
Empathy and subjective experience in programming languages - psibi
https://lexi-lambda.github.io/blog/2019/10/19/empathy-and-subjective-experience-in-programming-languages/
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shaki-dora
Excellent post! If there's one overarching complaint about the tech community
(and HN specifically), it would be this tendency to claim being completely
rational, while faulting others for supposedly being corrupted by emotions.

It's wrong both in assuming that emotions are necessarily inferior to other
modes of thinking, as well as in not recognizing that everyone makes decisions
primarily on emotional grounds (smart people only get to make up better
rationaizations).

Related: "advertisement doesn't work on me", "I only review primary data and
come up with my own opinions", and every claim ever that some organization is
a strict meritocracy.

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kace91
>smart people only get to make up better rationaizations

This is something that I took long to learn and now preach to all friends who
will listen:

"You're smart. For many life situations, that's not a positive. Whatever it is
you want to do at any given moment, your mind will find a way to justify it no
matter how wrong or unhealthy the action is. It takes a lot of work to reign
in a smart mind working against you".

For an simple example, be around a person when they start going to the gym and
then proceed to listen closely how they come up with excuses to not go any
given day.

~~~
perl4ever
"This is something that I took long to learn and now preach to all friends who
will listen:

"You're smart. For many life situations, that's not a positive..."

Sounds like you're smarter than all your friends. Had you considered making
friends with someone who is smarter than you?

