Don't think it's generational. I'm 41 and had the same take. I think the core of it is that I internalized a (supposedly) fundamental hacker aesthetic of auton

Don't think it's generational. I'm 41 and had the same take. I think the core of it is that I internalized a (supposedly) fundamental hacker aesthetic of autonomy, and it seems the culture traded that away for a needy, zero sum, external-validation-needing void. Now we're told that we really should be working on our brands, amassing our GitHub stars, and other bullshit that is wholly orthogonal to actually building cool stuff. Cause who wants to do that when the rewards are uncertain? Follower counts are what really matters, this is the attention economy, and you can't be left behind!