Hacker News Reader

Comment by victork2 | Hacker News Reader

Hey another one of the "I was too different/intelligent for normal school", backed up by a TED Talk.

Here on HN we have one of these articles every week. I think that all of the "misfits" should acknowledge one thing: school is not for YOU it's for everybody to have "similar" chances in life.

Yes, yes you're all beautiful trouble makers with a mission to change the world. Now do things please.

Gosh I feel snarky today :)!

View on HN

> Gosh I feel snarky today :)!

No, your post is pretty on point. I think everyone here feels this way to an extent.

Don't be sated by your dreams; reality feels better.

why do misfits have to do things or change the world? Just be a misfit for the sake of being a misfit. Just be yourself.

You're trying to fit misfits into the same type of homogenous box that school systems put kids in.

> Just be a misfit for the sake of being a misfit

Please don't do that. The world has enough people trying to be unique and quirky for the sake of it.

> Just be yourself.

Yes, do this.

When I say misfit, I mean genuinely different. Being unique and quirky because that is currently what is the 'in' thing isn't unique, different or being a misfit at all.

> Just be yourself

Good luck with that.

http://threekeywords.com/quotes/category/author/tocqueville/

I think the challenge is to be your real self, not the pretend self you present to the world. For most of us that means confronting a lot of fears.

here here. Fear is the enemy. Not coincidentally fear is what a lot of genuine misfits feel in primary school.

There is no real or false self. There is only you.

"Be your realself" bears the same psychological paradoxes and pressure than "be yourself". Check http://beyondgrowth.net/identity/be-yourself-but-not-because... for a casual approach.

When you were a child you were mostly driven by emotion. As you got older you learned to control your emotions. But for many people they over-control their emotions. That is, they worry too much what other people think about them instead of expressing their authentic desires.

Now that I'm in my forties, I definitely feel like I am more myself than I was in my twenties.

> That is, they worry too much what other people think about them instead of expressing their authentic desires.

You make it sound like it's mutually exclusive. You don't need to express your authentic desires or to fulfill them to be a psychological healthy person.

I stand by my point that we are always ourselves, wether we want to hide what we call ourselves or not. And hiding it isn't a problem in itself. Reality boundaries are healthy to our desires of "total desires".

It's normal to be stressed out by the limites life impose on our desires.

It wasn't pointing out that certain people are more "different/intelligent", the idea was that everyone is different (and correspondingly intelligent) and should pursue that.

Having met Alex and chatted with him over dinner a couple weeks ago, I'd say he does NOT see himself as a troublemaker, he just wants to DO (and DOES) a lot of stuff. I'd normally advise everyone to at least try a year of college before giving up on studies altogether, but if you are going to drop out during high school, please do it with the passion, energy and focus of this guy.

Funny that the US immigration system actively repels the misfits of this kind (dropoffs). If you don't have MS degree, good luck getting the green card (it takes many years vs. 1 year or less for MS). I believe this will be Alex's problem too (he's British, right?).

I recall him mentioning he's on an O-1 Visa. I assume having a published book, many other projects presented as technical publications, and lots of high profile people ready to vouch for his talent, helped overcome his lack of academic qualifications.

O-1 is a work visa, and it's temporary. If he's here to stay, then he needs a green card. O-1 in green card world is called EB-1 (National Interest) and it's a PAIN to prove. EB-2 (Advanced degree, essentially an MS) is much easier, any immigration lawyer can do it for you for a few grand and if they're quick to submit you can have your GC in 9-10 months.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com