Cross-posting a 2023 Hacker News thread:
Everyone has different perspectives and values, so what do you personally think is the most important problem in the world right now? Is it something that one, or a group of early enthusiasts, can work on?
The original quote is from Aaron Swartz:
Life is short (or so I’m told) so why waste it doing something dumb? It’s easy to start working on something because it’s convenient, but you should always be questioning yourself about it. Is there something more important you can work on? Why don’t you do that instead? Such questions are hard to face up to (eventually, if you follow this rule, you’ll have to ask yourself why you’re not working on the most important problem in the world) but each little step makes you more productive.
People do things for social approval. That’s my point. Social approval requires meeting other people’s standards, not your own.
And when your standards are not in synch with the people around you, it’s miserable and leads to conflict.
Where I come from ‘bettering yourself’ got you socially shitcanned. And that’s true for a lot of parts of the world and family relationships.
The mantra of meritocractic achievement is only social and rewarding among the upper middle classes, in the USA at least. If you existing outside of that, you people often regard ‘self improvement’ with hostility.