[HN Gopher] The art of not taking things personally
___________________________________________________________________
 
The art of not taking things personally
 
Author : LoriP
Score  : 370 points
Date   : 2021-08-31 16:05 UTC (17 hours ago)
 
web link (medium.dave-bailey.com)
w3m dump (medium.dave-bailey.com)
 
| kr15 wrote:
| fuck this coach and his advices. i wont have any empathy to an
| angry shouting asshole. my anxiety and insecurity come not from
| my problems, but from working with such asshole. this is one big
| "forgive a sociopath" article. fuck sociopaths especially fucking
| narcissists, god i hate them.
 
| viach wrote:
| Some people can be aware of what you think their emitions are
| driven by and use it for manipulative reasons when you react
| accordingly. Probably it is a good idea to treat people as grown
| adults who can be responsible for their reactions whatever
| reasons are behind them.
 
| dolores_tyrion wrote:
| My problem is taking things personally is what motivates me to do
| things, because of it I'm always stressed or anxious , the social
| points author mentioning is reasonable but for me its hard to
| separate things, which to take personally?, which not to take
| personally?, because the opposite party is commenting my o/p.
| 
| The authors mind is what i imagine a peaceful mind look like, ```
| yeah i want to be like that someday?```, but its hard to avoid
| the triggers,
| 
| like if my manager arrange meeting with me for certain time, but
| always late for meeting, so i can imagine two things 1) he does
| not give enough important for the meeting with me (because on
| customer meeting he is on time) 2) he is lazy most of the time
| but on customer meetings he comes on time, so i have to imagine
| him being lazy
| 
| so by the article's point i have to choose 2nd point so i don't
| take it personally, but my mind knows I'm a subordinate and not
| as important as client, or he is comfortable with me
| 
| --------- above is how my mind try to reason to take it
| personally, :-) could someone suggest how to escape it?
 
  | genezeta wrote:
  | I don't know if this may help you or not, but...
  | 
  | Let's pick that example of the manager and arriving on time.
  | You have built two scenarios. In the first one you are "less
  | important", in the second they are "lazy". I can see a couple
  | of problems here.
  | 
  | The most immediate one is that there exist other possible
  | scenarios. These may go from one extreme to another. I mean, I
  | could imagine your manager being "evil", doing it on purpose to
  | assert their authority over you, to make you feel who is the
  | boss. I could also imagine some other extreme where your
  | manager is giving you leeway for you to be the one who calls
  | the meeting; they give you time to prepare or to tell them when
  | you're ready. These scenarios may or may not apply, of course
  | -I do not know your situation-. But they are not impossible.
  | And in the same way there may be other possible scenarios.
  | 
  | The second problem derives from the fact that you focused only
  | on those two possible scenarios. What do those two have in
  | common? Both are negative. They put the reason for what is
  | happening either on your manager's character flaw or on your
  | own lack of importance. One might guess that you arrived at
  | these scenarios by "looking for a problem". Given that you were
  | looking for something negative, you only arrived at negative
  | scenarios.
  | 
  | ----
  | 
  | What could be done?
  | 
  | You could avoid arriving only to negative scenarios by avoiding
  | looking for "a problem". Looking for a problem easily ends up
  | finding one in yourself. And then as a defence mechanism some
  | other scenario will appear by trying to "shift the blame". In
  | fact, your second scenario almost feels like you came up with
  | it as a response to find a reason so that the problem is not
  | with you but with the manager. In any case, if you start by
  | looking for a problem you will end up finding problems.
  | 
  | Instead you may try two different approaches. In one you force
  | yourself to consider that the originating reason for this
  | situation is not -or at least _may_ not be- a negative one. You
  | force yourself to come up with scenarios where there is a good
  | intention or a positive motive, even if the result is one that
  | irritates you. You don 't even have to believe these scenarios
  | are real or correct, just _allow that they might be possible_
  | at least as much as the negative ones.
  | 
  | The second approach goes one step beyond this. The idea is this
  | one: So there are a number of possible scenarios, but you don't
  | really know which one is the "correct" one. Ask yourself: Do
  | you need to care? That is, does it really matter what is the
  | real reason this happens? Sometimes you may need to care,
  | sometimes not really. This depends on you, mostly. I mean, the
  | delay on the meetings may be important to you but not to me. Or
  | vice-versa.
  | 
  | One small piece of advice here: Sometimes you may think that
  | you _do_ care, that it is an important matter and that you want
  | it solved /fixed, but if you give it some calm thought you will
  | find that you actually don't care that much. So just spend some
  | effort here identifying what is _really_ important and what is
  | not so much.
  | 
  | Either way, you may care enough to want it fixed -or at least
  | to go further- or you may not really care that much. Now, I
  | focused on you caring about it, but there's a second factor you
  | should consider: _Can_ you actually do anything about it? That
  | is, given the various scenarios and possible reasons, can you
  | _act_ on any of those to change them or are they all external
  | /out of reach to you?
  | 
  | Now you have four possible outcomes:
  | 
  | - You don't care that much, and you can't act on it. Then just
  | accept it as it is and go on. You can't do anything about it
  | _but_ you have also learned that you really didn 't care so
  | much, so this is something which shouldn't bother you.
  | 
  | - You don't care that much, but you could fix it. Then it's
  | mostly a question of "choosing your battles". you'd have to see
  | how much effort would it take to fix it and balance it with the
  | possible benefit. The benefit will be generally small, because
  | it's not something you really care about. Either way, if it's
  | worth it or not, the outcome should be satisfactory. In one
  | "you don't gain much but it didn't cost you much either", in
  | the other "you don't fix it because it cost too much, but you
  | didn't care so much about it anyway".
  | 
  | - You do care and you can fix it. Then do fix it. It's all in
  | you hands, right?
  | 
  | - You do care but you can't fix it. This one is the problematic
  | one. In a more stoic approach you may choose to "let it be".
  | Accept that you can't fix it anyway so "learn to live with it".
  | Sometimes this is enough. Thing about the meeting situation.
  | You won't be able to change it, all the reasons you find for it
  | are out of your control, there's nothing you can do... but you
  | _can_ still choose not to let it bother you. You might choose
  | to use those minutes for something useful, like mentally
  | preparing yourself for the meeting, or checking the list of
  | things you want to address so you don 't forget any, etc. The
  | situation hasn't changed but you have changed what you make of
  | it. Of course, this doesn't always work for everyone, so
  | another approach is this: make it so you can actually fix the
  | situation. I mean, all the possible scenarios you've thought of
  | are... well, in your mind. So, a first step would be to
  | investigate the situation. You may e.g. watch your manager's
  | behaviour with other people: is it only when meeting you that
  | he is late or is it with every co-worker/non-customer? May be
  | it happens with some but not all? What do those do differently?
  | Or maybe your manager is actually expecting you to remind them
  | of the meeting? Maybe you could try doing that once and seeing
  | how it goes?
  | 
  | In any case, my advice would be a mixture of both approaches.
  | Make an internal and honest effort to just accept that you
  | cannot change some things and make the best of how things are.
  | But still keep your attention on identifying things that you
  | might actually be able to change.
  | 
  | The background effect this approach has is that you learn to
  | look for many more possible scenarios other than just "either
  | it's a flaw with myself or I can blame it on someone else". You
  | learn to accept that sometimes it doesn't matter that much
  | _why_ something is the way it is, and that you can still make
  | something out of it, and you also learn to give  "positive
  | reasons" a change as the origin of a situation.
  | 
  | ----
  | 
  | Im not really sure this can help you much, but I hope it does
  | at least a little.
 
| black_13 wrote:
| I really dont want to understand your poor behaviors or empathize
| with an abuser.
 
  | dwaltrip wrote:
  | Without understanding, we can't take productive action. Of
  | course, one can instead exit the situation, which may be the
  | right move and doesn't require much understanding. But that is
  | often not an option.
 
    | watwut wrote:
    | > Without understanding, we can't take productive action.
    | 
    | That is not true. You can protect against abusers without
    | understanding them. Whether making sure you respond (so that
    | you are not attractive target) or leaving or going public or
    | retaliating.
    | 
    | But, victims who believe they need to understand and
    | emphasize with them end up excusing abusers, blaming
    | themselves and end up perpetual victims.
 
      | dwaltrip wrote:
      | That's a good point. And for victims that may be the best
      | way to move forward.
      | 
      | However, beyond helping any victims -- which is incredibly
      | important and should be the first priority -- the type of
      | productive actions we can take are limited if we don't have
      | understanding of what is going on.
 
      | wnoise wrote:
      | > You can protect against abusers without understanding
      | them.
      | 
      | You can, but not as fully nor as well.
      | 
      | > Whether making sure you respond (so that you are not
      | attractive target)
      | 
      | You have to know that responding indeed doesn't make you an
      | attractive target. Which varies depending on the motives of
      | the abuser. Some are looking for a response, where the
      | cruelty is the point.
      | 
      | > or leaving or going public or retaliating.
      | 
      | All of these may or may not be helpful. The first two
      | largely based on power relations and PR. But the last is
      | vitally dependent on the reactions of the abuser -- and
      | again understanding the abuser is needed to predict whether
      | that's a useful response.
 
  | dang wrote:
  | Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN?
  | You've done that a lot, and we ban such accounts. It's not what
  | this site is for.
  | 
  | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
 
  | rootusrootus wrote:
  | Sounds like a reliable recipe for loneliness. All people, even
  | the perfectly nice ones, occasionally misbehave.
 
| silicon2401 wrote:
| I think the world would be better if more people practiced the
| suggestions in this page. Many humans lack compassion. People on
| all sides of all issues behave due to similar fundamental
| reasons: fear, uncertainty, anxiety. If people looked past the
| superficial and helped comfort people who are unlike them in
| addition to those who are similar, we might be able to find
| solutions to more issues.
 
  | [deleted]
 
| scns wrote:
| When i read the headline, i immediately thought of a talk [0] by
| a belgian actor who worked as a football (soccer) referee in an
| amateur league to learn this. Not a fan of videos but glad i
| watched it.
| 
| [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJwH_PZXnM
 
| d--b wrote:
| > Selfnesslessness is often driven by guilt
| 
| Ugh, this is an article that tries to explain all human problems
| from basic formulae. While it may be interesting to know that in
| some cases, a variant of this may cause a variant of that, in the
| real world, don't apply these blindly.
| 
| There is nothing more irritating than someone telling you: "oh
| you're so selfless, what do you feel guilty about?"
 
| zwkrt wrote:
| As I get older, the less I identify as my current state and the
| more I identify with the person who transitions through states.
| My change in perspective has reduced my anxieties and anger
| significantly. "This too shall pass" and all that. The more of my
| self image is focused on superficial things, the more I will take
| things personally. What we are angry about tends to be a
| reflection of ourselves more than the current state of affairs.
| 
| If I see myself as a busy professional I might be much more
| aggravated by someone at the grocery store holding up the
| checkout line with EBT (since I am busy they must be lazy!). If I
| see myself as a social climber I will always be worrying if
| people are using me for something (since I am using them!). If I
| identify with my wealth I might develop some neurosis regarding
| the sight of the homeless (since they represent ultimate
| failure!).
| 
| I don't believe in reincarnation but it is a helpful thought
| experiment to think about what benefits and drawbacks your
| particular incarnation of life holds and how those might be
| different if you were incarnated elsewhere.
 
  | minikites wrote:
  | Your comment is very well put and reminds me of this quote from
  | Boethius:
  | 
  | >It's my belief that history is a wheel. "Inconsistency is my
  | very essence" -says the wheel- "Rise up on my spokes if you
  | like, but don't complain when you are cast back down into the
  | depths. Good times pass away, but then so do the bad.
  | Mutability is our tragedy, but it is also our hope. The worst
  | of times, like the best, are always passing away".
 
  | mcguire wrote:
  | That's interesting and well-put!
  | 
  | I've thought for a long time that the world is, in a sense, a
  | mirror: what you see out there is a reflection of yourself. A
  | social climber worrying about being used is a part of that I
  | hadn't considered before.
 
    | scns wrote:
    | In psychology it is called projection.
 
    | dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote:
    | There's many degrees of accuracy for truth that have nothing
    | to do with ourselves. What you see and experience generally
    | can reach a high level of accuracy -> "He is already an L6 by
    | 30."
    | 
    | It is the motives and reasons behind events that are most
    | subject to gap filling with our personal experiences "He must
    | be climbing the corporate ladder."
    | 
    | When the Bible (via Jesus) speaks about judging, it is
    | referring to being cautious with assessing motives, not
    | drawing conclusions about factual happenings.
 
  | roystonvassey wrote:
  | "What we are angry about tends to be a reflection of ourselves
  | more than the current state of affairs."
  | 
  | Absolutely. It is definitely hard to cut through all the fluff
  | when we are emotional but this realization has helped me so
  | many times and, this applies not just at work. Just as we are
  | going through these states and the self-awareness is important,
  | it helps to also realize that others are transiting too through
  | these different states.
  | 
  | I'm reminded of an another thought that was shared here a while
  | back that I try to remember often:
  | 
  | "Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone.
  | Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own."
  | 
  | -- Adam Lindsay Gordon
 
  | maybevain wrote:
  | Aside, but for those like me who can't help but wonder: EBT (I
  | believe) stands for electronic benefit transfer, apparently an
  | electronic payment method issued by welfare departments in the
  | USA.
 
  | TedDoesntTalk wrote:
  | Whatever has the nature to arise will also pass away.
 
  | BurningFrog wrote:
  | This is a common development for men as we get older. I could
  | write something similar.
  | 
  | I'd like to think I'm maturing and becoming wise.
  | 
  | But I suspect it's really the falling testosterone levels that
  | come with age...
 
    | moneywoes wrote:
    | Have you considered supplementation
 
  | annamargot wrote:
  | Self-awareness is how I look at it. And it is finally taking
  | hold with age :)
  | 
  | I can better manage my emotions by simply being able to
  | recognize them almost from an outsider's perspective. My inner
  | monologue switches to 3rd person
  | 
  | "Yeah you're feeling super irritable right now, you better go
  | chill out somewhere before you say something you don't mean and
  | then create a whole big thing for no reason"
  | 
  | Younger me would have started some shit and created unnecessary
  | problems
 
  | SkipperCat wrote:
  | So true. I read an article ago where they studied aging and
  | they found that everything about a person degrades, eyesight,
  | strength, cognition, etc with the exception of impulse control
  | and patience. As you age, you mellow out and are less tethered
  | to knee jerk reactions.
  | 
  | For me, as someone approaching 'early geezerdom', I see it in
  | my work interactions. What used to bother me, I can now let
  | pass.
 
    | scns wrote:
    | This progress can be be sped up with meditation.
 
      | datameta wrote:
      | Sans side-effects of aging, of course.
 
  | foobiekr wrote:
  | I've had this experience myself. Actually, your description is
  | so much kinder than mine that I think I will adopt it. What I
  | have said up until now is that as I've gotten older, my
  | emotional level has declined very substantially, especially in
  | the last ten years. It's like the volume got turned down. Very
  | few things bother me, and very few things excite me. I'd
  | associated it until now with a sort of depersonalization but
  | instead I will identify as just being the thing that passes
  | through different states of being.
  | 
  | They're kind of the same thing, but I'd feel less weird saying
  | it the way you did.
 
    | only_as_i_fall wrote:
    | You could just be depressed
 
    | [deleted]
 
    | jareklupinski wrote:
    | > It's like the volume got turned down.
    | 
    | a bit tangental :) recently I was wearing headphones for a
    | zoom meeting, when someone in the same apartment asked me if
    | I could turn down the volume, since it was so loud they could
    | hear everyone on the meeting even with my headset on.
    | 
    | I had not realized how loud I was turning the system volume
    | up in meetings, and after being conscious to it and joining
    | at half volume, I noticed my stress during meetings and
    | around calls in general has gone down a lot.
 
      | nefitty wrote:
      | When I was a case worker that was one of my go-to's to get
      | back control of a call. Turning the volume down on someone
      | who's screaming at you over the phone makes them seem so
      | small and reminded me that they can't hurt me. Stress goes
      | down quickly.
 
    | packetlost wrote:
    | That's me, except I'm in my early-mid 20s and I've always
    | been like that. I describe it as being 'the opposite of
    | neurotic' in a psychological sense.
 
      | [deleted]
 
      | dennis_jeeves wrote:
      | You are way ahead of the crowd, take care.
 
    | weitzj wrote:
    | I had the strategy/mindset that when you are born you get a
    | fixed credit on how you want to spend your emotions in life.
    | When you are young you still have plenty of credit so you
    | spend it on anger that other kids have a nicer laptop or
    | whatever. When you get older you realize that you only have
    | that much credit left to spend wisely on emotions in your
    | life.
    | 
    | Pro tip from me: this mental model sounded nice in bad times.
    | But I would not follow it again any more today, and I would
    | say you have an endless credit of emotions if you want it.
    | Saving your emotions for "the day when you need it" does not
    | make sense any more to me and makes me more happy.
 
      | stadium wrote:
      | I have a different take after a childhood of repressed
      | emotions and some years of therapy. Emotions come and go,
      | and they aren't what make a person, they are just something
      | that happens.
      | 
      | How we notice and react to our emotions is a choice. Having
      | emotions is not a choice.
 
    | scns wrote:
    | Aristoteles wrote this is the goal IIRC. In buddhism they aim
    | for something similar, neither being swayed by your desires
    | nor fears, stay calm enables being able to act instead only
    | reacting to external stimuli on autopilot. Nothing wrong with
    | it IMSO.
 
      | rojobuffalo wrote:
      | i love coming back to the 4 thoughts (buddhism). 1.
      | impermance 2. suffering 3. karma 4. precious human birth
      | 
      | suffering arises as a failure to recognize impermanence.
      | thoughts and behaviors that reduce suffering create ripple
      | effects (karma), and the same is true of thoughts and
      | behaviors that increase suffering. and it is a rare
      | opportunity to be born as a human and to reflect on our own
      | conciousness and the 4 thoughts.
 
      | tmpfs wrote:
      | I think the word for this is "equanimity" and it is
      | certainly a desirable state.
      | 
      | But it should not be "grey" like the sibling comment
      | indicates but full of joy, bliss and wonder.
      | 
      | I think experiencing equanimity is a sign of releasing the
      | ego which is natural as we age and become less attached to
      | our ideas of who we are and closer to the reality of our
      | impending death
 
      | jetrink wrote:
      | > IMSO
      | 
      | In my stoic opinion?
 
        | jolmg wrote:
        | "Sincere" fits better.
 
        | scns wrote:
        | Subjective
 
    | justinpombrio wrote:
    | > Very few things bother me, and very few things excite me.
    | 
    | In my view, this is perfectly natural. Your emotions are tied
    | to your expectations. As you grow older, you have seen more
    | things, and better know what to expect. The first time you
    | drop your ice cream cone on the ground as a child, you learn
    | that a delicious treat can be destroyed so easily! When you
    | drop your ice cream cone on the ground as an adult, it's like
    | yeah, well, that happens sometimes, and hey, I've had ice
    | cream a hundred times and I'll have it another hundred times.
    | 
    | In other words, since the second time something happens to
    | you is less noteworthy than the first time, fewer noteworthy
    | things will happen to you per year as you get older. Less
    | noteworthy events means less excitement and a faster apparent
    | passage of time.
 
      | PaulDavisThe1st wrote:
      | Some people, however [0] deliberately try to search out
      | more noteworthy events to counter this temporal trend.
      | 
      | [0] this is not a reference to real persons, living or dead
      | and any similarity to my wife is purely coincidental.
 
      | TeMPOraL wrote:
      | I'd also say that emotional amplitude might be inversely
      | correlated with wealth.
      | 
      | Considering your ice cream example: as a young adult, were
      | I to drop my cone, I'd be distraught, because I've just
      | lost the one little pleasure I so desired, and there's no
      | money in the budget for replacement this week. Today, I'd
      | just shrug and buy a new one.
      | 
      | This applies to almost every other situation in life too.
      | If you have a cash reserve, trivialities just don't bother
      | you anymore (at least until you can't get something because
      | the store run out of stock; the influx of powerful emotions
      | might come as a surprise then).
 
        | elevenoh wrote:
        | True to an underrecognized degree. It's a huge component
        | of wisdom. And wisdom - which we might define as
        | consistently well applied knowledge - is pretty ~=
        | capacity for wealth.
        | 
        | More important in this day & age where big tech preys on
        | attention in such a way that default increases emotional
        | volatility.
 
      | [deleted]
 
    | flippinburgers wrote:
    | I can relate. Everything is approaching a bland, grey state
    | of "it just is".
    | 
    | Well, I do still talk down on and find myself frustrated by
    | not progressing my career, but I think I am on a precipice of
    | no longer caring. Reading HN too much is not good for my
    | mental health though I suspect.
 
    | minusf wrote:
    | > Very few things bother me, and very few things excite me.
    | 
    | the bother part is fine, but i want to stay being excited
    | even by everyday things like a good book, music, a small
    | treat, a cup of coffee or a meal i just cooked for myself.
    | 
    | not worrying about everything does not have to mean not to be
    | excited about everything.
    | 
    | (i guess it also comes down to how one defines "excited")
 
    | weaksauce wrote:
    | you sure that's not a depressive episode worth talking to
    | your doctor about? depression isn't just the stereotypical
    | dread and angst that the movies typically display. it's more
    | of a nothing tastes great anymore, I'm apathetic toward life,
    | nothing excites me, etc.
 
      | tharkun__ wrote:
      | Disclaimer: not the OP here.
      | 
      | I can echo what he said though and I can tell you I am
      | definitely not depressed. Some things do excite me, some
      | thing do still piss me off. But overall it's definitely
      | less. Good on the getting aggravated 'for no good reason'
      | side. Sort of sad (not in the being depressed way) on the
      | being excited for something side.
      | 
      | E.g. I still have my pet peeves at work that I will
      | passionately talk about or convince you of. I will not get
      | mad at you any longer if you don't change that variable
      | name to exactly the wording I suggested.
 
      | nefitty wrote:
      | I'm going through this now, and feel embarrassed or ashamed
      | that it might be depression. The phrase "Nothing feels
      | good" is so apt, it keeps running through my head. I don't
      | feel sad, I just feel like everything is meaningless,
      | everything is empty. The only intense emotion that grips me
      | now is anxiety about death, which I had managed to handle
      | for a long time now.
      | 
      | I just post this into the void to avoid burdening my family
      | and friends. I should go do the dishes...
 
      | jacobr1 wrote:
      | I'm not the OP, but I've noticed something similar myself.
      | I still have certain things I'm passionate about. But I no
      | longer feel the need (or rather I don't just automatically
      | become invested in every topic that comes up in my
      | environment).
      | 
      | People do outrageous things in the world, and an earlier me
      | might have had a self-righteous anger about it. Today,
      | while I certainly have an intellectual care, I have the
      | luxury of putting such things out of mind and just enjoying
      | my day. I still take proactive steps to better the world
      | where I think it makes sense, but not out any emotional
      | fervor. I save my passions for my family, hobbies, and a
      | subset of professional interests.
      | 
      | I haven't read the book, but from the abstract, I suspect
      | "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" by Mark Manson is
      | basically where I arrived. I have learned I have only so my
      | F's to give, and so spend them more wisely.
 
        | yosamino wrote:
        | > I have learned I have only so my F's to give, and so
        | spend them more wisely.
        | 
        | Not entirely 100% percent the same sentiment, but still a
        | pretty good soundtrack for not handing out Fucks too
        | quickly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqbk9cDX0l0
 
        | neeleshs wrote:
        | +1 for the book. There are too many things in this
        | always-on world to give a f..k about. I've been trying to
        | enjoy smaller things in life more and do not react to all
        | the shif..ry that always seems to be going on around my
        | immediate world. Much better state of mind.
 
      | neeleshs wrote:
      | Not OP, but at least for me it's the deliberate act of not
      | reacting to shit always. Still enjoy a bowl of pasta at my
      | favorite restaurant or a piece of dark chocolate.still
      | joyful seeing the full moon or the occasional mars in the
      | sky!
 
  | gexla wrote:
  | Right, I work to keep my identity small and to be adaptable.
  | Making things "always about you" is seeing the world through
  | that identity tainted lens and positioning the world as if you
  | are the center. I instead try to be observational and LARP into
  | any situation as if I'm in an improv show.
 
  | aomobile wrote:
  | I think the homeless don't scare people necessarily because
  | they are a what-might-be but rather because of being a what-is.
  | In the us you might get a bad conscience if you see a homeless
  | person but hey at least your salary is good. In Europe we pay
  | so many taxes that it feels a bit different.
 
    | OneTimePetes wrote:
    | In europe i feel anger on the state whos employees failed to
    | rectify a situation i paid and worked hard so nobody has to
    | experience it.
 
| tomcooks wrote:
| I highly suggest books on stoicism by William B Irwine if you
| want to learn simple ways not to take things personally, a true
| gem of an author.
| 
| https://www.williambirvine.com/books
 
| zz865 wrote:
| The problem I'm getting as I get older I'm starting to overshoot
| and not care about anyone's opinions, turning into a grumpy old
| man who doesnt care any more. :)
 
  | draw_down wrote:
  | It is what it is, as the old saying goes.
 
  | nemo44x wrote:
  | I think that's normal. You eventually get enough experience you
  | can't be bullshitted much anymore and bullshit is everywhere it
  | turns out.
 
| magicroot75 wrote:
| I take criticism extremely personally, because I have such a
| internally critical view of everything that I do. I become
| extraordinarily hurt when someone rightly corrects me at work.
| Anyone have helpful tips on this?
 
  | icelancer wrote:
  | Therapy, honestly. I can tell you the truth [0] but it's
  | nothing you haven't heard or thought already - finding a
  | professional that can explain it to you in a way you can
  | connect with is what matters.
  | 
  | [0]: Other peoples' unsolicited opinions are worth very little
  | the overwhelming majority of the time.
 
| bittercynic wrote:
| Full article: https://outline.com/2wGcn2
 
  | totaldude87 wrote:
  | thanks, i hate medium paywall and paywalled posts here in HN
 
| throwaway98797 wrote:
| Fragility comes from insecurity.
| 
| Insecurity is both objective and subjective.
| 
| On different days you may feel more or less secure.
| 
| To not care _too_ much about yourself is the first step. The
| world is what it is and our desires are just that. Desires. Easy
| to forget that the world owes or cares. It does not. Luckily it
| does not care about anyone else.
| 
| We only have this life to live.
| 
| "We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only
| have one." --Confucius
 
  | andrewmcwatters wrote:
  | What do you mean by "fragility?"
 
    | throwaway98797 wrote:
    | I meant it as a type of sensitivity. Like, someone reacting
    | harshly to a slight or an insult.
    | 
    | A lack of confidence is what I'm trying to communicate in the
    | first sentence. They need other's judgement to validate
    | themselves.
 
      | andrewmcwatters wrote:
      | I see, thanks for clarifying.
 
    | dumpsterdiver wrote:
    | Colloquial usage around here means something close to, "An
    | inability to gracefully accept an external perception of
    | ourselves, because that perception is at odds with our own
    | understanding of ourselves."
    | 
    | This "fragility" must always be accompanied by an accusation
    | - otherwise fragility would not manifest. Without an
    | accusation to deny, no one can be fragile in this sense. The
    | opposite of fragility is callousness - i.e. "Damn right,
    | that's what I said. I meant it. I don't care who it hurt, as
    | long as they get out of the way."
    | 
    | The word "fragility", in its current social context, would
    | appear to be a word intended to belittle. It says, "You think
    | you're a big person, but you are a small person. Because you
    | have denied my truth, you are fragile. Because you have
    | proclaimed your innocence, you are fragile."
    | 
    | To me, there is a glaring fallacy in calling people "fragile"
    | this way - and that is the part when the people who engage in
    | this behavior decide to forgo intelligent discourse and
    | presume that they are correct without hearing the other side
    | of the story. Sometimes people are different than each other,
    | and you can't always win arguments just by calling them
    | "fragile" when they disagree with you, because what we're
    | really talking about sometimes when we say the word "fragile"
    | in this context, is "an impassioned personal defense against
    | accusations thrown at people who look like me, but who do not
    | represent my values." It's not okay to do this. The only
    | thing we do when we call people "fragile" in this way, is we
    | internally invalidate their position, and then we burn the
    | only bridge we ever had with them.
 
      | andrewmcwatters wrote:
      | Thank you for the in-depth explanation.
 
      | throwaway98797 wrote:
      | I view fragile and sensitive in the same light. Though, I
      | do mean it with a negative connotation.
      | 
      | That being said, im not sure i follow the fallacy part. I'm
      | guessing you mean that people who use fragility are doing
      | it shut down discussion. I tend to use it to highlight that
      | there's a set of people with whom I won't speak freely for
      | fear of hurting them because their are sensitive. I don't
      | do this out of nobleness to not harm, i do it to avoid
      | negative emotions from them. In a way I am fragile as well.
 
        | dumpsterdiver wrote:
        | > That being said, im not sure i follow the fallacy part.
        | I'm guessing you mean that people who use fragility are
        | doing it shut down discussion. I tend to use it to
        | highlight that there's a set of people with whom I won't
        | speak freely for fear of hurting them because their are
        | sensitive. I don't do this out of nobleness to not harm,
        | i do it to avoid negative emotions from them.
        | 
        | > In a way I am fragile as well.
        | 
        | Yes, you've nailed it. By "fallacy" I mean "an unsound
        | argument", because if I were to think that the person I'm
        | arguing with is "fragile" - that would mean that I have
        | already accepted my position as the correct position, and
        | that the people I'm educating simply aren't able to
        | accept my truth because it would damage their ego.
        | 
        | Arguing with people without ever hearing their side is a
        | great way to become obtuse.
        | 
        | When, during that line of thinking, would I ever ask,
        | "Could I possibly be the one who is wrong? Is there more
        | to this story than just my side?"
 
      | [deleted]
 
      | mLuby wrote:
      | > Colloquial usage around here
      | 
      | "Here" sounds like a strange place.
      | 
      | Fragility means something is easily broken. The opposite is
      | toughness, not callousness. Relatedly, resilience means
      | something recovers or repairs easily. Sensitivity is how
      | easily something reacts to inputs.
      | 
      | Fragility _in people_ (AKA  "breaking down" or "going to
      | pieces") doesn't need an accusation or necessarily involve
      | external perceptions. If you see an adult, say, trip over
      | something and then start sobbing, they were likely already
      | in a fragile state and the trip was enough to momentarily
      | shatter them. Someone who's "tough" will endure more
      | hardship than someone who's "fragile" before breaking down.
      | Someone who's resilient will be able to put themselves back
      | together again more easily, regardless of whether they were
      | tough or fragile.
      | 
      | Fragility as the original posted used it makes sense: if
      | someone is food/money insecure or physically insecure or
      | socially insecure, it won't take much "damage" to make that
      | insecurity into a crisis.
 
  | drewcoo wrote:
  | Throw-away deepities.
  | 
  | https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Deepity
 
    | [deleted]
 
    | abbub wrote:
    | I love that the 'deepities' wiki page has a link to the page
    | on Deepak Chopra... lol
 
  | yesenadam wrote:
  | I don't think that's Confucius. Doesn't sound like him, can't
  | find any source mentioned online. It appears in a lot of places
  | online, like fake quotes do, but no reputable places, and never
  | with a source.
 
  | psychomugs wrote:
  | "Live as if you were living already for the second time and as
  | if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to
  | act now" - Victor Frankl
 
| courtf wrote:
| Counterpoint: enlightenment is overrated and life is meant to be
| taken personally. In some senses, it is a bit cowardly to run
| away from the current moment we live in by stepping back and
| viewing the big picture too often. "Negative" emotions and
| experiences are valid parts of life. Anger, anxiety, fear etc are
| all part of being a human being and have evolved over billions of
| years to reach their current forms. We may not always enjoy these
| parts of life, but avoiding them completely would mean stunting
| ourselves.
| 
| Learning to observe and not react to the complex interplay of
| emotional states that constantly dance across our consciousness
| is a powerful tool, but you cannot survive inside the epiphany.
| We all must descend back into the messy day-to-day needs of
| maintaining our bodies, no one is actually the Buddha. I think we
| should all have more patience with inability to behave
| appropriately under all circumstances, because we will all fall
| short of grace.
| 
| "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must
| lead."
 
  | pessimizer wrote:
  | It's important not to judge the world by its effect on your
  | internal state. The world isn't party to your internal state,
  | although you walk around with an _illusion of transparency._
  | People are doing things _for their own reasons, not for yours._
  | 
  | Referring to the Buddha in order to make emotional regulation
  | seem like an unachievable perfection is not really a good
  | support, because the argument you're making is that we _shouldn
  | 't always try to control our irrational emotions_, not that we
  | sometimes fail to control our irrational emotions, even when we
  | try. That's just an objective fact.
  | 
  | Getting away from billions of years of reaction is the reason
  | why we have civilization. It's a little more cowardly to
  | interpret the world in terms of how it makes you feel rather
  | than the complicated, messy problem of navigating the world in
  | terms of how it may be making everyone feel.
 
    | courtf wrote:
    | > It's important not to judge the world by its effect on your
    | internal state. The world isn't party to your internal state,
    | although you walk around with an illusion of transparency.
    | People are doing things for their own reasons, not for yours.
    | 
    | Sure, I agree. This isn't a contradiction with my post.
    | 
    | > Referring to the Buddha in order to make emotional
    | regulation seem like an unachievable perfection is not really
    | a good support, because the argument you're making is that we
    | shouldn't always try to control our irrational emotions, not
    | that we sometimes fail to control our irrational emotions,
    | even when we try.
    | 
    | One core message of Buddhism is that we fundamentally cannot
    | control ourselves, even when we try. You are correct that I
    | am saying we shouldn't always try, and I stand by that, but
    | the idea is that it isn't actually possible to achieve.
    | Buddha is indeed an unachievable perfection, and supports my
    | point because trying is truly futile in the end.
    | 
    | That is not to say we should always act however we want and
    | treat others terribly for our own amusement, just that we are
    | not actually in control. We can try to steer the elephant,
    | and may have some success with that on occasion, but complete
    | control is not possible. What I am saying, is that it's ok to
    | let the elephant do what it wants sometimes, because
    | ultimately it's going to do that a lot of the time anyway.
    | 
    | > Getting away from billions of years of reaction is the
    | reason why we have civilization.
    | 
    | How would you say that experiment is going? Civilization
    | isn't more powerful than evolution is what I would say, and
    | we have seen a lot of man's worst impulses expressed with
    | greater force than ever during the modern period. We haven't
    | escaped evolution yet.
    | 
    | > It's a little more cowardly to interpret the world in terms
    | of how it makes you feel rather than the complicated, messy
    | problem of navigating the world in terms of how it may be
    | making everyone feel.
    | 
    | Not sure how this relates to what I said. Sounds like you
    | just wanted to turn my words around. I never said anything
    | about substituting personal feelings for the act of being
    | empathetic with others, and the topic is about not taking
    | things personally, so this is a new goalpost. Nonetheless, I
    | don't disagree. Part of having empathy for others is not
    | judging their behavior from a position of assumed
    | superiority.
 
      | lmm wrote:
      | > We can try to steer the elephant, and may have some
      | success with that on occasion, but complete control is not
      | possible. What I am saying, is that it's ok to let the
      | elephant do what it wants sometimes, because ultimately
      | it's going to do that a lot of the time anyway.
      | 
      | That's not a sound argument though. E.g. the fact that you
      | can't save every starving child in no way proves that you
      | shouldn't try as hard as you can to save those that you
      | can.
 
        | throwawaylinux wrote:
        | This isn't related to the prior subject of the thread,
        | but:
        | 
        | > E.g. the fact that you can't save every starving child
        | in no way proves that you shouldn't try as hard as you
        | can to save those that you can.
        | 
        | "Shouldn't" is doing a lot of work there. Why _should_
        | anything be done? It 's a question of morals.
        | 
        | So on the moral question of whether someone should try as
        | hard as they can to save as many starving children as
        | possible: I don't do that. I'm pretty certain 100% of
        | people here including you don't either. Actually 100% of
        | the world aside from perhaps the parents of said starving
        | children plus a rounding error of extremely passionate
        | and dedicated people will do so.
        | 
        | So I think that is pretty well established isn't it? You
        | need not try as hard as you can to save starving
        | children.
        | 
        | Better analogy might be that you can't prevent being in
        | an automobile accident all the time, that doesn't make it
        | okay to stop paying attention sometimes.
 
  | qqtt wrote:
  | I agree. A lot of discussion and these philosophical quotes
  | about living tend to want to inspire you to rebel against your
  | nature. Think abstractly. Think rationally. Make the right
  | decisions (for some value of "right").
  | 
  | But people aren't really wired like this. Maybe rebelling
  | against your nature is the "right" choice, but maybe just
  | living your life isn't so bad either. Take things personally.
  | Don't take things personally. Be angry, be frustrated. Get
  | depressed. Also, be happy sometimes.
  | 
  | You only have one life. The guy who never gets angry is going
  | to the same place as the guy who fully feels those emotions.
  | Maybe one will be less productive at a certain point in time
  | than the other, but does it matter?
  | 
  | These cosmic balance scale games are at the end of the day
  | silly and superfluous.
 
    | scns wrote:
    | Khalil Gibran expressed it like this: "You can avoid crying
    | all your tears, but you won't laugh all you laughter then."
    | Highly recommend reading The Prophet by him. A thin book,
    | saying a lot with a few words.
 
      | marbletimes wrote:
      | This is one of those witty sentences that sound good (the
      | balance of life, laughs here, tears there, if you want to
      | enjoy living you need to accept dying, everything happens
      | for a reason), but they are just biblical nonsense. There
      | are plenty of very accomplished, successful (internally and
      | externally) people who feel much more joy than sorrow, and
      | plenty of evil people who have an internal life that is no
      | worse than much more saintly people, but according to The
      | Prophet they all should cry more. I remember I went on a
      | date, and they said, "when a relationship is ending, I
      | really want to feel the pain, as it makes the relationship
      | something of value". I thought it was bananas, there is
      | very little to be gained by pain and spiraling
      | introspection after a break-up. But the other side of the
      | coin says, should I keep my mouth shut during cringy
      | conversation, so I can then have more enlightened, or
      | presumably enlightened, conversations with someone else?
 
        | scns wrote:
        | I read it differently, like: if you suppress feelings you
        | want to avoid (labeled negative usually), you won't feel
        | all the feelings you would like to (labeled positive
        | usually).
        | 
        | (edit) Another favourite quote of mine is from the
        | chapter about pain: "Your pain is the breaking of the
        | shell that encloses your understanding."
        | 
        | You can read the full chapter here:
        | https://poets.org/poem/pain-1
 
    | courtf wrote:
    | It's always a bit fraught to bring up the upsides of
    | irrationality and potentially dangerous/destructive emotions
    | and impulses. Bukowski didn't win a lot of popularity
    | contests. I agree with what you've said here though.
    | 
    | We may be abstracting the conversation beyond the limits of
    | what is appropriate in the workplace here, but I tend to
    | think the workplace should and could be a more relaxed space
    | if we were more patient with the negative emotions of others.
    | At least for me, that starts with recognizing my own
    | emotional states, and not always being afraid to experience
    | them authentically.
 
  | akomtu wrote:
  | That's the territory of natural philosophy. The typical answer
  | from "occult" books to your argument would be that there are
  | two almost independent beings posing as one human: the lower
  | one, which includes autonomous body capable of feeling and
  | primitive thinking; and the upper triad that includes abstract
  | mind, also capable of independent existence. Most people are
  | unsure which part they identify with. Your argument is
  | basically identifying with the lower half. This is basically
  | what the upside down pentagram means: a human who chose to go
  | downwards. Of course, you can dismiss this counter-argument as
  | unscientific and forget about it.
 
  | sammalloy wrote:
  | > no one is actually the Buddha
  | 
  | I'm an atheist, but I've studied this, and I think this is a
  | matter of major disagreement in the different schools.
  | 
  | In the west, more contemporary (and often secular) teachers
  | talk about how everyone is a potential Buddha.
  | 
  | There are also close parallels with the more hippie, Christian
  | schools that arose in the 1960s-1970s era (intentional
  | communities) which also taught (quietly I might add), that
  | everyone is a potential Christ.
  | 
  | While this might seem like a trivial point, we do see signs of
  | these teachings arising in the past, from century to century.
  | 
  | These ideas are generally criticized as heretical and repressed
  | because they threaten the hegemonic, institutional nature of
  | religion, which still maintains that the one true
  | interpretation is that there is a single figure (Christ,
  | Buddha, etc) that adherents should aspire to worship, and that
  | they can never equal or match.
  | 
  | The heretical version states the opposite. These adherents
  | believe that Christ and Buddha (assuming for the sake of this
  | argument that they are real, historical figures) did not teach
  | so that they could be worshipped, they taught so that others
  | could become like them.
  | 
  | When you see the religions in this way, then yes, everyone is
  | truly the potential Buddha and the potential Christ, and the
  | vast institutional power of the church disappears, and the
  | roles of priests and clerics vanishes with them.
  | 
  | This kind of change has the effect of emphasizing philosophy
  | over ideology, and places the onus of being a good person and
  | doing good works on the here and now, not on some mythical
  | afterlife or legendary heaven or hell.
 
    | courtf wrote:
    | That seems reasonable to me, emphasis on "potential."
    | 
    | Whether that potentiality can be realized here on earth, in
    | this life, is where I would start to quibble.
 
      | sammalloy wrote:
      | Yes, I am reminded of the differences between, let's say,
      | Joseph Goldstein, who non-dogmatically insists (hopefully
      | that's not too strong a word, but it was the impression
      | that I got from him) that one must conclude in the reality
      | of rebirth; whereas someone like Gil Fronsdal can't quite
      | be pinned down, but I have seen an essay by him (again, I
      | hope I'm not misinterpreting things) that suggests that the
      | concept of rebirth was invented by later Buddhists, which
      | would support the secular endeavor.
      | 
      | The best description of the doctrinal differences between
      | the Buddhist schools that I've ever heard expressed clearly
      | and with great humor was by Hyon Gak Sunim.
 
        | courtf wrote:
        | Thanks for these names! I will have to look into them.
        | 
        | Rebirth is a tricky one for me because it just seems too
        | fantastical, but then many things about our world and our
        | selves remain inexplicable, if not outright fantastical
        | themselves.
        | 
        | Rebirth also might not be a true continuation of our
        | individual consciousness, but a repackaging of sorts.
        | 
        | I try to square these ideas with the physical world we
        | inhabit, where our consciousness is very much affected by
        | the environment and the state of our bodies and minds. It
        | seems hard to believe in a soul (or anything ineffable
        | that is a part of us lasting beyond death) in the
        | traditional sense, when we are so malleable and our
        | experiences so subjective. A tweak to my brain chemistry
        | can drastically alter my behavior etc.
        | 
        | So if I still want to think about rebirth, I feel I must
        | conclude that whatever can survive death must be quite a
        | bit more abstract than the consciousness I am familiar
        | with.
 
    | pqs wrote:
    | As a Catholic, I believe that the imitation of Christ is an
    | obligation for every Christian. We should always aim to
    | imitate Christ. This is a very old idea. The 15h-century book
    | by Thomas a Kempis is an example:
    | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_of_Christ
 
    | empressplay wrote:
    | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mysticism
    | 
    | Historically, Christian mysticism has taught that for
    | Christians the major emphasis of mysticism concerns a
    | spiritual transformation of the egoic self, the following of
    | a path designed to produce more fully realized human persons,
    | "created in the Image and Likeness of God" and as such,
    | living in harmonious communion with God, the Church, the rest
    | of the world, and all creation, including oneself. For
    | Christians, this human potential is realized most perfectly
    | in Jesus, precisely because he is both God and human, and is
    | manifested in others through their association with him,
    | whether conscious, as in the case of Christian mystics, or
    | unconscious, with regard to spiritual persons who follow
    | other traditions, such as Gandhi. The Eastern Christian
    | tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of theosis
    | or divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient
    | aphorism usually attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria: "God
    | became human so that man might become god."[a]
 
    | dragonwriter wrote:
    | > The heretical version states the opposite. These adherents
    | believe that Christ and Buddha (assuming for the sake of this
    | argument that they are real, historical figures) did not
    | teach so that they could be worshipped, they taught so that
    | others could become like them.
    | 
    | That view is orthodox in mainstream Christianity (Catholic,
    | Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox), not
    | heretical; its a central part of the mainstream understanding
    | of the purpose of the incarnation; that Christ is, above all,
    | a _model_.
 
| sammalloy wrote:
| > Every Negative Emotion is Driven by an Unmet Need
| 
| > When you notice a negative emotion in someone, get curious
| about what that emotion might be -- and try to uncover the unmet
| need that accompanies it. 'Are you feeling X because you're
| needing Y?'.
| 
| I have a sense that this practice could change the world and make
| life better for everyone. I wonder what it would take for
| everyone to start doing it.
 
  | watwut wrote:
  | This is how abuse victims are often socialized and what they
  | do. The people who stay in abusive relationships/workplaces or
  | move from one abusive relationship to another. They assume
  | themselves responsible for other peoples emotions. If others
  | react negatively, they see it as their duty to adjust
  | everything to that.
  | 
  | And when they talk about abuse with people whobhave this
  | expectation, this expectation, they get blamed to not twist
  | themselves perfectly to abusers wishes.
  | 
  | This is noble and sometimes works. But other times you need to
  | set boundaries. You need to protect yourself even as abuser
  | feels bad about it.
 
  | TameAntelope wrote:
  | I just don't know what to do once I feel I've figured out their
  | unmet needs and it's something they shouldn't need...
 
    | sethammons wrote:
    | In non-violent communication, the needs (broadly) are:
    | connection, physical well being, honesty, play, peace,
    | autonomy, and meaning. Hard to argue against someone needing
    | those.
    | 
    | https://www.cnvc.org/training/resource/needs-inventory
 
      | TameAntelope wrote:
      | Autonomy for an employee who makes bad decisions when left
      | alone is hard to provide, for example.
 
  | BeetleB wrote:
  | > I wonder what it would take for everyone to start doing it.
  | 
  | Short answer: Critical mass
  | 
  | Long answer: Probably will never hit critical mass. This is
  | very hard to do on the fly and requires a lot of practice.
 
| qwerty456127 wrote:
| Not taking anything personally is not an art, it's a basic
| (although not necessarily easy for everyone to develop) skill
| essential for healthy functioning in today society. There are so
| many morons and unfortunate incidents and tendencies taking place
| around, almost everyone is doomed to be exposed to a lot of
| toxicity regularly so a habit of taking everything seriously
| almost should be considered a disorder itself. Just switch it
| off. Imagine you are just seeing it on TV in a fiction movie or
| whatever. Stop caring about things you can't change and believing
| misbehaving people to be personally bad, they are just
| malfunctioning. Some experience of working in tech support,
| customer care or sales helps a lot.
 
| drummer wrote:
| Interesting how the author avoided sex and intimacy in his "list
| of common universal needs".
 
  | Swenrekcah wrote:
  | The list is "common" not "comprehensive".
 
    | echlebek wrote:
    | The uncommon need for sex and intimacy?
 
      | panzagl wrote:
      | At work, yes.
 
        | echlebek wrote:
        | Fair enough!
 
      | EricE wrote:
      | In public or interacting with co workers? I would hope sex
      | would be uncommon in those situations!
 
  | stronglikedan wrote:
  | Neither is a _universal_ need. Plenty of single hermits are
  | perfectly happy hermitting alone.
 
    | pvarangot wrote:
    | Most of those I know of are very much not alone and rely on a
    | massively alive biome they kinda claim for themselves where
    | they are usually intimate with a ridiculous amount of animals
    | and plants. Intimacy doesn't imply that you have to do it
    | with another human, it's just a feeling of a barrier being
    | lowered for you that wouldn't be someone else. Petting a car
    | is intimacy. I'm not sure it's a universal need but I think
    | most scholars that study "mental health" from different
    | perspectives agree that for virtually all humans being
    | deprived of that leads to suffering.
 
  | mcguire wrote:
  | " _Here's a link of commonly unmet universal needs at work:_ "
  | 
  | 1. Commonly unmet.
  | 
  | 2. At work.
 
    | mensetmanusman wrote:
    | This reminds me of a conversation I overheard regarding
    | legality of sex work.
    | 
    | Apparently the individual was in favor of it, but when asked
    | about hybrid options, where a administrative assistant would
    | be available for office support and sex, they weren't quite
    | able to explain why that should be illegal.
 
      | Swenrekcah wrote:
      | Interesting thought. My reply would be that a similar
      | situation as with drugs, gambling and other vices applies.
      | 
      | That is, it can be allowed but in specific establishments
      | with clear rules and expectations.
      | 
      | Not that sex is exactly like the other vices, but the lust
      | variety kind of is.
 
        | mrkstu wrote:
        | There was a reason Mormon's tended to be hired by casinos
        | in Vegas- their exposure to the local vices (and hence
        | their corruptibility) was lower than average.
 
| whoomp12342 wrote:
| This article has a paywall. I will not take this personally and
| just not read it.
 
| ljm wrote:
| I scanned the page for 'empathy' and there was not a single
| mention of it.
| 
| 'Emotional generosity', the thing at the start of the article,
| doesn't count. I don't know where that language came from but it
| doesn't sound empathetic, it sounds transactional.
| 
| I don't really care for what else the author has to say, having
| understood that
 
  | ogre_magi wrote:
  | The entire article is about empathizing with others...
 
    | smackeyacky wrote:
    | Its more a guide for pandering to the narcicissts who infect
    | our lives and make us miserable.
    | 
    | If you find yourself having to perform these rituals in the
    | workspace, stop yourself.
    | 
    | When dealing with emotionally damaged people who never made
    | it to fully functional adult, speak to them in a monotone and
    | don't engage with the emotional manipulation they are
    | attempting. This will confuse them, then enrage them, then
    | finally they will admit defeat.
    | 
    | Do not pander to the emotionally manipulative person ever.
 
  | 58x14 wrote:
  | from article,
  | 
  | "10. Every Negative Emotion is Driven by an Unmet Need.
  | 
  | Here's a link of commonly unmet universal needs at work:"
  | 
  | and a graphic with empathy at the top of the center column.
  | 
  | Trivial, but entertaining for me to notice this.
 
  | exo-pla-net wrote:
  | This article about a forest doesn't mention the word "tree".
  | I'll be looking for lumber elsewhere, thank you very much.
 
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| I don't know if this is a mental hack or not, but I found years
| ago that if I mentally sing the comments (that I know would upset
| me otherwise), it totally removes the emotional impact of other
| people's negative writing.
| 
| When I was contemplating why this might be so effective, I was
| reminded that satire of old often involved singing to point out
| other peoples absurdity. When you think about how much the
| powerful fear humor and satire, there might be something there...
 
  | mkaic wrote:
  | Wow, I've never heard of this before, I'm 100% trying this next
  | time I'm in Twitter. Thanks for the tip!
 
  | bergerjac wrote:
  | When people try to insult me, sometimes instead of 'taking the
  | insult & emotion in' ("personally")... I purposely hallucinate
  | their words as text like closed captions.
 
  | DangitBobby wrote:
  | Singing and speech are different processes in the brain. It has
  | been observed that some people with a stutter can still sing
  | without any hint of a stutter. So I wonder if your trick is a
  | result of some sort of personality difference in left brain
  | versus right brain.
  | 
  | 1. https://www.stuttering.co.nz/news/why-dont-we-stutter-
  | when-w...
 
  | kubafu wrote:
  | This is exactly the kind of leverage I come to HN for, thanks!!
 
  | hammock wrote:
  | Love this. It reminds me of the whole "celebrities read mean
  | tweets about themselves on Jimmy Kimmel" thing. Taking a
  | comment out of context really blunts its power
 
| hnarn wrote:
| Nothing trains you to not take things personally like being put
| through the ringer of modern day online dating. Forcing myself to
| deal with rejection hasn't been a very pleasant experience, but
| I'm absolutely sure I've improved because of it. As soon as you
| can truly and honestly accept that in the vast majority of cases,
| you do not have the power to change people's perception or
| attraction to you, it's not only liberating: you also realize
| that effort is better placed where you have a decent chance of
| actually changing the outcome.
| 
| Once you understand and feel confident in what you have to offer
| other people, if they do not want it, what else is there to say?
| Nobody wants everything, and nobody can offer everything. A
| single human, or ten humans, is not representative of humanity.
| There's nothing to be sad about, it's just an interaction among
| millions, and you just need to find new interactions.
| 
| It's based in insecurity, the need to affirm our value through
| other people. This is of course fundamentally human and is
| practically impossible to get rid of, but you don't have to
| assign the same value to every single human you come across in
| your life. You don't like every human being in the world, so why
| would you expect every human being to like you?
 
  | mettamage wrote:
  | Back when I was dating (5 years ago) it was also a humbling
  | experience. It does seem to be the case that online dating is a
  | lot tougher.
  | 
  | Then again, I'm old fashioned.
 
    | hnarn wrote:
    | I'm sure they're both humbling, it's just that I believe the
    | massive difference in selection between men and women is
    | exacerbated by the online experience. There are benefits and
    | downsides to them both, I think.
 
  | Lio wrote:
  | > Nothing trains you to not take things personally like being
  | put through the ringer of modern day online dating.
  | 
  | Back in the day this was worse believe me. At least you're not
  | approaching a random stranger and their friends in a public
  | place and then getting shot down in front of all of them.
  | 
  | In online dating their is at least the chance that the person
  | you approach is looking for a relationship with someone. That
  | wasn't always the case back in the good ol' days.
  | 
  | The conclusions are the same though. It's not personal, even
  | when it is.
  | 
  | Your personal worth is not predicated on what others think of
  | you and weirdly once you know that you notice more people that
  | do value you.
 
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