The post I linked to was purely about the camera and how a picture should be taken, not what a picture should be taken of.
True, but they have another one about the other thing.
I’m still not quite sure how we should give advice in general, not knowing what the other people are looking for.
Hmm. I’ve sometimes made a point of trading profile evaluations with people who know me well in person—the idea being “does this fit what you know of me?” This isn’t directly useful for our purposes, but I wonder if that’s actually a good criterion, and if so, what we can learn from it.
I suppose what that method checks for is for impressions we get from the way people write things which give a significantly different idea than they intend. Even little things like the same word repeated in nearby sentences can convey thoughlessness or inarticulacy. Or the combination of different profile pieces, written at different times, might suggest a strong emphasis on something which isn’t that important to the subject. What if we went through each others’ profiles, line by line, and verbosely described the impressions and implications we read from it? In other words, explicitly state the details we’re filling in between the lines. Might that be a productive form of profile critique between strangers?
What if we went through each others’ profiles, line by line, and verbosely described the impressions and implications we read from it? In other words, explicitly state the details we’re filling in between the lines. Might that be a productive form of profile critique between strangers?
Possibly. Extreme diplomacy needed though, you would have to be careful that your negative associations with specific traits didn’t leak too much into the language used. I’ll give it a go.
1) You give the impression you are mainly interested in game design (both in the what you are doing and message me if). Would you also like talking about the design of other non-game things?
2) Your profile doesn’t indicate an interest in the real world (MMO + guitar + books). Are you interested in societal problems and their solutions (or lack thereof)?
You give the impression you are mainly interested in game design
Thanks, that’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for—this should be more clearly on a back burner, since it’s not a primary thing. I was thinking of rewriting the “message me if” soon anyway, so that’ll probably go away.
Your profile doesn’t indicate an interest in the real world
This is a good example of your point about negative associations—using “real world” to mean “the big picture/humanity as a whole” instead of just, well, occurring outside of a virtual reality. So I read that as “you have no life,” which would offend me if I didn’t think it was a misunderstanding.
Are you interested in societal problems and their solutions (or lack thereof)?
Some of them. Some I find interesting problems in their own right, but in general I don’t spend cycles on things I don’t feel I have any power over. Which charity is most efficient is not really an issue you worry about when 10% of your income is still approximately $0 (and I’m not swimming in free time to donate, either). With luck, I might in some years be settled enough to have the luxury of addressing the big picture. In the meantime, it doesn’t seem productive to spin my wheels about it.
This is a good example of your point about negative associations—using “real world” to mean “the big picture/humanity as a whole” instead of just, well, occurring outside of a virtual reality. So I read that as “you have no life,” which would offend me if I didn’t think it was a misunderstanding.
Will try harder in the future :) I’m probably odd in thinking that parties/clubbing are much forms of escapism as computer games. Neither are bad inherently either, a little escapism is a fine thing.
Some of them. Some I find interesting problems in their own right, but in general I don’t spend cycles on things I don’t feel I have any power over.
Even if you don’t have power over them, knowing what is going on big picture wise can be useful: what education to pick (growth/shrinking industries), where to live (do you expect oil prices to go up significantly in the near future, if so then minimize commute time) etc .
If these things aren’t interesting to you and you wouldn’t want to have conversations about them, then it doesn’t matter.
I’m probably odd in thinking that parties/clubbing are much forms of escapism as computer games.
Yes and no. I see your point, but I think being social and developing those skills is healthy and productive. Some video games can also teach you skills that are broadly applicable, but I don’t know of many.
what education to pick (growth/shrinking industries)
I was so unwilling to acquire an education in something not personally important to me that I put off going to college for about six years, until I knew what it was I was interested enough in to choose as a specialty. So, while I can see why someone might choose an education based on industry, it’s not really for me.
where to live (do you expect oil prices to go up significantly in the near future, if so then minimize commute time)
I don’t have either a car or a driver’s license. This might conceivably change at some point, but I haven’t really needed them yet, and I don’t really expect to get into a position where I do any time soon.
Don’t get me wrong. I do read some current events, and when I get curious I’ll go study a bunch of history to put it into context. (A while ago I spent three days on Wikipedia reading about every major conflict in the middle east since Israel’s statehood, because I was sick of only having a general “there is conflict there” sense without understanding why.) But doing so is not a major part of my life.
True, but they have another one about the other thing.
Hmm. I’ve sometimes made a point of trading profile evaluations with people who know me well in person—the idea being “does this fit what you know of me?” This isn’t directly useful for our purposes, but I wonder if that’s actually a good criterion, and if so, what we can learn from it.
I suppose what that method checks for is for impressions we get from the way people write things which give a significantly different idea than they intend. Even little things like the same word repeated in nearby sentences can convey thoughlessness or inarticulacy. Or the combination of different profile pieces, written at different times, might suggest a strong emphasis on something which isn’t that important to the subject. What if we went through each others’ profiles, line by line, and verbosely described the impressions and implications we read from it? In other words, explicitly state the details we’re filling in between the lines. Might that be a productive form of profile critique between strangers?
That’s a really good idea.
Possibly. Extreme diplomacy needed though, you would have to be careful that your negative associations with specific traits didn’t leak too much into the language used. I’ll give it a go.
1) You give the impression you are mainly interested in game design (both in the what you are doing and message me if). Would you also like talking about the design of other non-game things?
2) Your profile doesn’t indicate an interest in the real world (MMO + guitar + books). Are you interested in societal problems and their solutions (or lack thereof)?
Thanks, that’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for—this should be more clearly on a back burner, since it’s not a primary thing. I was thinking of rewriting the “message me if” soon anyway, so that’ll probably go away.
This is a good example of your point about negative associations—using “real world” to mean “the big picture/humanity as a whole” instead of just, well, occurring outside of a virtual reality. So I read that as “you have no life,” which would offend me if I didn’t think it was a misunderstanding.
Some of them. Some I find interesting problems in their own right, but in general I don’t spend cycles on things I don’t feel I have any power over. Which charity is most efficient is not really an issue you worry about when 10% of your income is still approximately $0 (and I’m not swimming in free time to donate, either). With luck, I might in some years be settled enough to have the luxury of addressing the big picture. In the meantime, it doesn’t seem productive to spin my wheels about it.
Will try harder in the future :) I’m probably odd in thinking that parties/clubbing are much forms of escapism as computer games. Neither are bad inherently either, a little escapism is a fine thing.
Even if you don’t have power over them, knowing what is going on big picture wise can be useful: what education to pick (growth/shrinking industries), where to live (do you expect oil prices to go up significantly in the near future, if so then minimize commute time) etc .
If these things aren’t interesting to you and you wouldn’t want to have conversations about them, then it doesn’t matter.
Yes and no. I see your point, but I think being social and developing those skills is healthy and productive. Some video games can also teach you skills that are broadly applicable, but I don’t know of many.
I was so unwilling to acquire an education in something not personally important to me that I put off going to college for about six years, until I knew what it was I was interested enough in to choose as a specialty. So, while I can see why someone might choose an education based on industry, it’s not really for me.
I don’t have either a car or a driver’s license. This might conceivably change at some point, but I haven’t really needed them yet, and I don’t really expect to get into a position where I do any time soon.
Don’t get me wrong. I do read some current events, and when I get curious I’ll go study a bunch of history to put it into context. (A while ago I spent three days on Wikipedia reading about every major conflict in the middle east since Israel’s statehood, because I was sick of only having a general “there is conflict there” sense without understanding why.) But doing so is not a major part of my life.