Hoping that you too will read them.

Hacker News has just hosted a very interesting discussion about “What’s the most life-changing blog post you’ve ever read?". Since going through all of it would take some time, here I offer:

• the links to the nine posts that I found most worth sharing from the whole discussion
• what those posts have in common
• some quotes from the same posts, to encourage everybody to read them

What those nine posts have in common

Considering the western-centered, relatively geeky nature of Hacker News, I was a bit surprised to find many suggestions that may be loosely related to the mantra that

“Lying flat is good, Lying flat is wonderful, Lying flat is right, Lie down so you don’t fall,"

that is, to the so-called “lie flat” trend among China’s young

Some reasons why you should read those nine posts

As I said, the readership of Hacker News is far from being representative of human societies as a whole, or even of any single human society. And of course, I myself am biased, as any other human being. Still, I dare assume that this selection of literal quotes shows that all those nine posts could all be of very general interest, in any culture:

• a truly open minded attempt to consider the potential existensial risk of tech and the deep, big picture, philosophical implications of technological progress.
• don’t kill yourself at work. Money exists to be spent. your health is your most precious asset.
• eerily prescient about our current “everyone needs to have a take on everything” culture.
• eally interesting conversation about the nature of happiness.
• written before COVID-19, but the idea feels even fresher during this pandemic era
• drive home the point that the time you have with your loved ones, especially parents is very very limited
• in familial (parental) relationships, we spend most of our time with them early in life, and that we don’t get nearly as much time with them after graduation.
• this has changed my entire perception of what it means (or could possibly mean) to be happy

The nine posts

The quotes above are in random order, and without links to the respective sources. This is a deliberate choice of mine, to push everybody to read as many of those posts as possible. But enough explanation, here are my own favourite “nine posts that changed lives”:

• The Tail End
• On Time, Money and Health
• The Most Important Question of Your Life
• Michael Plant on how to live a happy life
• “Why the future doesn’t need us”
• “The Minority Rule”
• “What It’s Like to Be a Diagnosed Narcissist”
• On consuming and creating
• “Better”

Image source: Know your meme