. Is it weird that I’m calm?
I've been following politics for decades. Ive seen ups and downs but this time it's different. It's looking like the end of a political movement. Europe ended it. Shocking, I know. There's not a great deal of uncertainty about it. Maybe timelines? The people in that political movement sure arent taking it well and are becoming politically violent. They'll lash out at this defeat. It's not the first time people have had to escape this political movement.
I'm not apart of this political movement, I see politics as finally healing. Once it's over, the political violence will end. A ton of repairs needed once it's over.
Then the hard part, the people whose world view is the dead movement will escape. Which won't be to europe or north america. But many will stay and while their political violence will end, they will almost certainly need to become a new religion. Probably not TESCREAL?
My partner has been out of work and I was recently laid off. I greatly struggle with (treatment resistant) depression, so losing healthcare is huge.
Corporate America is draining, will run you into the ground, and strip all your humanity. Doing the job isn't enough. You need big yearly goals (which you're never given time for), take overtime, use Newspeak, worship "leadership", and put on a face like you care about _The Mission_. It's such a joke. The you get canned once profits, while increasing, aren't increasing fast enough.
The world feels like it's on fire. Political violence appears to be on the rise and many people respond to it by pulling out a scorecard. The president (US) is increasingly erratic. His base continues to cheer him on. Recently I was told that Democrats have _never_ expanded presidential power. Quite a bold claim. This is from a person I never thought of as treating political parties as team sports.
I have friends and acquaintances who are targets of the current administration. I can't fathom what it must feel like for them. How long until one of them disappears? Is it crazy to think that could happen?
Politically, I know deep-down what I believe to be our best path forward as the human race. Big picture. On the daily and weekly scale things are so upside down, flipped around, and twisted that it feels like my head is spinning. Have I lost my mind? Eveyone else too?
My family - well they voted for this. They are extreme religious fundamentalists and I thought that reducing contact to near-zero and moving away would get me a life free from their beliefs. They can do their thing and I would do mine. Instead they helped put a guy in charge that can reach me and those close to me from thousands of miles away.
Climate change is something we collectively decided to do nothing about. There's no going back. The changes to our planet are in motion. That I'm somewhat calm about. I hate that we're this stupid but the battle has been lost. The only thing to do now is let it happen.
I'm lonely and isolated. The vast majority of my time is spent with my partner. They're great but it's not enough. Society feels closed off. Add on top that I'm introverted. Good male role models are hard to come by. It's concerning that my fellow brethren seem to be taken in en masse by radical right-wing influencers.
On the upside of things. Working out consistently has been the one of the best things for me in all this. My strength has dramatically increased, phsyical health is the best it's been, mental health is impacted positively, and it forces my mind to shutup for a few hours a week. Cutting out social media (aside from HN) several years back was the right choice. Except in cases where I follow a link to Twitter/Reddit/etc. and see just how insane online discourse has become.
Based on this thread a lot of people are in the same virtual boat. It's somewhat comforting.