Hyperbrain Owner's Manual - 1. the big picture | Hacker News Reader

Hyperbrain Owner's Manual - 1. the big picture

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23 pointsswombat19 comments

While reading it, I was just waiting for the "buy my book for 3 easy installments of $19.95" pitch.

Hmm, there's a startup idea: Ego-stroking self-help books for geeks..."Chicken Soup for the I Know I'm a Genius Why Doesn't Everyone Else Recognize It Soul"

The first post on the topic was mostly negative-- with good reason.

If us slacker/failure/mad-genius types want to hold on to the fiction that there's a place for us somewhere, then please back off and let us fool ourselves about it for a while. Hey... it may inspire us to a turn over a new leaf and adapt to other people's needs a little more. (Until we get distracted by something else and then start blowing everybody off again....)

The first post on the topic was mostly negative-- with good reason.

You consider that post negative? That might be another strange trait worth thinking about...

(Like many at HN, I'm afflicted with nearly all of the traits under discussion. But I'm not of the opinion that it is due to a new magical type of brain.)

Trying to assimilate all of the data... trying not to jump to premature conclusions.... Trying to be clear without being overly romantic or pessimistic....

I want a Jean Piaget to work out the experiments and pin down this further....

For the record, I don't think it's a "new" type of brain. The reason I chose the "hyperbrain" moniker is purely arbitrary. I needed something to call this particular type of mind, and I don't believe there is a term that covers it at the moment. And hyperbrain sounds kinda cool ;-)

I know confirmation bias can be a bitch, but this is just ridiculous. Its like a frenzy of "Me to!!11" in here every time a list of traits is published and then sure enough someone vomits all over a blog and produces a self-help guide with feel good "you art special" theme. </cynical rant>

There's nothing wrong with having a positive perspective on things.

This is a very specific personality type that's just rare enough that all of them think they're the only ones. But given the number of "my god, you must be stalking me" responses... there may be enough of these guys out there that this merits investigation. Many of their problems are misdiagnosed as being due to something else. All of them are headed to a mental downswing or an epic failure of some sort and its critical that they understand themselves well enough that they can aid other people in directing/collaborating/steering them effectively.

Yes. And self understanding can help avoid some of the counter productive if not destructive advice that comes from the "mainstream".

It may sound like obligatory appeasement, but the "different not better" language really does come to apply to one's understanding as one ages. Particularly if you've not been successful, and observe those around you who were once a bit in awe of what you could do, having successful lives (in your own eyes) while you continue to flounder from one poor fit to the next.

If I'd known then, what I know now, I could have made some better choices. I feel I've squandered a lot of what I have to offer. I'm most happy when I am truly helping others, but the course I've ended up on has left me largely at odds with one poor fit after another, wherein I largely end up making everyone miserable.

Just by way of explanation, for myself I've taken some damage along the way that makes it hard to just change (the discomfort is very distracting; also, I need to maintain group health care coverage). I hope that messages like this will reach those who are like me, so that they might avoid forcing themselves into roles that promote such damage, physical and/or mental.

Life's just plain not easy, for many, and there are no guarantees. I can only say that, for myself, as I've learned more about my own personality and how it does and does not fit into the world, I've become better able to cope. The author is describing a group of people who are very bright, but who also (in my case, at least) have a strong need for a social connection. Knowledge like this can better enable them to approach that on their own terms, and perhaps to then be happy with the results.

ADD is not particularly rare in my experience--certainly among hackers and entrepreneurs--and people that feel that they are special need to get out more. It's not a personality type as much as a processing mode(s). There are a number of good books full of practical advice on how to manage ADD. Three I have found particularly useful are

ADD Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kohlberg http://www.amazon.com/ADD-Friendly-Ways-Organize-Your-Life/d...

Driven To Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell http://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Recognizing-Attenti...

Healing ADD by Dr. Daniel Amen http://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Breakthrough-Program-Allow...

Another one for the "you are sick" perspective?

Looks like two types of stereotypical psych people: the "just be yourself"/"embrace your inner dolphin" crowd and the "wanna prosac?" types.

I'm suspicious of all of you-- especially given the testimonies from guys like me that took your advice and are now numb non-creating slobs.

I did not mean to offer a "you are sick" perspective at all. I think some people can sing, some people are extroverted, some people have athletic grace and ability, some people can draw or have other artistic ability. Many people don't like to speak in front of a crowd, in the same way that I would view what would be involved in becoming a cost accountant or stock control clerk. My use of the term ADD was not meant to imply illness, just a convenient shorthand for the way that many folks are.

The books I suggested offer a variety of suggestions for how to manage the downsides to ADD. I suggested them because I have read many and found these useful. I don't view myself as sick or having an inner dolphin (or at least being any more "special" than anyone else that I know).

Hopefully the posts are coming from different users each time. You'd expect it for pretty much any non-tiny community.

I agree. It might be motivational for some people, but this isn't based on any scientific research to define the "hyperbrain".

I don't really care about which set of characteristics you think make you 'special'. The only things that really matter are results. Tell us about what you've built or what you've started instead. Then I might actually be interested in learning more about what makes you tick.

The rest is just self-indulgence.

Later. I'm working on a set of strategies that will allow me to be clear about my needs and limitations with people so I can be more productive to the people that matter to me and/or pay me money.

"On the other hand, it is also capable of superhuman focus on the right task"

No, it's not. It's a human brain. It's not capable of anything superhuman.

True.

I am guilty of hyperbole.

replaces "superhuman" with "extraordinary"

Well, I subscribed to the blog so he must have done something right. Ooh, hold on, I gotta go get coffee.

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