Daniel Lemire's blog

, 3 min read

People who make you feel stupid…

4 thoughts on “People who make you feel stupid…”

  1. Dominic Amann says:

    Interesting – it would explain why I keep many of my ideas “under my hat”, to develop them (or not) in relative secrecy. Sadly, I only trust a small circle of people to not simply be negative.

    The bad part is that the ideas will lack some of the necessary critical analysis that arguing their merits would lend them.

  2. @Dominic Amann

    Yes, it explains why someone like myself, who posts everything freely online… is secretive about what he works on.

    Hardly anyone knows what keeps me busy at any given time. I work privately. And only when it is completed do I publish my work.

    This even applies to open source software. I tend to develop in secret first.

    This protects myself from the psychological damage someone could do by trying to convince me that the work is not worth doing.

    As you know, morale is very important to get anything done. The last thing you want is people working to discourage you.

    This being said, once the work is done, I have a thick skin. I am absolutely willing to take on criticism…

  3. Ram says:

    Yes, the self-esteem or the sense of self is the core reason why we do what we do as well. If we find something interesting, it probably has to do with autonomy, mastery or purpose. By purpose, it means that it might be a huge truth with wide applicability. That means it is of a greater impact to the world. If that sense of self is reduced, then it has high chances of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  4. Jo Williams says:

    This is very insightful.

    Thank you