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We have a real societal disconnect and it's clear that we don't communicate enough with our elder generations. While some people are content to retire and stay

We have a real societal disconnect and it's clear that we don't communicate enough with our elder generations. While some people are content to retire and stay home in bed, not having something meaningful to do every day makes quite a lot of people absolutely miserable.

HWR_14 5y ago
But that's not the option open to the uber-rich. Look at Tom from MySpace. He took a ton of money and is on a permanent vacation. He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. Although I guess he cannot afford the biggest yachts in the world.
- lbriner 5y ago
  I guess it depends on your interests outside of work and if you have any. Some people work so hard, they have nothing outside of work that they fit-in with. Its a bit like people who retire and spend their retirement years watching TV. Imagine, instead, you enjoyed sports, blogging, travelling, exploring etc. you could easily do that if you were super rich and not bother with work again.
- xeromal 5y ago
  Not everyone is a Myspace Tom and more enjoyable is your take on Zuck's situation. I bet Zuckerberg either likes creating new things more, accumulating power, or just keeping his baby moving. I'm sure he enjoys what he's doing. Then you have pure engineers like Torvolds or Carmack that just like being in the trenches.
- jcelerier 5y ago
  > He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. heh, Tom's life (according to https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/2020111645793/tom-myspace-founder-travel-photographer/ https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/2020111645793/tom-myspa...) would have myself commit seppuku in three weeks. I can barely stand five days of "do nothing productive" vacations. Would definitely choose "testify in front of congress" instead.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    Well, he could be making art or doing something else if he wanted. And, in fact, he seems to be taking photography very seriously. Productive is not the same as monetarily rewarding. But, more importantly, I think most people who despise "do nothing productive" vacations are worried about falling behind. If you've already opted into permanent falling behind I wonder how that changes things.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    I wouldn't call being a travel photographer "doing nothing." After all, it's what some people do for a job. Personally, I'd probably get tired of it myself but he doesn't seem to be just laying around a beach all day. It doesn't seem fundamentally different from taking up sculpture or painting.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  > He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. There is no universal metric for enjoying life. Some people just like playing the game. My 99 year old grandpa was still managing his farm’s yields before he died even though he had no need to because why not. He actually bought it after he “retired”.
- awillen 5y ago
  He seems to? How do you judge that? I feel like most people who make statements like that really mean "if I were given the choice between the two lives, I would choose Tom's over Zuckerberg's." That doesn't tell you anything at all about who's enjoying their life more, since you're neither Tom nor Zuckerberg, and their goals/priorities/values are probably very different from yours.
randycupertino 5y ago
I've noticed how quickly I become depressed when I have nothing to do. It's sort of like the properties of a gas- my lethargy expands to fill the volume of space I have. When I was on a sabbatical between jobs instead of going to museums and art shows and exploring new hikes and doing other things I'd think I would enjoy I laid around and binge-watched The Wire and the West Wing. When I'm busy I actively block out time to do those activities and plan for them and look forward to them. It's a weird phenomena but I'd guess if I was wealthy enough not to have to work (which I'm not!) I would need to keep working anyways to keep some structure in my life and avoid depression.
- nightski 5y ago
  I must be weird because I have never been bored in my life, working or not. I always can think of countless things I'd like to do at any moment.
  - ttyprintk 5y ago
    This is not weird. I positively love being unemployed. All of the activities of the parent post are suddenly open, and I can contribute to my family, including traveling to see them. All of my personal projects reach milestones and benefit from real, professional attention. Those are things I can’t turn off, it’s just a question of how to subsidize them. Takes between one and ten million dollars earned and spent over a lifetime to do it.

HWR_14 5y ago

But that's not the option open to the uber-rich. Look at Tom from MySpace. He took a ton of money and is on a permanent vacation. He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. Although I guess he cannot afford the biggest yachts in the world.

lbriner 5y ago
I guess it depends on your interests outside of work and if you have any. Some people work so hard, they have nothing outside of work that they fit-in with. Its a bit like people who retire and spend their retirement years watching TV. Imagine, instead, you enjoyed sports, blogging, travelling, exploring etc. you could easily do that if you were super rich and not bother with work again.
xeromal 5y ago
Not everyone is a Myspace Tom and more enjoyable is your take on Zuck's situation. I bet Zuckerberg either likes creating new things more, accumulating power, or just keeping his baby moving. I'm sure he enjoys what he's doing. Then you have pure engineers like Torvolds or Carmack that just like being in the trenches.
jcelerier 5y ago
> He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. heh, Tom's life (according to https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/2020111645793/tom-myspace-founder-travel-photographer/ https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/2020111645793/tom-myspa...) would have myself commit seppuku in three weeks. I can barely stand five days of "do nothing productive" vacations. Would definitely choose "testify in front of congress" instead.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  Well, he could be making art or doing something else if he wanted. And, in fact, he seems to be taking photography very seriously. Productive is not the same as monetarily rewarding. But, more importantly, I think most people who despise "do nothing productive" vacations are worried about falling behind. If you've already opted into permanent falling behind I wonder how that changes things.
- ghaff 5y ago
  I wouldn't call being a travel photographer "doing nothing." After all, it's what some people do for a job. Personally, I'd probably get tired of it myself but he doesn't seem to be just laying around a beach all day. It doesn't seem fundamentally different from taking up sculpture or painting.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
> He certainly seems to have a more enjoyable life than Zuckerberg. There is no universal metric for enjoying life. Some people just like playing the game. My 99 year old grandpa was still managing his farm’s yields before he died even though he had no need to because why not. He actually bought it after he “retired”.
awillen 5y ago
He seems to? How do you judge that? I feel like most people who make statements like that really mean "if I were given the choice between the two lives, I would choose Tom's over Zuckerberg's." That doesn't tell you anything at all about who's enjoying their life more, since you're neither Tom nor Zuckerberg, and their goals/priorities/values are probably very different from yours.

randycupertino 5y ago

I've noticed how quickly I become depressed when I have nothing to do. It's sort of like the properties of a gas- my lethargy expands to fill the volume of space I have. When I was on a sabbatical between jobs instead of going to museums and art shows and exploring new hikes and doing other things I'd think I would enjoy I laid around and binge-watched The Wire and the West Wing. When I'm busy I actively block out time to do those activities and plan for them and look forward to them. It's a weird phenomena but I'd guess if I was wealthy enough not to have to work (which I'm not!) I would need to keep working anyways to keep some structure in my life and avoid depression.

nightski 5y ago
I must be weird because I have never been bored in my life, working or not. I always can think of countless things I'd like to do at any moment.
- ttyprintk 5y ago
  This is not weird. I positively love being unemployed. All of the activities of the parent post are suddenly open, and I can contribute to my family, including traveling to see them. All of my personal projects reach milestones and benefit from real, professional attention. Those are things I can’t turn off, it’s just a question of how to subsidize them. Takes between one and ten million dollars earned and spent over a lifetime to do it.