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Ask HN: Does your job matter and is your company a net positive for the world?

8 points by ethanwillis 5y ago

randomopining 5y ago
Neither. I just do it to make money and live.
johncoltrane 5y ago
I don't care about either.
- ethanwillis 5y ago
  I mean, I don't care if you care or not. It's not the question I'm asking. Is the answer you don't know because you don't care. Or do you know and you also don't care to answer the question?
  - johncoltrane 5y ago
    I work for the paycheck and I don't care if my job makes the world a better place or not.
Gortal278 5y ago
Nope, it neither matters or is a net positive outside perhaps of a group of very loyal customers. I do it because it pays really really well.
epirogov 5y ago
provides 4M document free convresions every month for development countries.
arkano 5y ago
My job used to be about developing ML models for diagnostics (not vision, but other modalities). It mattered to me, it was fun and informative, and aspects of that company were a net positive. Current job is about research in ML in general and no, I don't think it would matter a lot in the long term, but it's interesting and may turn out to be positive.
_benj 5y ago
While I don’t wanna comment about my job, I think that this question ignores the fact that an individual having a job as opposed to having to depend on other or on welfare is IMHO a net positive to the world. And that a company can provide that for an individual is thus also a positive. I do believe that are quite a few companies in tech that are cancer and a net negative to society… but it seems to me that the answer is a lot more nuanced than a simple yes or no. I guess that If I could afford to work for an organization that the main metric for success is not revenue, that’d be a different story… but those are very few and usually accessible to people that are not oppressed by humongous amount of debt acquired while being an immature teen in college…
IpV8 5y ago
Absolutely, every time I have had a job that I couldn't answer these two questions with a confident affirmation, I have burned out in under a year. It certainly is a trial of your moral hierarchy when you are forced to pit financial and opportunity against your core values. I understand why people choose otherwise, but for me it's barely a choice.

8 points by ethanwillis 5y ago

randomopining 5y ago

Neither. I just do it to make money and live.

johncoltrane 5y ago

I don't care about either.

ethanwillis 5y ago
I mean, I don't care if you care or not. It's not the question I'm asking. Is the answer you don't know because you don't care. Or do you know and you also don't care to answer the question?
- johncoltrane 5y ago
  I work for the paycheck and I don't care if my job makes the world a better place or not.

Gortal278 5y ago

Nope, it neither matters or is a net positive outside perhaps of a group of very loyal customers. I do it because it pays really really well.

epirogov 5y ago

provides 4M document free convresions every month for development countries.

arkano 5y ago

My job used to be about developing ML models for diagnostics (not vision, but other modalities). It mattered to me, it was fun and informative, and aspects of that company were a net positive. Current job is about research in ML in general and no, I don't think it would matter a lot in the long term, but it's interesting and may turn out to be positive.

_benj 5y ago

While I don’t wanna comment about my job, I think that this question ignores the fact that an individual having a job as opposed to having to depend on other or on welfare is IMHO a net positive to the world. And that a company can provide that for an individual is thus also a positive. I do believe that are quite a few companies in tech that are cancer and a net negative to society… but it seems to me that the answer is a lot more nuanced than a simple yes or no. I guess that If I could afford to work for an organization that the main metric for success is not revenue, that’d be a different story… but those are very few and usually accessible to people that are not oppressed by humongous amount of debt acquired while being an immature teen in college…

IpV8 5y ago

Absolutely, every time I have had a job that I couldn't answer these two questions with a confident affirmation, I have burned out in under a year. It certainly is a trial of your moral hierarchy when you are forced to pit financial and opportunity against your core values. I understand why people choose otherwise, but for me it's barely a choice.