3 ms·

Not sure if I understand your question. Do you mean the mental issues part? If so, back then we all just thought the HR posting the job was retarded. If I saw

Not sure if I understand your question. Do you mean the mental issues part? If so, back then we all just thought the HR posting the job was retarded. If I saw something stupid, the person was stupid. It never hurt me. Nowadays the whole imposter syndrome is becoming a bigger issue. People are becoming more and more inadequate in their own skin. It’s all just getting offended by stuff seen, no matter how small. I grew up on, “Do they not like you? Fuck them. Move on.” Just saying that, I feel like a “back in my day” old man. And I’m only 31. Now kids are taking the most random things to heart. And it’s sad. Really is. And I don’t have a solution for that other than they’re to just ignore the garbage and plow on. Maybe one day I can figure that out. But as it sits, this over artificial world is poisoning from all directions. You know that movie Interns with the wow actor going to Google. The two older guys had to convince the kids that their lives haven’t even started yet, even though they thought it was going to end if they don’t get into Google? I use to think that movie was silly. But the tech industry is grooming kids to believe this. These ridiculous job interviews. Ridiculous expectations. Tight crunch times and shit hours. All to think they’re making the world a better place. But let’s face it. There’s no difference between big oil and big tech. They’re the same machine spitting out a different product. Maybe I’m just the last gen that sees it and shows up to meetings drunk.

geggam 8y ago
Just wondering why people think that being challenged is a terrible thing. Its almost like being mediocre is good and having some mental problem is better than good performance. Begs the question.. "What is society rewarding ? "
- dabockster 8y ago
  There's other ways to challenge oneself that doesn't involve the workplace or their day job.
  - geggam 8y ago
    Fair point. Will be interesting to watch the next couple generations.
  - corodra 8y ago
    You know what's funny, I don't think hobbies are an acceptable thing anymore. Seems like "hobbies" are demonized if they're not "productive". I even have to combat the random feelings that "I should be working" instead of just taking time off for me.
    - geggam 8y ago
      That is completely American and has been for a few generations.
    - dabockster 8y ago
      > I don't think hobbies are an acceptable thing anymore. That's just corporate America spewing their usual trash talk. Most people you'd meet on the street are totally fine with people having non-productive hobbies. Just as long as you're still able to make a 9-5 job, though. EDIT: What I'm trying to say is that people care that you have a day job. After that, any decent human being wouldn't care what you do with your free time. That's yours and yours alone.
      - corodra 8y ago
        Oh, no no no. I totally agree with you. My point was it's demonized and there's like a stigma to it. Like masturbating. I just always feel like whenever I talk to random new people about wood working, it's almost like I'm talking about masturbating to them with they way they act about it. Since it's not money producing. It's not like I give a shit. I had a supremely bad burn out years ago and different hobbies have kept me from ever going back to that burn out mental state. I think hobbies are a highly underrated form of keeping good, solid mental health.
        mdpopescu 8y ago
        This puritanism is becoming ridiculous. This was flagged because it talked of masturbation? Seriously?
- corodra 8y ago
  Maybe it's a coping mechanism for unrealistic expectations? I'm not saying 100%, but playing with that idea. If you grow up your whole life on stories of teens making millions and you're a loser if you don't. What else is there for you? I grew up that making bank like that was rare. Super rare. You work for it. Some way, some how. Through connections or through ideas. But it's not "normal". Thus, don't think it is. It does seem on social media and the filth, that being stupid rich is normal and you're a loser if you're not. I can understand that if you grow up seeing that, a majority of your developing life... yea... I'd probably have a mental breakdown too. What else is there? You think, well, your life is over. It's too late to "become rich" or important. In some respects, the hipster movement is a slightly interesting counter culture to that problem. Looking back to the old ways. I think they take it too far and are dumb about it sometimes. But, at this moment while writing this, I can respect it. What we have now is not normal. It's easy to deal with if you remember a day when no one had cell phones. You ran around outside doing dumbshit. No one cried if you called them an asshole, they just hit you in the mouth and the day was done. Hell, if I had a kid in school now, I'd be scared that they might call someone a boy or girl and end up on the news because of it. That's an irrational fear on my own right. But, yea, I seem to have it. I don't know. I don't feel like this is well thought out. It's just a weird thing that I understand that there is an inherent problem with people growing up nowadays and mental illness is a bad result of it. Exactly what, I don't know.
  - geggam 8y ago
    The ability of youthful indiscretions being forgotten is a thing of the past. I think that contributes to this issue. Imagine the entire Internet landing on you instead of just your classmates ?
- ergothus 8y ago
  There's a definite line between "being challenged" and "You suck". As far as I can tell, society is rewarding burning people out. The tech industry is actually MUCH better than most other industries. Check out assistant managers in most any franchise. We had an article on here(?) yesterday(?) about how everything in sales was "hustle" - even when it didn't need to be. Example after example. It's not new, but that doesn't mean it's not getting worse, and it doesn't mean we can't push back.
  - corodra 8y ago
    Yea, I read that article. That and the suffering fetish or whatever it's also called. It's all whack. It's funny how being an entrepreneur use to mean freedom from being a cog in a machine. Now it's turned into just being all the cogs in a machine. You ditch one slavery for another. Who's the guy who talks about a 4 hour work week? I mean, it seemed silly at first. But to be honest, I think he was the closest to getting it all correct. Work as efficient as possible so you don't have to work too much. Enjoy your life outside of work. Sounds like a goddamn madman lol. Enjoy life. Only work as much as you need to. Crazy person. There's a great podcast with Jocko, of him being candid about his own life and burn out/suicide attempt due to his Phd. What essentially started the whole 4-hour thingy. Tim Ferriss, that guy. Here's a link to that podcast. Worth a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsxydhFqXug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsxydhFqXug But as a caveat, there's nothing wrong with busting ass when you need to. There was a project I got contracted for on doing a surveillance trailer from scratch. I barely slept for 2 weeks getting parts, learning/welding, wiring and configuring a mobile surveillance system for stadiums. Got paid for the prototype and vacationed for a month, because I could. That last part is the important part. Nothing wrong with hustling or running your self into the ground, sometimes. Just not ALL the time.
- mdpopescu 8y ago
  Being mediocre is GREAT. I love being average. I'm a much better programmer than the plumber, but a much worse programmer than Skeet or Hejlsberg - and I'm very much fine with that. (On the other hand, I would argue that I could hold my own against DHH so who knows.)

geggam 8y ago

Just wondering why people think that being challenged is a terrible thing. Its almost like being mediocre is good and having some mental problem is better than good performance. Begs the question.. "What is society rewarding ? "

dabockster 8y ago
There's other ways to challenge oneself that doesn't involve the workplace or their day job.
- geggam 8y ago
  Fair point. Will be interesting to watch the next couple generations.
- corodra 8y ago
  You know what's funny, I don't think hobbies are an acceptable thing anymore. Seems like "hobbies" are demonized if they're not "productive". I even have to combat the random feelings that "I should be working" instead of just taking time off for me.
  - geggam 8y ago
    That is completely American and has been for a few generations.
  - dabockster 8y ago
    > I don't think hobbies are an acceptable thing anymore. That's just corporate America spewing their usual trash talk. Most people you'd meet on the street are totally fine with people having non-productive hobbies. Just as long as you're still able to make a 9-5 job, though. EDIT: What I'm trying to say is that people care that you have a day job. After that, any decent human being wouldn't care what you do with your free time. That's yours and yours alone.
    - corodra 8y ago
      Oh, no no no. I totally agree with you. My point was it's demonized and there's like a stigma to it. Like masturbating. I just always feel like whenever I talk to random new people about wood working, it's almost like I'm talking about masturbating to them with they way they act about it. Since it's not money producing. It's not like I give a shit. I had a supremely bad burn out years ago and different hobbies have kept me from ever going back to that burn out mental state. I think hobbies are a highly underrated form of keeping good, solid mental health.
      - mdpopescu 8y ago
        This puritanism is becoming ridiculous. This was flagged because it talked of masturbation? Seriously?
corodra 8y ago
Maybe it's a coping mechanism for unrealistic expectations? I'm not saying 100%, but playing with that idea. If you grow up your whole life on stories of teens making millions and you're a loser if you don't. What else is there for you? I grew up that making bank like that was rare. Super rare. You work for it. Some way, some how. Through connections or through ideas. But it's not "normal". Thus, don't think it is. It does seem on social media and the filth, that being stupid rich is normal and you're a loser if you're not. I can understand that if you grow up seeing that, a majority of your developing life... yea... I'd probably have a mental breakdown too. What else is there? You think, well, your life is over. It's too late to "become rich" or important. In some respects, the hipster movement is a slightly interesting counter culture to that problem. Looking back to the old ways. I think they take it too far and are dumb about it sometimes. But, at this moment while writing this, I can respect it. What we have now is not normal. It's easy to deal with if you remember a day when no one had cell phones. You ran around outside doing dumbshit. No one cried if you called them an asshole, they just hit you in the mouth and the day was done. Hell, if I had a kid in school now, I'd be scared that they might call someone a boy or girl and end up on the news because of it. That's an irrational fear on my own right. But, yea, I seem to have it. I don't know. I don't feel like this is well thought out. It's just a weird thing that I understand that there is an inherent problem with people growing up nowadays and mental illness is a bad result of it. Exactly what, I don't know.
- geggam 8y ago
  The ability of youthful indiscretions being forgotten is a thing of the past. I think that contributes to this issue. Imagine the entire Internet landing on you instead of just your classmates ?
ergothus 8y ago
There's a definite line between "being challenged" and "You suck". As far as I can tell, society is rewarding burning people out. The tech industry is actually MUCH better than most other industries. Check out assistant managers in most any franchise. We had an article on here(?) yesterday(?) about how everything in sales was "hustle" - even when it didn't need to be. Example after example. It's not new, but that doesn't mean it's not getting worse, and it doesn't mean we can't push back.
- corodra 8y ago
  Yea, I read that article. That and the suffering fetish or whatever it's also called. It's all whack. It's funny how being an entrepreneur use to mean freedom from being a cog in a machine. Now it's turned into just being all the cogs in a machine. You ditch one slavery for another. Who's the guy who talks about a 4 hour work week? I mean, it seemed silly at first. But to be honest, I think he was the closest to getting it all correct. Work as efficient as possible so you don't have to work too much. Enjoy your life outside of work. Sounds like a goddamn madman lol. Enjoy life. Only work as much as you need to. Crazy person. There's a great podcast with Jocko, of him being candid about his own life and burn out/suicide attempt due to his Phd. What essentially started the whole 4-hour thingy. Tim Ferriss, that guy. Here's a link to that podcast. Worth a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsxydhFqXug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsxydhFqXug But as a caveat, there's nothing wrong with busting ass when you need to. There was a project I got contracted for on doing a surveillance trailer from scratch. I barely slept for 2 weeks getting parts, learning/welding, wiring and configuring a mobile surveillance system for stadiums. Got paid for the prototype and vacationed for a month, because I could. That last part is the important part. Nothing wrong with hustling or running your self into the ground, sometimes. Just not ALL the time.
mdpopescu 8y ago
Being mediocre is GREAT. I love being average. I'm a much better programmer than the plumber, but a much worse programmer than Skeet or Hejlsberg - and I'm very much fine with that. (On the other hand, I would argue that I could hold my own against DHH so who knows.)