This is exactly it (and ok, perhaps "life of bondage" is a bit over-dramatic). I really value being able to sleep until I am rested and wake up without an alar

This is exactly it (and ok, perhaps "life of bondage" is a bit over-dramatic). I really value being able to sleep until I am rested and wake up without an alarm. I also want to be able to act on things when spontaneity strikes. Whether that's doing a marathon coding session to solve a problem, staying out late with a new group of friends, or deciding I'd like to go travel somewhere today. Also freeing up the area of my brain that is filled with perpetual worry about my employer's expectations has got to be a good thing, even if I'm not sure what would fill the void. The anxiety and depression that come from knowing I have to sleep because I have to wake up to an alarm tomorrow so that I can solve some arbitrary problem for my employer is pretty much killing me. The other problem is that once I tap out, I'm going to have a resume gap that may make it hard to find high paying work again in 5-10 years should the need arise. Because that's how our system works, I need to secure all the funding I need now, because I know I may not have access to it again. We have access to all of the world's knowledge now, but I don't have time to sponge up as much of it as I want. It's like we live in this amazing future but I use it to maintain obscure software systems all day. I sort of feel like this episode of The Twilight Zone ("Time Enough At Last"): https://youtu.be/oLoNGRVeC7Y?t=65 https://youtu.be/oLoNGRVeC7Y?t=65