rrajath's recent activity

  1. Comment on Does anyone else have posting anxiety? in ~tech

    rrajath
    Link
    I read through some of the top-level comments and it was u/MechanicalMagpie's comment that I resonated with the most. I've struggled with posting anxiety and in general expressing myself for years...

    I read through some of the top-level comments and it was u/MechanicalMagpie's comment that I resonated with the most. I've struggled with posting anxiety and in general expressing myself for years (maybe decades?) And the main reason for me was the fear of being wrong or being pointed out that I'm wrong. If I talk about something, I expect myself to have enough knowledge about it to make well-formed arguments. If I don't make good arguments, that means I don't understand it well enough. In my mind I viewed that as equivalent to bullshitting. And I hated that.

    As u/MechanicalMagpie wrote:

    i feel like other people will say anything I could say, but better, so my input isn't wanted or needed. I'm actively debating posting this, because I feel like someone else will come along and say all of this but more coherently, or more humorously, (humerus-ly.....) or whatever.

    I always felt this way which made me stop myself from expressing. My first instinct would be to express my opinion, but then I'd supress it, thinking "why bother".

    Recently, I had a perspective shift about this, and I had the following realizations:

    1. Nothing matters, nobody cares. People have low attention span to begin with. Most posts don't go viral anyway. Especially when posting in small forums and niche communities. Everybody's caught up in their own lives and won't really care that much about something specific that someone says online. (sure, there are trolls, but whatever)
    2. I find it useful to articulate my thoughts for my own sake. Sure, somebody else can come and say it better. But the exercise of articulating it makes things clearer in my own head and also makes me improve the way I put things across. Over time I get better at it.

    I find #2 is what gives me the most value. I find growth in that. Just the act of sharing helps me think better because I know there will be the eyes of several strangers on that piece of content. I used to think I can just write my thoughts down and not really have to publish it, what difference does it make. That changed. For me, it's like running 10km on my own vs doing a 10K. The distance is the same, but the experience is different.

    After all these realizations, I still rarely post anything. I only do when something resonates with me very deeply (like this post). But I'm not as hesitant or as anxious as I used to be.

    Can people find things wrong with this particular post? Sure. Could someone write these same things a 100x better? Of course. But can they feel what I feel? No.

    I also realized it's the fear that stops us from doing anything. I know I'm stating the obvious and 'posting anxiety' is literally in the title of this post. But catching ourselves the moment we hesitate and pushing ourselves a little bit will open us up to great results, if not great experiences.

    I'm pretty sure this particular post and all the replies you received made you feel really good about posting it. You broke through your posting anxiety and posted about posting anxiety.
    (So meta!)

    I now approach posting and expressing with curiosity and am open to being corrected and learn from it. The more caught up I am about how I'm perceived, the more hesitant I get about expressing, and the less I grow. Not caring about any of that makes me feel free.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on Is there any online store where can I buy cheap STEM books in bundles ? in ~books

    rrajath
    Link
    Not sure if this helps, but I think it’s worth checking BookFinder to see if there are new/used books that fit your budget.

    Not sure if this helps, but I think it’s worth checking BookFinder to see if there are new/used books that fit your budget.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on What is something that had far more variety than you expected once you looked into it? in ~talk

    rrajath
    Link Parent
    https://youtu.be/SkNGxM4LRKQ - this is a great intro into different types of keyboards https://youtube.com/@SwitchandClickOfficial - this channel is really good and there are tons of videos that...
    4 votes

  4. Comment on What is something that had far more variety than you expected once you looked into it? in ~talk

    rrajath
    Link Parent
    Same. I never gave much thought about mechanical keyboards except for the fact that the ones my colleagues were using made a lot of noise. And I used to think it’s mainly for different types of...

    Same. I never gave much thought about mechanical keyboards except for the fact that the ones my colleagues were using made a lot of noise. And I used to think it’s mainly for different types of clicky sounds. It’s when I started checking out split ergo mech keyboards that I fell down a rabbit hole and saw so many different variants. I started building my own keyboards. My daily driver cost me $51 and I love that keyboard.

    Besides just key switches, I found out about tenting, number of keys (I use one with just 34 keys), layers, home row mods, hyper and meh keys, combo keys, different keyboard layouts (I even switched from QWERTY to Colemak), microcontrollers, different websites that offer parts of the keyboard, PCB design, 3D printed cases, different types of key caps, and a whole lot more.

    I was evangelizing it so much at my workplace that I got 3 of my teammates interested in building their own keyboards 🙂

    2 votes

  5. Comment on What's a life lesson you've learned in the past year? in ~talk

    rrajath
    Link Parent
    I've always followed the "say it once" rule. If I have to give somebody some advice, I'd say it once and they can either take it or leave it. I don't expect them to follow it. And, I never say "I...

    I've always followed the "say it once" rule. If I have to give somebody some advice, I'd say it once and they can either take it or leave it. I don't expect them to follow it. And, I never say "I told you so" if things go sideways after ignoring my advice.

  6. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp

    rrajath
    Link
    @lionirdeadman and @joplin captured my sentiments about this perfectly! I need the basics - E2E encryption, having native and desktop clients, message history and all that jazz. Self-hosting and...

    @lionirdeadman and @joplin captured my sentiments about this perfectly! I need the basics - E2E encryption, having native and desktop clients, message history and all that jazz. Self-hosting and federation are a nice to have.

    The biggest pain point for me is finding people on the platform I switch to. I've deleted my Facebook and Instagram profiles because I don't agree with their business model and those are not the products that add value to my life. I'm happier without them. However, I'm unable to get off of WhatsApp for the main reason that I can't convince all my friends and family to switch to a different app. I installed Signal because I appreciate what they stand for and I support it. But having none of my friends on that platform makes it harder to use it. I made it my default SMS app, but that's about it.

    I've heard arguments for this as spreading the word and making people aware of it. But realistically, how much can you persuade someone to switch to a different platform just for one person? Some of my friends already hate me for not being on Facebook (which I don't have a problem with, by the way). But the effort involved in convincing each person to move to a different app/platform is huge.

    7 votes

  7. Comment on Setting aside the musical content (if you can), what are the best music videos you know? in ~music

    rrajath
    Link Parent
    Noice! Thank you :) I'll check it out

    Noice! Thank you :)
    I'll check it out

  8. Comment on Setting aside the musical content (if you can), what are the best music videos you know? in ~music