Re:Ask HN: What to do when nothing makes sense?
by totetsu on Monday July 06, 2020 @03:54AM
(#23745647)
In a conversation, Nod and smile and give backchannel responses that make it seem like I do, and wait until the person speaking says something I do understand, to give context to everything before it, and then make an educated guess to what they were talking about.
In IT, look up every word in the man page I don't understand, and then every word in the definitions of those words, and so on, until I understand the basics of the systems and protocols underlying what I am working on, and then build back up from there.
In life, play something like a holy fool [0], and accept that things don't need to make sense for me to be okay.[1] Also that the sense that things don't make sense, could just be a feeling made by trying to cling to a framework of knowledge that is showing its limitations, and needs to be expanded or left behind.
Also know that my sleep, diet, physical activity, all play a big role in my sense of mental clarity, and try to keep to good habits.
As a human being, get away from other human beings, into someplace green and let direct observation of the billions of years in the making natural world, and my self as a natural thing make all the sense that is needed.
Re:Ask HN: What to do when nothing makes sense?
by Shared404 on Monday July 06, 2020 @06:48AM
(#23746484)
3. Hide steps one and two.
In an actual answer:
For hard science, do as totetsu said for IT. start where you don't understand, look up words, and work backwards until you have enough of a basis to understand.
In IT, look up every word in the man page I don't understand, and then every word in the definitions of those words, and so on, until I understand the basics of the systems and protocols underlying what I am working on, and then build back up from there.
In life, play something like a holy fool [0], and accept that things don't need to make sense for me to be okay.[1] Also that the sense that things don't make sense, could just be a feeling made by trying to cling to a framework of knowledge that is showing its limitations, and needs to be expanded or left behind. Also know that my sleep, diet, physical activity, all play a big role in my sense of mental clarity, and try to keep to good habits.
As a human being, get away from other human beings, into someplace green and let direct observation of the billions of years in the making natural world, and my self as a natural thing make all the sense that is needed.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ#:~:text.... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_ther...
https://twitter.com/grantdraws/status/1278349092733755392/ph...
https://twitter.com/grantdraws/status/1278349092733755392/ph...
https://twitter.com/grantdraws/status/1278349092733755392/ph...
Hope it helps
Then stop doing anything which makes you unhappy and seek that which brings you joy.
In an actual answer:
For hard science, do as totetsu said for IT. start where you don't understand, look up words, and work backwards until you have enough of a basis to understand.
For anything else, I'm afraid I'm not much help.