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This is literally a first world problem. In the US, we have a culture that encourages self-actualization. This is a double-edged sword. While this encourages

by j_baker 14y ago

This is literally a first world problem. In the US, we have a culture that encourages self-actualization. This is a double-edged sword. While this encourages individuals to achieve their dreams, it also puts pressure on them to do great things. I think the key is to do what you want, and not what society pressures you into doing.

Swizec 14y ago
What if you pressure yourself to achieve great things because you want to? That doesn't make them any easier. In fact, it can make failure (or not big enough success) hit even harder.
- einhverfr 14y ago
  But it's a problem of radical individualism and a problem of devaluing social context. Again I am all for achieving great things. I don't think you can put in 100 hours of work a week for several years and still remain healthy. We may call that a mental health problem but the key issue is not mental but social.
  - Swizec 14y ago
    Social, maybe. Perhaps we should just do a better job of teaching people that the highest productivity in mental tasks lies at the point of 38 hours per week. Anything more is folly. It might work in _very_ short bursts, but it causes more problems than it solves. It's just like all nighters. Sure, you get more done tonight, but you're useless tomorrow. Trading 3 hours today for 8 hours tomorrow. Bravo! Good job! Same goes for stuffing too much into a single week.
    - einhverfr 14y ago
      But here you are falling into the same trap that causes this problem in the first place, treating people as individual machines, assuming that the limits are to be solved with rules and guidelines. The real problem is that social context matters and that devoting all one's time towards work for an extended period distorts that context. Coding in isolation (which to be fair is where we all bulk code) also distorts that context. I usually put in far more than 38 hours a week. The reason I can do this is I work from home around my wife and kids. But I also put in less than 38 hours of heavy-lifting work (the rest is spent in smaller time parcels doing things like financial review, strategic planning, marketing, blogging--- yes I include that since it is part of my marketing--- etc). To live is to work. But when work is devoid of non-work social context, i.e. where work and home life are separate, then one cannot merely work. This also has the effect of excluding women and all kinds of other problems.
      - Swizec 14y ago
        Well, yes. As always "it depends" :)
- rsl7 14y ago
  Well many people don't know what that great thing is, and never find it. Many feel they ought to want to do great things even if they don't really (if they could let themselves be free to think about it) and so are caught up in the game and setup to fail. And our society is setup to tell you that luck has nothing to do with it. Our heroes are idolized as self-made people. And if you had only tried hard you actually might have made it. But you didn't. And why not? Well actually, despite overtones of meritocracy and that failure is ok and you can start over and remake yourself, the true message of our culture is that you either got it or you don't. Witness the obsession with the young founder. He's got it. Made millions in months. Why can't you? Because you don't got it.

by j_baker 14y ago

Swizec 14y ago

What if you pressure yourself to achieve great things because you want to? That doesn't make them any easier. In fact, it can make failure (or not big enough success) hit even harder.

einhverfr 14y ago
But it's a problem of radical individualism and a problem of devaluing social context. Again I am all for achieving great things. I don't think you can put in 100 hours of work a week for several years and still remain healthy. We may call that a mental health problem but the key issue is not mental but social.
- Swizec 14y ago
  Social, maybe. Perhaps we should just do a better job of teaching people that the highest productivity in mental tasks lies at the point of 38 hours per week. Anything more is folly. It might work in _very_ short bursts, but it causes more problems than it solves. It's just like all nighters. Sure, you get more done tonight, but you're useless tomorrow. Trading 3 hours today for 8 hours tomorrow. Bravo! Good job! Same goes for stuffing too much into a single week.
  - einhverfr 14y ago
    But here you are falling into the same trap that causes this problem in the first place, treating people as individual machines, assuming that the limits are to be solved with rules and guidelines. The real problem is that social context matters and that devoting all one's time towards work for an extended period distorts that context. Coding in isolation (which to be fair is where we all bulk code) also distorts that context. I usually put in far more than 38 hours a week. The reason I can do this is I work from home around my wife and kids. But I also put in less than 38 hours of heavy-lifting work (the rest is spent in smaller time parcels doing things like financial review, strategic planning, marketing, blogging--- yes I include that since it is part of my marketing--- etc). To live is to work. But when work is devoid of non-work social context, i.e. where work and home life are separate, then one cannot merely work. This also has the effect of excluding women and all kinds of other problems.
    - Swizec 14y ago
      Well, yes. As always "it depends" :)
rsl7 14y ago
Well many people don't know what that great thing is, and never find it. Many feel they ought to want to do great things even if they don't really (if they could let themselves be free to think about it) and so are caught up in the game and setup to fail. And our society is setup to tell you that luck has nothing to do with it. Our heroes are idolized as self-made people. And if you had only tried hard you actually might have made it. But you didn't. And why not? Well actually, despite overtones of meritocracy and that failure is ok and you can start over and remake yourself, the true message of our culture is that you either got it or you don't. Witness the obsession with the young founder. He's got it. Made millions in months. Why can't you? Because you don't got it.