4 ms·

Someone from our office just died over the weekend, we all found out about an hour ago. They were the type of person that essentially spent their waking hours w

Someone from our office just died over the weekend, we all found out about an hour ago. They were the type of person that essentially spent their waking hours working for this company. Crack of dawn up, and last to leave, working after hours, and on weekends. I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You're only here once.

heyyou123 9y ago
I get what you're saying, but in the article the guy is working towards a life goal - to work for himself, not for someone else.
- overcast 9y ago
  Sure, but my statement stands. Life is about balance.
  - logical42 9y ago
    For you maybe. Probably not for Elon Musk.
    - overcast 9y ago
      There are only a few people per century at the level of Elon Musk. This isn't the same discussion.
      - kwoff 9y ago
        [citation needed] There are, of course, many people "at the level" of Elon Musk. (I don't mean that flippantly, either.)
        overcast 9y ago
        Sounds like you have that citation already on hand. Give me that list of many people doing the equivalent of sending people to Mars, changing the auto industry, and building an alternative energy empire.
        zimpenfish 9y ago
        > doing the equivalent of sending people to Mars Musk isn't doing that. He likes to talk about it but there are many decades of work before it becomes viable (if it ever does.)
- blablabla123 9y ago
  I co-founded a startup with 2 other people and really regret that I didn't quit before the thing kind of imploded after 2 years. I was one of the worst experiences in my life and at the beginning I thought like this guy: oh yeah, life is not tough enough, it needs to get harder so it's challenging and I get somewhere. I wish I had failed fast and left this horrible experience after 3 months.
  - wiz21c 9y ago
    I'd love to hear more people like you (and me :-) ) Honesty about failures (whatever the reason) lacks so much down here and is so reassuring (when the "whatever" reason is outside oneself)...
hungerstrike 9y ago
> Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. Maybe, maybe not. That's your opinion because the only source of truth here is your own feelings. > You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You can be whatever you want and if you're fine with that, then great. Everybody is different. Average people/workers/earners obviously think and behave differently than those who are above average. > You're only here once. ...as far as you know.
- overcast 9y ago
  No, that's a fact. No one on their death bed has wished they worked more. They wished they spent more time with family/friends/traveling/vacations/reading/sports/whatever. Working until you died is what slaves did.
  - jdbernard 9y ago
    Eh, you can't claim factually that this is true: > No one on their death bed has wished they worked more. Unless maybe you've personally interviewed everyone who has ever been on their death bed? I mean, if we're going to talk about things at a factual level... The constructive point I'm trying to make is that this is shared cultural wisdom, not fact. I agree with it, actually, but we should not so quickly dismiss the alternative. I can see the appeal of living a life of singular purpose, especially if you are successful in leaving your mark on the world.
  - Mz 9y ago
    I'm not on my death bed, but I wish to hell and back I could work more. I'm sick to death of being poor. I'm broke today. I hate it so fucking much. Half of that equation is that I have health issues, so sometimes I am just too sick to work. The other half seems to be that I am a woman, so good luck getting taken seriously. I spend a lot of my time wishing I were dead because being unable to get enough work is such a shitastic experience. So, you know, speak for yourself. The feminization of poverty is real. Working to benefit other people without getting paid for it is the actual definition of what slaves do. It also nicely sums up what traditional women's work is all about, which most women still do the lion's share of.
dbdr 9y ago
>> No matter what you do, it’s time to stop watching Netflix every night and browsing webshops for the newest clothes. > I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. The might feel better about the work they did than the time spent on netflix or buying clothes. Or the other way around. Or wish they put more time and energy elsewhere entirely. Everyone -- me included -- would probably benefit from thinking hard about such questions and adjusting their life accordingly if needed.
swyx 9y ago
I'm sorry for your loss.
module0000 9y ago
>> I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You're only here once. Not everyone believes they are only here once, just to be devils advocate. Some of them believe they are commanded to "be joyful workers", or some paraphrase there of. There are a lot of people that work themselves to death, because they believe a divine entity commanded them to do so. Logical reasoning may be less than effective with this group of humans.
- jdbernard 9y ago
  > Logical reasoning may be less than effective with this group of humans. Not sure the implied condescension is justified here. Some of history's great thinkers held that position. Different axioms lead logically to different conclusions. Dismissing differing views categorically as "illogical" isn't productive. Just to be devil's advocate.
  - loa_in_ 9y ago
    In fact, once you assume you're incapable of having a coherent absolute viewpoint because you're a unit in a greater whole with an independent viewpoint of it's own and your infering abilities are limited by time and/or energy you essentially have to pick your own axioms and therefore you're certain you will arrive at different conclusions than someone else.
conradfr 9y ago
I guess young people in startups don't have the opportunity to watch many exceptional and truly irreplaceable colleagues retiring ... and being completely forgotten the next week. Even Apple sells more iPhone with Jobs gone.

heyyou123 9y ago

I get what you're saying, but in the article the guy is working towards a life goal - to work for himself, not for someone else.

overcast 9y ago
Sure, but my statement stands. Life is about balance.
- logical42 9y ago
  For you maybe. Probably not for Elon Musk.
  - overcast 9y ago
    There are only a few people per century at the level of Elon Musk. This isn't the same discussion.
    - kwoff 9y ago
      [citation needed] There are, of course, many people "at the level" of Elon Musk. (I don't mean that flippantly, either.)
      - overcast 9y ago
        Sounds like you have that citation already on hand. Give me that list of many people doing the equivalent of sending people to Mars, changing the auto industry, and building an alternative energy empire.
        zimpenfish 9y ago
        > doing the equivalent of sending people to Mars Musk isn't doing that. He likes to talk about it but there are many decades of work before it becomes viable (if it ever does.)
blablabla123 9y ago
I co-founded a startup with 2 other people and really regret that I didn't quit before the thing kind of imploded after 2 years. I was one of the worst experiences in my life and at the beginning I thought like this guy: oh yeah, life is not tough enough, it needs to get harder so it's challenging and I get somewhere. I wish I had failed fast and left this horrible experience after 3 months.
- wiz21c 9y ago
  I'd love to hear more people like you (and me :-) ) Honesty about failures (whatever the reason) lacks so much down here and is so reassuring (when the "whatever" reason is outside oneself)...

hungerstrike 9y ago

> Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. Maybe, maybe not. That's your opinion because the only source of truth here is your own feelings. > You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You can be whatever you want and if you're fine with that, then great. Everybody is different. Average people/workers/earners obviously think and behave differently than those who are above average. > You're only here once. ...as far as you know.

overcast 9y ago
No, that's a fact. No one on their death bed has wished they worked more. They wished they spent more time with family/friends/traveling/vacations/reading/sports/whatever. Working until you died is what slaves did.
- jdbernard 9y ago
  Eh, you can't claim factually that this is true: > No one on their death bed has wished they worked more. Unless maybe you've personally interviewed everyone who has ever been on their death bed? I mean, if we're going to talk about things at a factual level... The constructive point I'm trying to make is that this is shared cultural wisdom, not fact. I agree with it, actually, but we should not so quickly dismiss the alternative. I can see the appeal of living a life of singular purpose, especially if you are successful in leaving your mark on the world.
- Mz 9y ago
  I'm not on my death bed, but I wish to hell and back I could work more. I'm sick to death of being poor. I'm broke today. I hate it so fucking much. Half of that equation is that I have health issues, so sometimes I am just too sick to work. The other half seems to be that I am a woman, so good luck getting taken seriously. I spend a lot of my time wishing I were dead because being unable to get enough work is such a shitastic experience. So, you know, speak for yourself. The feminization of poverty is real. Working to benefit other people without getting paid for it is the actual definition of what slaves do. It also nicely sums up what traditional women's work is all about, which most women still do the lion's share of.

dbdr 9y ago

>> No matter what you do, it’s time to stop watching Netflix every night and browsing webshops for the newest clothes. > I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. The might feel better about the work they did than the time spent on netflix or buying clothes. Or the other way around. Or wish they put more time and energy elsewhere entirely. Everyone -- me included -- would probably benefit from thinking hard about such questions and adjusting their life accordingly if needed.

swyx 9y ago

I'm sorry for your loss.

module0000 9y ago

>> I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You're only here once. Not everyone believes they are only here once, just to be devils advocate. Some of them believe they are commanded to "be joyful workers", or some paraphrase there of. There are a lot of people that work themselves to death, because they believe a divine entity commanded them to do so. Logical reasoning may be less than effective with this group of humans.

jdbernard 9y ago
> Logical reasoning may be less than effective with this group of humans. Not sure the implied condescension is justified here. Some of history's great thinkers held that position. Different axioms lead logically to different conclusions. Dismissing differing views categorically as "illogical" isn't productive. Just to be devil's advocate.
- loa_in_ 9y ago
  In fact, once you assume you're incapable of having a coherent absolute viewpoint because you're a unit in a greater whole with an independent viewpoint of it's own and your infering abilities are limited by time and/or energy you essentially have to pick your own axioms and therefore you're certain you will arrive at different conclusions than someone else.

conradfr 9y ago

I guess young people in startups don't have the opportunity to watch many exceptional and truly irreplaceable colleagues retiring ... and being completely forgotten the next week. Even Apple sells more iPhone with Jobs gone.