3 ms·

This comment is the worst piece of crap I've read here. It reads like the worst kind of egotistical, entitled, and insular stereotype of people in this field.

This comment is the worst piece of crap I've read here. It reads like the worst kind of egotistical, entitled, and insular stereotype of people in this field. You ought to be ashamed. You mind, "_is_ Olympic material". Bollocks. Did your Olympic class mind research the fatality rates and lifestyle for Alaskan fisherman? Happier in medieval times? Are you out of your damn mind? God help you that you have to deal with a boss that makes more money then you and doesn't recognize what a snowflake you are. I can't believe you have to deal with mundane tasks like the rest of us peons. EDIT: I read the civility note, but how does the parent comment have positive points to engage with constructively? Honestly. It is pure tripe. I bet that 6.8 billion on the face of the planet would do anything to trade place with this guy, and he's wishing that he lived in a time when 1/3 of children died before age 5 and 1/5 of women died because of childbirth? Just because he is suffering from malaise? Can't he watch Office Space or Fight Club to get it out of his system? Didn't more than 1000 Bangladeshis die in a sweatshop less than 1 month ago? What a stunning lack of perspective and empathy.

polarix 13y ago
Lack of empathy, sure. But this is orange sunshine perspective.
michaelochurch 13y ago
You hold strong opinions for how little you understand. I am aware that there's a higher fatality rate for Alaskan fishermen than software engineers. However, I don't really worry about dying. I do worry about subordination, which I find to be worse. If I'm to die, I'll die. But the slow death that takes 50 years (subordination) is one I can't tolerate even thinking about. Also, let's talk about the emotions that come along with robbery and crime. Let's say that someone robs you at gunpoint and take the contents of your wallet. Lucky for you, you only have $3 in your wallet at the time. So the financial loss is trivial. You're still traumatized, and no one likes being robbed. No one. Even with only $3 lost, you'd probably rather this never happened, and avoid the place where the robbery occurred for a long time. Yes, there are horrible things in the world that I can't control and those are far more awful than the state of the software industry. That's true. If I could change them, I would; and I'd feel awful if I didn't. However, people are fundamentally local in how they engage with the world. They tend to focus on things they can change, the robberies in their neighborhood rather than half a world away. And, fundamentally, what we need as software engineers is a neighborhood watch for our industry. The problem with Work (the social-climbing game, not the activity) is that when you get robbed, it's taken to be entirely your fault. If someone steals from you and fucks up your career, you're the loser, not him. He probably got a promotion for that shit.
- zero_intp 13y ago
  While the bitter negativity is a step to far, I also think that you romanticize serfdom. Read The Prince and tell me that corporate political ethos is not the same as 15th century court intrigue. All your work in either case is at the whim of those in power.
  - michaelochurch 13y ago
    I don't "romanticize serfdom", but there is one advantage of pre-industrial serfdom over modern subordination. It lasts half as long; if you're lucky, < 1/50 as long.
    - zero_intp 13y ago
      You imply that malnourishment, lack of medical care, and hard labor, all contributing to an earlier death very soon after the end of productive capacity to be superior to a longer, less physically taxing, existence with more (Maslovian) needs met- that also has a high probability of retirement; given 98% of your productivity in both systems profit other before yourself: your goals are clearly suicidal or trolling
    - btilly 13y ago
      If you would rather be a serf, then you can go - now - to some random country in Africa and try your hand at subsidence farming. The experience is pretty much the same as serfdom was, and your current economic situation is likely to let you start with a big step up over most of the locals.
- throwaway9848 13y ago
  What is the matter with you? Why do you write like this? Are you trying to build a personal online brand? Talk like an actual human being. I don't need 5 paragraphs of explanation about why we deal with problems that are immediate to us. That is obvious. Prairie dogs understand that. Granted, that was not what I objected to in your original post, but I'll give you a pass on that. Now, your last paragraph would be interesting if it weren't the fundamental point of (most recently and noteably) Karl Marx, who, interestingly enough, lived his entire life and wrote out a far better though-out version of your rant before there was a single computer. This is the what the rest of us have referred to as, "shit happens" for centuries. I probably wouldn't have created a throwaway in the first place if it weren't for the unbearable arrogance in your posts when you're talking about something that philosophers have been discussing in far better depth for centuries, and the myopic belief that this is unique to software. Even if you switched too commmercial fishing you'd probably be the one complaining that he's stuck at deckhand because some other guy kissed the captain's butt to make first mate.

polarix 13y ago

Lack of empathy, sure. But this is orange sunshine perspective.

michaelochurch 13y ago

You hold strong opinions for how little you understand. I am aware that there's a higher fatality rate for Alaskan fishermen than software engineers. However, I don't really worry about dying. I do worry about subordination, which I find to be worse. If I'm to die, I'll die. But the slow death that takes 50 years (subordination) is one I can't tolerate even thinking about. Also, let's talk about the emotions that come along with robbery and crime. Let's say that someone robs you at gunpoint and take the contents of your wallet. Lucky for you, you only have $3 in your wallet at the time. So the financial loss is trivial. You're still traumatized, and no one likes being robbed. No one. Even with only $3 lost, you'd probably rather this never happened, and avoid the place where the robbery occurred for a long time. Yes, there are horrible things in the world that I can't control and those are far more awful than the state of the software industry. That's true. If I could change them, I would; and I'd feel awful if I didn't. However, people are fundamentally local in how they engage with the world. They tend to focus on things they can change, the robberies in their neighborhood rather than half a world away. And, fundamentally, what we need as software engineers is a neighborhood watch for our industry. The problem with Work (the social-climbing game, not the activity) is that when you get robbed, it's taken to be entirely your fault. If someone steals from you and fucks up your career, you're the loser, not him. He probably got a promotion for that shit.

zero_intp 13y ago
While the bitter negativity is a step to far, I also think that you romanticize serfdom. Read The Prince and tell me that corporate political ethos is not the same as 15th century court intrigue. All your work in either case is at the whim of those in power.
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  I don't "romanticize serfdom", but there is one advantage of pre-industrial serfdom over modern subordination. It lasts half as long; if you're lucky, < 1/50 as long.
  - zero_intp 13y ago
    You imply that malnourishment, lack of medical care, and hard labor, all contributing to an earlier death very soon after the end of productive capacity to be superior to a longer, less physically taxing, existence with more (Maslovian) needs met- that also has a high probability of retirement; given 98% of your productivity in both systems profit other before yourself: your goals are clearly suicidal or trolling
  - btilly 13y ago
    If you would rather be a serf, then you can go - now - to some random country in Africa and try your hand at subsidence farming. The experience is pretty much the same as serfdom was, and your current economic situation is likely to let you start with a big step up over most of the locals.
throwaway9848 13y ago
What is the matter with you? Why do you write like this? Are you trying to build a personal online brand? Talk like an actual human being. I don't need 5 paragraphs of explanation about why we deal with problems that are immediate to us. That is obvious. Prairie dogs understand that. Granted, that was not what I objected to in your original post, but I'll give you a pass on that. Now, your last paragraph would be interesting if it weren't the fundamental point of (most recently and noteably) Karl Marx, who, interestingly enough, lived his entire life and wrote out a far better though-out version of your rant before there was a single computer. This is the what the rest of us have referred to as, "shit happens" for centuries. I probably wouldn't have created a throwaway in the first place if it weren't for the unbearable arrogance in your posts when you're talking about something that philosophers have been discussing in far better depth for centuries, and the myopic belief that this is unique to software. Even if you switched too commmercial fishing you'd probably be the one complaining that he's stuck at deckhand because some other guy kissed the captain's butt to make first mate.