I don't work at a FAANG, but I work at a company that wants to be like a FAANG. Now and even if I did work at a FAANG, I would feel 0 guilt. The only reason I don't apply there is because of work life balance, but I'd gladly program attack UAVs or eviction services if it got me a FAANG salary AND a good work life balance.
Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
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Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#12I don't work at a FAANG, but I work at a company that wants to be like a FAANG. Now and even if I did work at a FAANG, I would feel 0 guilt. The only reason I don't apply there is because of work life balance, but I'd gladly program attack UAVs or eviction services if it got me a FAANG salary AND a good work life balance.
Interesting! A hypothetical question...
If you were to find out that software you wrote for a UAV was responsible for murdering an innocent civilian, would you still "feel 0 guilt"?
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#13I don't work at a FAANG, but I work at a company that wants to be like a FAANG. Now and even if I did work at a FAANG, I would feel 0 guilt. The only reason I don't apply there is because of work life balance, but I'd gladly program attack UAVs or eviction services if it got me a FAANG salary AND a good work life balance.
Interesting! A hypothetical question... If you were to find out that software you wrote for a UAV was responsible for murdering an innocent civilian, would you still "feel 0 guilt"?
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#14Absolutely. I was laid off after PPP ran out last year from a small (~20) company. Applied to a bunch of companies, went through a couple of interviews, no offers. Gave in and replied to an FAANG recruiter that had been emailing me and got the job. I like my team and work/life balance, but planning on jumping ship in the near future specifically because I don't want to work for FAANG anymore. As for how to deal with…
How did you get a job at a FAANG and not elsewhere? The way people talk about it, getting a FAANG job is like the highest bar to aim for
FAANG definitely has a high bar, but there are many factors that affect interviews. However, I think a big part of it is that they were willing to take a risk on hiring me since I had 3 years of experience and did solidly on the interviews. In contrast with the non-FAANG companies I applied to, they probably saw the obscure company I had been working at as a negative and decided to play it safe and pass on me. What further supports this theory of mine is that, around the 6 month mark at FAANG, recruiters started flooding my email, even though the difference in experience between 3 years of programming and 3.5 years is minor.
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#15Do you feel guilt asking this question?
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#16guilt for what exactly?
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#17I don't work at a FAANG, but I work at a company that wants to be like a FAANG. Now and even if I did work at a FAANG, I would feel 0 guilt. The only reason I don't apply there is because of work life balance, but I'd gladly program attack UAVs or eviction services if it got me a FAANG salary AND a good work life balance.
Interesting! A hypothetical question... If you were to find out that software you wrote for a UAV was responsible for murdering an innocent civilian, would you still "feel 0 guilt"?
If that dude can program a UAV to be the responsible party I think that means he also created AI.
Re: Ask HN: Those who work at Facebook, Amazon, Palantir, etc. Do you feel guilt?
#18I don't work at a FAANG, but I work at a company that wants to be like a FAANG. Now and even if I did work at a FAANG, I would feel 0 guilt. The only reason I don't apply there is because of work life balance, but I'd gladly program attack UAVs or eviction services if it got me a FAANG salary AND a good work life balance.
Interesting! A hypothetical question... If you were to find out that software you wrote for a UAV was responsible for murdering an innocent civilian, would you still "feel 0 guilt"?
Yeah pretty much. To paraphrase Zizek, we often talk about the violence required for a revolution while ignoring the violence required to maintain today's status quo. For me to be a typical person, an incredible amount of suffering is required: slavery, murder, trafficking, theft, and ecological harm through fishing; much of the same involved in producing consumer goods like computers and chocolate; civilians dying for the US to maintain its global interests.
In my opinion, unless you're making active efforts to live without benefiting from someone else's harm (following a Jain diet, living in the woods, living off the land, etc), you're no different than me if I programmed a drone that person B constructed for person C to deliver to person D who ordered its use by person E who deployed it. It's just easier to convince yourself you're not responsible when everyone else is also doing it, and when believing that you're not harming others affords you the convenience of chocolate and computers.