Hyperbrain Owner's Manual - 1. the big picture

http://inter-sections.net/2008/08/28/hyperbrain-owners-manual-1-the-big-picture

by swombat • 18 years ago

23 19 18 years ago

inter-sections.net

ricky_clarkson• 18 years ago

"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.

swombat2• 18 years ago

True.

I am guilty of hyperbole.

replaces "superhuman" with "extraordinary"

begemot• 18 years ago

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>

jcromartie• 18 years ago

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

learninglisp5• 18 years ago

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.

pasbesoin• 18 years ago

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.

skmurphy2• 18 years ago

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...

Harkins• 18 years ago

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

gasull• 18 years ago

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

MicahWedemeyer• 18 years ago

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"

learninglisp5• 18 years ago

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....)

SwellJoe• 18 years ago

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.)

TrevorJ• 18 years ago

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

comatose_kid• 18 years ago

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.

learninglisp5• 18 years ago

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.

Hyperbrain Owner's Manual - 1. the big picture

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