Top all-time · #21487
Suket Karnawat
Personal blog · suketk.com · on HN as suketkphilosophycultureproductivity
Suket Karnawat's personal blog at suketk.com covers philosophy, culture and productivity. Since 2021, 3 different Hacker News readers have linked it 22 times, most often “I Quit Google”. The last post was in 2024, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked in one comment on a thread about a bootstrapped founder's sixth year. The commenter describes the author as a former Google employee who posts regular updates on his progress as a founder.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Follow me on my journey in developing the principles for an intentional life.
Most-linked posts?
- I Quit Google2 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2021-04-07
- Vipassana2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-07-11
What Hacker News says?
Cory Zue writes about similar topics, and I draw a lot of inspiration from him: https://www.coryzue.com/ Suket Karnawat also left Google to pursue a similar path, and he writes regular updates about his progress: https://suketk.com/
Comment linking /
on “My sixth year as a bootstrapped founder”Submitted Feeds Considered Harmful as a story · 31 points
HN discussionA fantastic blog post that dives into the same problem: https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google It inspired me to quit years later and write my own version: https://suketk.com/why-i-quit-google
Comment linking /why-i-quit-google
on “The Google incentive mismatch: Problems with promotion-oriented cultures”Submitted I Quit Google as a story · 8 points
HN discussionI highly recommend Vipassana [0]. It's similarly free from commercialism - there is no cost for teaching, lodging and food. At the end, you can pay if you found it beneficial and want to pay it forward. They also only accept contributions from people who have completed the program. Despite this policy, they've grown to 200+ centers across the world. I was so inspired [1] by it that I adopted a lot of their principle…
Comment linking /vipassana
on “Thich Nhat Hanh has died”Submitted Thought Space vs. Reality – Hypothesize Less, Validate More as a story · 6 points
HN discussionThe problem is absolutely scrolling (I call them feeds[0], but pedants don't love that.) Feeds encourage consumption over action, take you in unwanted directions and induce FOMO through overchoice. If you can eliminate them, these services magically become tools rather than escapes. [0] https://suketk.com/feeds-considered-harmful
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “Reasons to Quit Social Media”Submitted Why I Quit Google as a story · 2 points
HN discussionYes! I had this same realization recently, which led me to write about it because it was so striking. It's scary how quickly we can becomes engrossed in our perception as opposed to reality. https://suketk.com/thought-space-vs-reality
Comment linking /thought-space-vs-reality
on “We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus”Submitted Snapchat is the only true social media left as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI had the same experience [0]. The tunnel vision from work is so strong, that you forget about what's really important. Now, the office feels like a past life - I do not miss the commute, unnecessary meetings or facade of comradery. Ideally I don't have ever to go back to work, but even if I do the perspective shift has made sure I'll do it in a more balanced way next time. [0] https://suketk.com/why-i-quit-google
Comment linking /why-i-quit-google
on “As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'”Submitted Remember the Individual as a story · 1 points
HN discussionAnother way to distinguish them is reality vs perception. Making directly alters reality, but comments only alter perception - the underlying thing is unchanged. A good analogy is that comments are potential energy - they can help us more accurately understand the underlying thing for future revisions. To activate it and truly make things better in the real world though, you have to make. Funny timing, I just publis…
Comment linking /thought-space-vs-reality
on “Commenting vs. Making”Submitted Incentives as a story · 1 points
HN discussionExactly, algorithmic feeds as a whole are the problem. I wrote about this on my blog [0], but in a nutshell they slow you down, take you in unwanted directions and encourage consumption over action. [0] https://suketk.com/feeds-considered-harmful
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “Show HN: I built a self hosted recommendation feed to escape Google's algorithm”Submitted Vipassana as a story · 1 points
HN discussion> You are no longer used by social media, you start to use the tool. This is the key. Either you use technology intentionally or it uses you. You don't have to quit altogether, but it's important that you use it as a tool. I wrote about this from a different angle - in my view, the problem can be isolated to feeds[0]. They encourage consumption over action, take you in unwanted directions and induce FOMO through ove…
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “My life after quitting social media”Submitted Why I Quit Google as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI've tried Unhook and DF YouTube, but I replaced them both with Undistracted [0]. It's more versatile - it has better configuration, supports more sites (Reddit, Facebook, etc) and allows an arbitrary block list. The internet would be a better place with the ability to hide recommended feeds [1]. They can be useful sometimes, but mostly they're used to distract you from your goal. It's the digital equivalent of plac…
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations”Submitted Thought Space vs. Reality as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSocial media by itself isn't all bad - if used correctly, it's an amazing way to connect. The problem can be isolated to algorithmic feeds [0]. They encourage consumption over action, take you in unwanted directions and induce FOMO through overchoice and unrealistic standards. If you can eliminate them, these services magically become tools rather than escapes. [0] https://suketk.com/feeds-considered-harmful
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “The question we’ve stopped asking about teenagers and social media”Exactly! It's the digital equivalent of placing the milk at the back of the grocery store. It's meant to distract you from why you're there in the first place. If anyone is interested, I wrote about why feeds are bad and how you can reduce your dependence on them. https://suketk.com/feeds-considered-harmful
Comment linking /feeds-considered-harmful
on “Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom”