Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

A gigantic inferiority complex


I feel you. For any given subject there are 140 people who are an order of magnitude better/more skilled/smarter than you, and can make much better points in with less text.

On the other hand, remember the saying: "Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll end up among the stars."

I keep consoling myself that it's not just about having the most stat points in a single skill. There are projects which can only be accomplished by jacks-of-all-trades, or people who are knowledgeable about several domains. But it requires good self-knowledge. For example, if you have an analytical mind, like animals, have a sense of aesthetics, and patience, you can excel at Origami.


But here those 140 people will provide deeply insightful answers to your questions.


Fortunately, the crowd on HN is definitely not representative of the quality of software developers in the general population.

If it were, I would be unemployable :)


I know the feeling. But there may be an illusion in it. People are more likely to post on topics they know about, so the posts here tend to represent their high points. (There are plenty of low points as well, but when you're vulnerable to feeling inferior, those don't register.) If you only look at the high points of a large enough group, it's going to seem overwhelmingly superior.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: