12 ms·

Turns out we are also over analyzing things to death... Maybe some tech people are over optimizing, but 99% of people in the real world do not. This article r

Turns out we are also over analyzing things to death... Maybe some tech people are over optimizing, but 99% of people in the real world do not. This article reminds me of some friends in tech who sit down and over analyze shit and never get anything done.

rantwasp 6y ago
while i agree with you that we are overanalyzing things and are "optimizing" things that are not worth optimizing I believe the bigger point still stands: a collective strategy that would yield better results for everyone is not selected. instead a sub-optimal strategy is selected that attempts to maximize the outcome without relying on what others do. I would also go ahead and say that the "tragedy of the commons" is an even better way of looking at this (i think that's basically a N-player prisoner's dilemma)
vermilingua 6y ago
Virtually the entire point of middle management, in any industry, across the world, is to over optimise. It also isn’t about who is doing the optimising, in the real world, but who is affected by it. Your 99% figure is a little off.
- twblalock 6y ago
  The real point of middle management is to reduce the number of direct reports for upper management.
6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago
It’s not a conscious optimization. It’s just having to compete with others. Same as needing a college degree for so many jobs, not because it’s going to teach you what you need, but because enough of the other applicants have one and it’s a tiny tiny signal. Imagine a world where you can get enough pay to eat and go out and pay rent in four hours of work per week. Your landlord can rent to you or to the person who decides to work eight hours per week, so he raises the rent and rents to the other guy who is willing to work more and needs housing as much as you do. So now you have to work more too. Everyone works more because everyone else works more, just like you have to not cooperate on a prisoners dilemma because you know the other guy won’t cooperate either (because he knows the same thing you do).
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  It's not that clear cut though, because as rents rise up, people are incentivized to build new, smaller homes. (Until we ran out of space, but we're very far from this happening.)
knuthsat 6y ago
Yep, work in a bank is really stress free, especially in Europe. No one does anything, the hierarchical structure is so meaningless hundreds do nothing at all. People get stressed out when they are expected to work a little. Everyone is chatting on meetings about which button is the best. Yep, it’s a career suicide and leaves you with no future prospects but it’s pretty stable. Some play the politics to get higher paychecks, some squeeze the newcomers that actually do the work but things stabilize pretty quickly.
- danielscrubs 6y ago
  This is false in the Nordics. Of my friends in finance 100% are working overtime on weekends as we speak. Banks are a heavily competitive field, try governments and unions instead. Which country and which kind of work? I might relocate when I get older so it’s good to know... ;)
  - knuthsat 6y ago
    Working overtime is a madman's choice. It's possible to work overtime but it's completely irrelevant. It's done mostly for politics. For example, you have small chances of a raise or a promotion if your overtime hours are small. Collecting overtime gives opportunity for under-performers to make progress in the company. I've been to more than 5 banks in Croatia and Austria (Most of the banks in Croatia are subsidiaries of Italian and Austrian banks). The contracts make overtime mandatory but one can negotiate to remove overtime completely. Most people that tell their wives and friends that they work overtime either do not work during the overtime hours, are unnecessarily inefficient for the purpose of collecting hours (unpaid) or have periods of struggle because most of the time they do not work and have no idea what's going on (so when they have to catch up, the stress and the lack of knowledge forces overtime). Some cases I encountered of people who complain about working too much in a bank are those that prefer the company of their coworkers more than that of their spouses.
    - danielscrubs 6y ago
      Occams razor, it’s just a very competitive field with salaries that reflect it. Heavy responsibility and slinging Petabytes of data. PhDs, suits and fpga developers in the same room. Insanely great mix in my humble opinion. I hope you find an area that you like.

rantwasp 6y ago

while i agree with you that we are overanalyzing things and are "optimizing" things that are not worth optimizing I believe the bigger point still stands: a collective strategy that would yield better results for everyone is not selected. instead a sub-optimal strategy is selected that attempts to maximize the outcome without relying on what others do. I would also go ahead and say that the "tragedy of the commons" is an even better way of looking at this (i think that's basically a N-player prisoner's dilemma)

vermilingua 6y ago

Virtually the entire point of middle management, in any industry, across the world, is to over optimise. It also isn’t about who is doing the optimising, in the real world, but who is affected by it. Your 99% figure is a little off.

twblalock 6y ago
The real point of middle management is to reduce the number of direct reports for upper management.

6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago

It’s not a conscious optimization. It’s just having to compete with others. Same as needing a college degree for so many jobs, not because it’s going to teach you what you need, but because enough of the other applicants have one and it’s a tiny tiny signal. Imagine a world where you can get enough pay to eat and go out and pay rent in four hours of work per week. Your landlord can rent to you or to the person who decides to work eight hours per week, so he raises the rent and rents to the other guy who is willing to work more and needs housing as much as you do. So now you have to work more too. Everyone works more because everyone else works more, just like you have to not cooperate on a prisoners dilemma because you know the other guy won’t cooperate either (because he knows the same thing you do).

BlueTemplar 6y ago
It's not that clear cut though, because as rents rise up, people are incentivized to build new, smaller homes. (Until we ran out of space, but we're very far from this happening.)

knuthsat 6y ago

Yep, work in a bank is really stress free, especially in Europe. No one does anything, the hierarchical structure is so meaningless hundreds do nothing at all. People get stressed out when they are expected to work a little. Everyone is chatting on meetings about which button is the best. Yep, it’s a career suicide and leaves you with no future prospects but it’s pretty stable. Some play the politics to get higher paychecks, some squeeze the newcomers that actually do the work but things stabilize pretty quickly.

danielscrubs 6y ago
This is false in the Nordics. Of my friends in finance 100% are working overtime on weekends as we speak. Banks are a heavily competitive field, try governments and unions instead. Which country and which kind of work? I might relocate when I get older so it’s good to know... ;)
- knuthsat 6y ago
  Working overtime is a madman's choice. It's possible to work overtime but it's completely irrelevant. It's done mostly for politics. For example, you have small chances of a raise or a promotion if your overtime hours are small. Collecting overtime gives opportunity for under-performers to make progress in the company. I've been to more than 5 banks in Croatia and Austria (Most of the banks in Croatia are subsidiaries of Italian and Austrian banks). The contracts make overtime mandatory but one can negotiate to remove overtime completely. Most people that tell their wives and friends that they work overtime either do not work during the overtime hours, are unnecessarily inefficient for the purpose of collecting hours (unpaid) or have periods of struggle because most of the time they do not work and have no idea what's going on (so when they have to catch up, the stress and the lack of knowledge forces overtime). Some cases I encountered of people who complain about working too much in a bank are those that prefer the company of their coworkers more than that of their spouses.
  - danielscrubs 6y ago
    Occams razor, it’s just a very competitive field with salaries that reflect it. Heavy responsibility and slinging Petabytes of data. PhDs, suits and fpga developers in the same room. Insanely great mix in my humble opinion. I hope you find an area that you like.