2 ms·

This comment resonated with me so viscerally that I've been struggling to comment for almost an hour now. I dunno if you are projecting but it's a bad hot take.

by lbotos 5y ago

This comment resonated with me so viscerally that I've been struggling to comment for almost an hour now. I dunno if you are projecting but it's a bad hot take. I'm on track to be able to retire early. To be able to do that, it requires a deep personal understanding of what I want. Sure, there are SV engineers who could retire early and do it only to flounder because they haven't answered those questions, but I'm also sure there are many many people who learn very quickly that the question of what do I want is the only one that needs to be answered. personal curiosity: are you <35 or >35? I've been curious as I drafted this.

brailsafe 5y ago
I'm <35, but not by that much, and don't think my comment is all that hot of a take either, but given the amount of people who were inspired to comment, maybe it is. The question of what do I want is probably one of the looming questions on anyone's mind who hasn't figured that out by 25, regardless of whether they're an engineer or not. I guess I'm half projecting, and half not. I didn't intend it to be some savage take down of capitalist pigs, but after trying to reflect on the question of "what do I want" for years, the answer is decisively not to try and earn so much money by the time I'm 35-45 that I can retire, because it would cost me a lot of personal value that I've learned is a greater value than surplus cash. Perhaps there's also a difference between how someone reads this who's making doctor money, and who's making less than doctor money. One requires a bit of frugality, one requires literally being some sort of miser, and in my impression that's not an admirable quality. The other aspect of how I'm projecting, because you're curious, would perhaps similarly be because I've reflected on having carried myself in the way that I feel someone would need to in order to accomplish this, and don't think it would be in their best interest because I don't feel like it was in mine. I've met enough people who haven't done this, who actually do approximate the description of someone for who hasn't developed any hobbies, and who otherwise relentlessly prioritize their career, and it does leave me genuinely a bit baffled, as my somewhat off-handed initial comment would hopefully suggest. That said, I also feel like many people who find themselves on the track to retire early, haven't ever really had to contend with whether there's anything different they'd do. They've never been fired, they've never really been out of work, or maybe they've never had to re-consider whether they're company or their money will be there for them when they stop being able to get up in the morning and bang out some code. Or maybe they have had to contend with this, and that's exactly what causes this drive. Who knows, but I have thought about this, and asked myself the meme question of whether or not my plan is good if it's brought me to complete burnout with no meaningful connections.
- brailsafe 5y ago
  I guess a much better summation of this idea is the stereotypical mid-life crisis.

by lbotos 5y ago

brailsafe 5y ago

I'm <35, but not by that much, and don't think my comment is all that hot of a take either, but given the amount of people who were inspired to comment, maybe it is. The question of what do I want is probably one of the looming questions on anyone's mind who hasn't figured that out by 25, regardless of whether they're an engineer or not. I guess I'm half projecting, and half not. I didn't intend it to be some savage take down of capitalist pigs, but after trying to reflect on the question of "what do I want" for years, the answer is decisively not to try and earn so much money by the time I'm 35-45 that I can retire, because it would cost me a lot of personal value that I've learned is a greater value than surplus cash. Perhaps there's also a difference between how someone reads this who's making doctor money, and who's making less than doctor money. One requires a bit of frugality, one requires literally being some sort of miser, and in my impression that's not an admirable quality. The other aspect of how I'm projecting, because you're curious, would perhaps similarly be because I've reflected on having carried myself in the way that I feel someone would need to in order to accomplish this, and don't think it would be in their best interest because I don't feel like it was in mine. I've met enough people who haven't done this, who actually do approximate the description of someone for who hasn't developed any hobbies, and who otherwise relentlessly prioritize their career, and it does leave me genuinely a bit baffled, as my somewhat off-handed initial comment would hopefully suggest. That said, I also feel like many people who find themselves on the track to retire early, haven't ever really had to contend with whether there's anything different they'd do. They've never been fired, they've never really been out of work, or maybe they've never had to re-consider whether they're company or their money will be there for them when they stop being able to get up in the morning and bang out some code. Or maybe they have had to contend with this, and that's exactly what causes this drive. Who knows, but I have thought about this, and asked myself the meme question of whether or not my plan is good if it's brought me to complete burnout with no meaningful connections.

brailsafe 5y ago
I guess a much better summation of this idea is the stereotypical mid-life crisis.