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It's interesting to note which social science papers hacker news decides to treat with reverence vs skepticism. It's not a coincidence that a website which tre

It's interesting to note which social science papers hacker news decides to treat with reverence vs skepticism. It's not a coincidence that a website which treats economic success as the apex cultural trait would cling to a study that validates their own feelings. The startup narrative is a nasty one. If you don't see the economic results you expected it's easy to look outward and try to rationalize why video game playing losers seem to be content or indifferent while you struggle to solve the Big Problems only to be met with mediocre success. The lack of introspection and wholesale othering that leads to completely subjective statements such as: people who play video games are "not accomplishing anything with their time" and they "will have little to show for their time when their older" - are worse than depressing, they're the seeds of resentment, anger and aggression. Ironically it's this irrational hatred that's a social illness worthy of study.

merpnderp 9y ago
I think you missed your mark by some ways. There's a mountain of options in between toiling away 80 hours a week on a startup and living in your parent's basement playing video games. Economic success is the measure of how people are able to provide for themselves and those they care about. Families cost money, houses cost money, living costs money. Someone has to provide the things people consume to live, and they don't want to be slaves to a basement dwelling slacker. If they want to do anything with their lives, and we all do if we want to have good mental health, they'll find a career, be it in startups or working their way up at the local supermarket.
- verylittlemeat 9y ago
  The startup is a representation of social virtue, not just working but doing it independently and in service of personal goals. It's something people on this site deeply value. Work for people here is who you are. They don't get that's not true for everyone else. Worse than that, they want to pretend that's not true and prescribe a solution. In regards to the rest of your comment: Do these economic dropouts want families? Do they want houses? What exactly are their lifestyle expectations and why exactly are they wrong? The projection of deeply personal values not just in your comment but in this thread are breathtaking. The inability to see that just because you want something must mean that that's true for other human beings is disturbingly common here. Why are people so concerned and threatened by people they consider to be losers? That's not a rhetorical question. Are you afraid these people are going to ruin your lifestyle by doing.....nothing? If they're happy and they have close to zero impact on your life why exactly are they scapegoats for so much wrong in the world? And before you say "well they're not happy", many of the examples of unhappy "basement dwellers" in this thread are described as people close to suicidal because they want to live one way but society says their expectations should be another. It's all such a big mess and I really feel for these kids calling into suicide hotlines over thinking they're failures by some bullshit external standard.

merpnderp 9y ago

I think you missed your mark by some ways. There's a mountain of options in between toiling away 80 hours a week on a startup and living in your parent's basement playing video games. Economic success is the measure of how people are able to provide for themselves and those they care about. Families cost money, houses cost money, living costs money. Someone has to provide the things people consume to live, and they don't want to be slaves to a basement dwelling slacker. If they want to do anything with their lives, and we all do if we want to have good mental health, they'll find a career, be it in startups or working their way up at the local supermarket.

verylittlemeat 9y ago
The startup is a representation of social virtue, not just working but doing it independently and in service of personal goals. It's something people on this site deeply value. Work for people here is who you are. They don't get that's not true for everyone else. Worse than that, they want to pretend that's not true and prescribe a solution. In regards to the rest of your comment: Do these economic dropouts want families? Do they want houses? What exactly are their lifestyle expectations and why exactly are they wrong? The projection of deeply personal values not just in your comment but in this thread are breathtaking. The inability to see that just because you want something must mean that that's true for other human beings is disturbingly common here. Why are people so concerned and threatened by people they consider to be losers? That's not a rhetorical question. Are you afraid these people are going to ruin your lifestyle by doing.....nothing? If they're happy and they have close to zero impact on your life why exactly are they scapegoats for so much wrong in the world? And before you say "well they're not happy", many of the examples of unhappy "basement dwellers" in this thread are described as people close to suicidal because they want to live one way but society says their expectations should be another. It's all such a big mess and I really feel for these kids calling into suicide hotlines over thinking they're failures by some bullshit external standard.