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I'm sad for Steven and for all the other software engineers who tell similar stories. I don't have math or numbers on this- does anyone?- but I can tell from p

I'm sad for Steven and for all the other software engineers who tell similar stories. I don't have math or numbers on this- does anyone?- but I can tell from personal experience that just about every time some software engineer my age becomes mortally ill, it's brain cancer. There is something unstudied about what we do that causes problems. Personally, I had my biggest scare a couple years ago while I was working on a deeply nested, recursive algorithm. Trying to keep the whole thing in my head caused me to stay awake at night. Eventually, I had a fainting spell at a sushi bar, an ambulance was called, and ultimately the doctor thought I'd had a a massive heart attack. This didn't turn out to be true, thank God, and they never found the biological cause. But I swear to this day that it was the algorithm gnawing on my brain. I don't know that I've been the same engineer since. There's a terrible risk in our business and no one is researching it. I almost feel like we software engineers are like 3 pack a day smokers before enough science and research was done to prove to the public that smoking causes cancer. Software engineering can cause brain cancer.

bentcorner 12y ago
I think it's more likely that sitting in an office insulates you from other risks that are more common in other professions. http://www.abta.org/about-us/news/brain-tumor-statistics/ http://www.abta.org/about-us/news/brain-tumor-statistics/ http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/risk-factors/ http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/risk-factors/
deleted 12y ago
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michaelvkpdx 12y ago
Downvoted to -3 for suggesting that software engineering can cause brain cancer?
- copperx 12y ago
  Software engineering is a new field, but mathematics isn't, and both require intense bouts of thinking. Is there any study that suggests that mathematicians have a higher cancer rate? or for that matter, anyone that thinks all day?
taocoyote 12y ago
I think of it this way: If your job was physical, lifting boxes say, and you overdid it you would be sore the next day. It would be clear and physically noticeable. If your job is to sit, think and read and you overdo it, what happens then? How do you know? I don't believe software engineering causes brain cancer, but it can hurt you mentally if you work too hard.

bentcorner 12y ago

I think it's more likely that sitting in an office insulates you from other risks that are more common in other professions. http://www.abta.org/about-us/news/brain-tumor-statistics/ http://www.abta.org/about-us/news/brain-tumor-statistics/ http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/risk-factors/ http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/risk-factors/

deleted 12y ago

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michaelvkpdx 12y ago

Downvoted to -3 for suggesting that software engineering can cause brain cancer?

copperx 12y ago
Software engineering is a new field, but mathematics isn't, and both require intense bouts of thinking. Is there any study that suggests that mathematicians have a higher cancer rate? or for that matter, anyone that thinks all day?

taocoyote 12y ago

I think of it this way: If your job was physical, lifting boxes say, and you overdid it you would be sore the next day. It would be clear and physically noticeable. If your job is to sit, think and read and you overdo it, what happens then? How do you know? I don't believe software engineering causes brain cancer, but it can hurt you mentally if you work too hard.