Hacker News Reader

Comment by PaulHoule | Hacker News Reader

I'd expect that somebody who believes

   "The world wants you to be normal. F*ck being normal. That’s when being extraordinary becomes impossible."

would probably treat service workers poorly (they're normal, F*ck them) but instead there is the advice

   "Watch how people treat service workers. It tells you a lot about their character."

View on HN

Why does being extraordinary require being a jackass to people who are often merely a front? (Is the service worker in control of the discount rates, for example?)

See (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism ("I'm special") and (2) vulgarity as a tracer for a lack of conscientiousness. ("The F*ck" bit)

That is, I'd expect people who use vulgar words gratuitously to be rude in general.

One interpretation is that this person is narcissistic but they are also Machiavellian and knows they'll be judged for how they treat service workers.

That's a rather creative expectation to form from that sentence.

Is there an assumption here that all service workers are "being normal"? Nowhere in this blog is there a point about treating others differently for "being normal".

He also says:

> Taking things for granted is a slow demise into madness. Be grateful.

Non sequitur.

I feel the opposite, being normal is highly underrated.

Depends on what attributes you attach to the word "normal" but I somewhat agree. The bad version tracks with "incurious" or "credulous" for me, the good version is aligned with "emotionally stable" or "grounded", although that doesn't feel too normal in 2022.

What does normal even mean?

Well adjusted to the current default societal game.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com