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> And like humans, flies develop "drinking problems."

Am I like a fly now? :/ (I observed similar behavior on me with similar circumstances.)

Yeah, I know community is good[1], but I am estranged from family and have 1 friend who is busy with his own life. Possibly it is because of me being weird around people? Or me being socially awkward? I will screen myself for ADHD, but every attempt to connect with people failed. :( I seem to connect with people on platforms like HN, but I cannot connect outside of platforms like HN for some odd reason. Furthermore, I really tried to connect with real people, but I got rejected many times. I am afraid that I am an annoyance to people and that's why they don't want to connect with me.It is stressful to be alone.

Anyhow, I was chronically lonely and still am, and I can confirm the stress reactions that flies experience when they are chronically lonely.

It is stressful to be alone. At least HN gives eases a bit of the stress for me. HN is essentially providing me a venue to connect with people. I am happy about that.

[1] > Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-8...

Princeton also did a study on America not being actually a democracy. I shared it here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28249091

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...

> Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.

Especially the part with "policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans" made me think that it is not only those elites who do this or businesses. Does this mean that the government (NSA) doesn't care what we want? They are allowed to essentially patronize us because we do not know any better? Can you explain to me why the NSA is spying on us despite it being unpopular? We didn't ask to be spied on, right? I don't understand politics or the role of government anymore. I am utterly confused. Politics is so contradictory I cannot wrap my head around it. Or perhaps, I am missing something?

> currently severely undertaxed

Is it because companies such as Amazon are good at avoiding taxes?

> they come from corporate wealth and income

Hmm... I think this is what I don't really understand. Aren't corporations owned by a few people? So at the end the owners are paying the taxes? Can companies exist without owners (people)? (They change, I know, but can they exist without people?) I am probably to fixated on people, and perhaps I need to see companies as an own entity.

> taxes on things we don't want like carbon emissions and other pollution

Okay, so somebody and a "company" is also a somebody here, needs to pay for that? (So it is the owner at the end?)

> direct wealth generation from nation-level investments (sovereign funds, resource funds)

Okay, that makes sense. A stock is bought and sold by people, and its value increases and decreases depending on the decisions of people. However, you are right, the government owns that stock. So it belongs to all of us.

Okay, so my question essentially boils down to: Why is the owner of a company like Jeff Bezos irrelevant here? I can see this for the sovereign funds, resource funds part. However, I have trouble with the CEO part. What am I missing here? My understanding of government and taxes is wrong, perhaps. That's why I cannot see it, probably.

Edit:

Okay, I got an answer. Apparently it was because my argument was flawed. Thank you! :)

I added it for inspiration. :)

If we assume full automation and no private property, then the machines work for us now. They don't complain like Ben Shapiro that paying for the poor with your wealth/income is "stealing". Communism is a good idea on paper, but humans in general are greedy and envious. If we had unlimited resources, the machines in such a scenario could produce everything for each greedy individual. However, our resources are limited, and one greedy person wants more than the other. That's actually the main issue here. People don't want to put up with getting the same thing as everyone else. (I would put up with it, though, but I am the minority here.)

Then there is Europe or social democracies. There is actually a limited form of UBI called "public assistance". You don't have to pay anything back and it is only for those who can't support themselves.

I hope there is a flaw in my thinking here. It would make my day if you would enlighten me with your wisdom. :)

PS: I couldn't resist sharing a good parody on Ben Shapiro's character: https://youtu.be/wPgwwZ8ih3k Sorry HN, I know this is somewhat silly from me, but it is too funny. :D

Edit: For the person who downvoted my comment here. Care to share on why you did this? Please enlighten me. I don't care about karma points. I care about why you think that I am wrong. Was my first sentence the offender? I meant it in this way: For UBI, the government needs to ...

Anyhow, tell me why I am wrong and not just downvote it and leave. Explain, please! Thank you!

[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...

> Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.

This is how lobbies pulled off Brexit.

On a second thought, I had to take Socrates' opinion on democracy into account:

> Socrates also said that democracy without education becomes demagogy, a sneaky and dishonest way to achieve political power. A demagogue exploits people’s ignorance and promises anything to cheat them to gain power. At the end an unqualified person will be ruling a country and people will get nothing.

https://www.isvara.org/archive/democrazy-socrates-opinion-an...

This reminded me of Dondald Trump.

Seeing people adopting ridiculous ideas (e.g. flat earthers) is quite unsettling, but that's why it is important to fight against ignorance and poverty.

“The biggest battle is the war against ignorance.” - Ataturk

> Money doesn’t buy happiness. Neither does materialism: Research shows that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/consumeri...

> Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-8...

He is not the 2012 PG anymore, he is the 2021 PG. :P Now that I think of it, what will the 2030 PG be like?

which I then put at the top of the file I use as a todo list.

This is a good memento. It's very easy to fall victim to self-fulfilling prophecies, negative thought cycles and the like. Hard to escape from them, but as Paul argues, you ought to change your environment and life. Get out of a rut to change your perspective. Recharge, reframe to combat unconstructive thoughts preventing you from thinking clearly and getting ahead in life.

Consider also cognitive behavioral therapy to unlearn self-sabotaging behavior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy

Consider also Stoic philosophy. Stop worrying so much about things outside your control. ;)

https://us.vaio.com/collections/vaio-z

[1] https://us.vaio.com/pages/vaio-made-in-japan

OP should also consider being perhaps less inflammatory with his language. Be mindful of others.

Simply complaining won't help you, OP. Be proactive and seek to synergize[1]. If you are Einstein-level smart, then why don't you synergize with people instead? In a gearbox, every part counts. The smaller gears and the bigger gears do play a role in the final transmission.

Learn to make the best out of a given situation. If you can't or don't want it, you can leave and go somewhere else.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effecti...

https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2017/08/19/programming-langua...

NASA also does stick with old stuff/tech.

That's the reason I won't switch to Rust from C++. I wait until it is matured enough and standardized. (Also, I wait until it makes C++ less relevant. It hasn't so far.)

C++ does the job. There's no perfect language or other technology. Many things have pros and cons.

https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2017/08/19/programming-langua...

Naval Ravikant also shares this sentiment, as far as I am aware.

I noticed that a lot in school/work. People can get good grades even without understanding the topic at hand. Many learn mechanistically and succeed with good grades.

I do the opposite, but it takes time and effort to learn a topic deeply using the Feynman method. Many are not interested in this. Many just apply formulas and code snippets, and they succeed nevertheless. Good for them!

I actually don't care about success or grades or whatever. I care about the topic, because I want to understand why it works. This is just me though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

No you don't. I find OP's bold characterization of his co-workers inflammatory. Below average in general means "borderline retarded"[1]. You are obviously not below average. Stop saying that, please.

[1] https://paulcooijmans.com/intelligence/iq_ranges.html

I think the issue is because of people who care less about learning a topic deeply. Understanding why something works at all etc. This might be the actual complaint of OP.

They learn by heart and are not interested in why something works. (For example, what a Fourier transform essentially does. A Fourier transform is essentially projecting a target function to the sinusoidal bases. That is what the dot product implies.) I don't think this is necessarily related to intellect. I think it is somewhat related to laziness and lack of interest or curiosity.

They use a bunch of formulas and code snippets and glue it together until it somehow works without understanding it.

I am a big believer in learning deeply by focusing on the fundamentals. Here's what I previously wrote about that very topic:

> Instead of APIs, learn the fundamental algorithms that those APIs provide. Instead of OpenGL, learn rendering algorithms (raserization, Bresenham etc.). The same applies for other frameworks such as Vue.js. Learn how to write a virtual DOM yourself. Learn how JS operates under the hood. Learn how to implement a hash table (std::unordered_map) and a dynamic array (std::vector); understand why you cannot simply delete a bucket when using the open addressing scheme. Learn C and memory management, since many other programming languages are influenced by C. Implement the algorithms in C if you are proficient enough in it (gives you a better understanding).

The intent of this whole thing was to spread awareness that people such Jacob Sorber exist. In a world of noise, it is not so easy to find signals. (That's why when I search for a topic, I very often find myself using HN's search function. Then, I might search via DuckDuckGo or some other search engine. If you use browser extensions such as "Content Farm Terminator", "Unhook YouTube", and "Clickbait Remover for YouTube" you get to have a more pleasant search.)

That's my personal opinion, you can disagree with me here, but I find it very problematic that people are out there who intentionally abuse your attention to make you consume their (mostly) futile content. They are also polluting the search space. (I am talking about clickbaiters, influencers and content farmers here.) Anyhow, I am thankful that there are browser extensions for this, reducing or eliminating most of the noise (or abuse?) out there. (Maybe the word "abuse" is too harsh here. Perhaps "psychological manipulation" is more fitting?) I just wish search in general wouldn't be so polluted. It's so noisy out there.

https://www.youtube.com/user/mycodeschool/videos

General tips:

If you are implementing a hash table (std::unordered_map) via open addressing: you cannot simply delete "buckets" or entries out of a hash table. Why? Because you "break" the search chain. The solution is to have a flag or something for each bucket.

FULL|"I stored this here"|EMPTY|nullptr|DEAD|"I am invalid now :("|...

You have 3 states. When searching or deleting, you preserve the "search chain" that way. "FULL" and "DEAD" means you can iterate over or delete when on a search or delete op. "EMPTY" on an add operation means, okay here it is, here I can place something. If you use chaining instead of open addressing you don't have to worry about "breaking the search chain".

He goes by "The Cherno" on YouTube. :)

To cut a long story short: you might have to choose between the second best or "less painful" option sometimes. This is because of circumstances (effectively) outside your control.

My second-best option would be, C++ developer, but not many C++ jobs out there. (I actually really like C++.) HFT? Well, it depends, many HFT companies use Java instead. Embedded systems? Well, it is mostly C. C++ jobs are out there, sure, but they are not so frequently available compared to JS or Java jobs.

I hate having such niche interests, but I can't live without them. So I at least practice them in my spare time.

> I need very clearly defined units of work to work efficiently

> This 1000x. I try to keep a pool of those kind of tasks when I can't concentrate on my main task so I still feel like I'm making some progress. It's helped a lot.

Instead of APIs, learn the fundamental algorithms that those APIs provide. Instead of OpenGL, learn rendering algorithms (raserization, Bresenham etc.). The same applies for other frameworks such as Vue.js. Learn how to write a virtual DOM yourself. Learn how JS operates under the hood. Learn how to implement a hash table (std::unordered_map) and a dynamic array (std::vector); understand why you cannot simply delete a bucket when using the open addressing scheme. Learn C and memory management, since many other programming languages are influenced by C. Implement the algorithms in C if you are proficient enough in it (gives you a better understanding).