I've just realised that, my childhood, up until I was like 20...

I've just realised that, my childhood, up until I was like 20, was wasted by distractions and video games and I basically wasted my own fucking time - then I look at literally anyone who's achieved anything ever, none of them started late, they had always been interested in their field and excelled at it.

Is there even any point? I want to be good at Computer Science but how can I bring something to the table when there's all these people who have been programming since 10, can I even compete?

I grew up in a shit neighbourhood and video games were just a way to escape my shit life, now that I'm at Uni studying Cs, I am getting lapped by these guys who are just so quick, so practised and efficient - people who have refined their skills over years. Is there even any point Veeky Forums ? I don't even feel like I belong here, and my Uni isn't even that good on the global level (St Andrews, Scotland)... but it's a facade isn't it really, nobody is going to be the next Bill Gates without their whole upbringing having put them in a favourable position so by the time they were whatever age they had the skills necessary to really succeed in their field

What I'm saying is, is why not just give up? I'll never be the best, I will never even get close

m8 most people with half a brain feel like that at some point

I say that as someone who's been programming since I was 12.

go whine somewhere else faggot
this isn't your personal blog space

How old are you now? You must be very old....
You're lazy. Unless you're going to die tomorrow, next week, month or year nothing is stopping you from becoming what you want. Just do it.

Stop complaining faggot. I was clinically depressed for 10 years. Didn't start my education before I was 24. Now I am 28 and starting grad school in pure math.

>trying to be everyone's favorite trained seal.

Stop jumping through hoops, make money it's all that matters.I remember I wanted to do bachelors then masters ten PhD at some top university but I realized that I didn't really want this I was just trying to look smart. Endless stress just for validation from others. So now I switched to something vocational at a no-name university and will make money right after my bachelors.

>My childhood was wasted by having a childhood

Self-pitying losers belong on

I feel like this from time to time... I haven't developed any useful skill during my 23 years alive and now it feels too late. I'm starting to get interested in programming and robotics and mathematics and feel so behind everyone around me. Same when it comes to instruments or sports, I did nothing when I was younger and now I believe I'll never catch up.

Everyone I look up to for their skills in something like programming or electronics has been doing this from their early teens or even earlier because they've got parents in the field.

Also nobody has heard of my Uni (NTNU) outside of Norway

But when I'm in a good mood I believe I can do it, OP. But that feeling usually doesnt last. Feels bad man

Time to enhance your mind with psychedelics, get on level playing ground

Everyone knows LSD is the shortcut to higher learning.
Why waste your time studying mathematics to be a physicist when you can just get blazed looking at the stars and be a much more sexy theoretical physicist!

Stop being faggots! Life is not some fucking tour or rollercoaster ride. Life is fucking struggle. It can be freaking glorious, delectable fight but only you can make it so. Don't ever whine "but they got it better they started earlier", yea they did. But if they did they can get identity crisis if parents, they can burn out, and you will just keep going forward. It's not even a race with other people, its your race with entropy and being faggot. DO IT.

With internet and if you lives in a socially advanced country, you can master any science in one year if you are studying REALLY every day, 20 hours on 24.

I spent ages trying to work for the validation of others. I ended up being a helicopter crewman for a job because in reality, I just wanted to fly.
I still have my math degree and am going to do some post grad soon but only for my own interest at my own pace.
Life is far more enjoyable and relaxed when you live it for your own happiness

>trying to avoid societal spooks
>fall for the biggest spook of all
I'm glad you guys don't venture into Veeky Forums

Started programming at 21, enrolled CS at 23. Now doing a PhD and I can code much better than a lot of the "natural born coders".

Still you should probably give up and just watch anime or something.

I started taking seriously my education once I hit 25. Wasted my time jumping from Uni to Uni and even did Philosophy for 1.5 years, now I'm focused on Comp. Engineering. It all depends on who you want to become OP, some people take years to find something they want to be good at/something they want to work on, some people never do.

But it's never too late if you want to change or if you want to pursue a career.

I would write more but I really need to take a dump and been awake for too long.

>install gentoo

>What I'm saying is, is why not just give up? I'll never be the best, I will never even get close
There is no best. By the time you find him/her there will be another best.
Also, bests struggle among the best with the problems the bests got. You struggle with the the problems and the guys that guys at middle level. There's no difference.
Plus over generations your son or his son or etc. can be among the best. Even if it's not in the same field, getting better and having a related lifestyle will improve both you and probably the path your childred have to take.

>up until I was like 20, was wasted by distractions and video games and I basically wasted my own fucking time
And now you're here...

Dude. Are you under 30? Then chill. You're more than likely going to live for hundreds of years and it only takes ten to get really good at something. You could excel in a dozen careers before you die.

>Everyone knows LSD is the shortcut to higher learning.
It's actually a great nootropic at low dosages.

It's not your fault user, you couldn't have known what you didn't know - how important it was to start early and vigorously develop vast skills.
However what you -can- do now, with this knowledge in tow, to make sure it's not wasted, is to have kids and guide them toward this path. Most people who wound up doing great things probably only did so because of such an influence.

>I'm glad you guys don't venture into Veeky Forums
After reading for a year I can't bear to listen to their shit

Thanks guys. Not OP btw

but who was sleep?

Tbqh it doesn't take much to be good at stuff. You can get ripped in a matter of months, get in good shape in a few weeks of as many pushups as you can do three times a day etc. Just do some good things every day and you're already ahead of everyone else.

Hugh Hefner lost his virginity at 22. Something to think about

>literally anyone who's achieved anything ever, none of them started late
Not true at all. Lots of people start doing the thing they get really good at in their 30s. Then biographers retroactively make it seem like whatever they did beforehand was all relevant, in order to fit a narrative.

Also, someone who is regarded as a polymath at age 12 is obviously going to have *more* accomplishments because of their head start, ceteris paribus, but there's no function that relates the value of your accomplishments to how long you've been a scientist or mathematician.

OP doesn't realize he's still handicapped by the same base personality flaws that probably made him play those videogames etc in the first place. You're using excuses, to tell yourself why you don't even need to try be anything better than what you are.

In the real world you don't compete with Einsteins, Newtons or Von Neumanns. You compete regular people - regardless of their talent, experience and motivation -, you know, the 99.99999% of the planet.

Even if you started studying say GR or QM at the age of fucking 4, you'd all but certainly still not possess the raw talent, opportunities, contacts and just plain dumb luck to ever compare to the top few scientists of the last century.

I was a KHV NEET until 27, at which point I went to school and started studying and developing myself with insane fervor. Now 10 years later I'm a Phil. Master with 6 years of hard, constant overtime work experience and objectively belong to the top group of data scientists in my country.

I know of a guitarist drug addict who got his shit together at 38, studied to a doctor and make a successful private practice with good renown.

Point being, the secret to success isn't excuses, which is what you're doing. It's mostly about above average IQ and hard fucking work, with the ability to cope with multiple failures. You don't need to compete with the top 0.000001%, because all you need to do is be better than the top 1-10%. And since most people have families, issues, and other causes for compromises, and are at average or below average intelligence, it's really not at all hard to get to that top 1-10% if you just work for it. So fix your attitude, and do something about it. Or don't. It's a choice either way, so take responsibility for your own decisions instead of whining about it.

OP I kind of feel your pain but you have to be confident that your younger days barely matter compared to yourself now if you work hard.

For example, MITs first term maths course has more content than the final two years of maths at a British school (so 1/8th of an MIT year is much greater than a 1/3 of two British school years). Do people suddenly become smarter at 18 or do they have more expectations?

Also most of what they learn is useless I.e. almost never used again. If you focus on actual goals rather than vague ideas of being an intellectual (in which case you'll be reading 9001 textbooks a thousand pages in length, each titled "Basic Introduction To [important field]" you'll get to where you want quickly.

This is bullshit. You might be able to learn a lot about a field in a year by reading review articles, but without actually practicing the science you will not be able to do shit. Your statement cheapens the years and decades of hard work scientists go through.

>

vocational work is wagecucking yes but at least you get good money as opposed to being a post doc.

Too bad so many people think /b/ is the only board, this was a useful thread

Not OP, I needed that tough love thanks nigga

Shitpost some more faggot

you miss 100% of the shots you don't take user

nothing says you have to be the next newton or einstein

you need to find what makes you happy and stick with it; regardless of how famous or 'smart' you are, because you'll realize those things mean nothing compared to the true happiness you get from a fulfilling hobby passion