Re:Ask HN: "Dumbing yourself down" around your peers?
by ilitirit on Sunday May 17, 2009 @04:18PM
(#613911)
> I know exactly what you are talking about. I don't think this is easy to fix. I've sort of "solved" the problem by living in the Bay Area
After doing it for so long, I've realized it's not an easy problem to deal with. I think that you have a fairly accurate interpretation of what I'm trying to convey. I'm glad you posted about how you've attempted to deal with it (even though the "fix" may just have been a pleasant side-effect of moving for another reason). I've considered relocating, but I also like my friends. So to me, this is sort of ditching them and finding other people to be around. This could of course just be me trying to rationalize away unpleasant options but knowing myself it's also an indication of the difficulty of the problem.
Re:Ask HN: "Dumbing yourself down" around your peers?
by neilk on Sunday May 17, 2009 @04:46PM
(#613936)
Yeah. Also, be careful what you wish for. The Bay Area is great, but also an echo chamber for the kind of people who live in the Bay Area. Maybe it's a good thing that you bridge various worlds that don't normally communicate. You can be an 'interesting' person in all of them.
I know exactly what you are talking about. I don't think this is easy to fix. I've sort of "solved" the problem by living in the Bay Area. There are a lot of hypernerds, and a lot of wild and creative people who love to party, and a significant number of people who are in the intersection.
You'll never completely escape the problem, though. One of the blessings and curses of the modern world is that you can develop interests that make you very different from your geographic peers.
The one thing that you really MUST do is stay away from people or activities you have contempt for. That's not good for you or for them. And even if you think you are hiding it well, usually they pick up on it, at least subconsciously.