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Comment by bigdict | Hacker News Reader

This sort of news is always like a splash of cold water to the face to me.

I haven't produced any breakthrough research as an undergraduate. Have I accomplished enough? Am I too complacent? Should I be doing more, working more, studying more?

I always remember that the best way to achievement is to stick to areas that are personally exciting to me, and keep cranking at the best pace I can.

Others' success shouldn't make you anxious. Instead, let it motivate you to move faster along your own groove.

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I think you need a confluence of fortuitous circumstances to get things like this done:

- You need to have your own psychology in order. A lot of people have things going on in their lives that make it impossible to concentrate on this sort of thing.

- You need to be close enough, background wise. No prereqs -> can't learn this subject.

- You need to be aware of where the low hanging fruit is. This might be some random comment by a lecturer or a line in a paper that makes you investigate something.

- You need access to resources. Anything from a sparring partner to a hadron collider might be needed.

- Timing. Bunch of stuff coming together, might happen 10 years before you or 10 years after.

So there's reasons why undergrads don't always come up with groundbreaking things. Not to worry. You can still try to understand stuff after someone else has found it.

If you have a roof over your head and food on the table you are doing enough. Anything beyond that is either for your enjoyment or to feed your ego.

This is the only way to not go insane with I’m-not-not-doing-as-much-as-person-x syndrome.

Hey, so, I get the sentiment, and I want to thank you for that.

I also want to point out that that sort of thinking also is what traps people in abusive households etc..

If anyone is reading this and all you have is a roof over your head and food on the table, that doesn't mean you have to be happy like that.

(Sorry if I'm overstepping).

Most post-graduate researchers don't produce any breakthrough research. The produce incremental improvements, moderately interesting findings, etc. Or often, inconclusive results. Breakthroughs are rare.

instead of breaking new ground in statistics, i'm using 100% of my brain's ability to add, minus, multiply and divide to squeeze another 0.003 bps in trade execution.

i sleep soundly at night knowing that there are guys who are way smarter than me doing even sillier things than me.

I don't think having one's life satisfaction being a function of comparing yourself to other people is ever healthy, but this attitude seems especially unfortunate. Maybe their doing sillier things means they are, ipso facto, not smarter than you, or at least better than you in a way that matters?

He's one in a 1000/10000/100000/etc. - don't feel too bad.

Most work is never going to anywhere, no mater how smart or talented you are. Tons of highly intelligent and motivated people out there, working on dead-end projects. (not that there's not any value in such work, but for the vast majority, we're not going to be single contributors that significantly move the needle).

If you're getting imposter syndrome while still in school, buckle up :)

If getting things done is your goal, then put energy into it. That's what very accomplished people do. Just accept that's not always enough and accept that's alright. Doing the best you can is literally all you can do.

It’s important to focus on the pleasure of practicing and honing a craft. I don’t think either of these guys are doing this for notoriety. They’re doing it because they love math.

Neither have any of us, so don't worry about it.

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