Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#31

Post by ScottFree » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 4:25 PM UTC

truth_be_told wrote: post #28

badpun wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ou will burnout. It will affect your brain and health in ways whose consequences we do not yet fully understand because the effect is cumulative over time. Even if you don't dramatically break down one day, you will be worn down in ways which you may find hard to reconcile with your past self. This can be said about a lot of other jobs as well. Work in its current 40 hours per week form is generally not good for us…

True to a certain extent. However it is not just a matter of labour. The nature of Software Development is so very different from other jobs that we need to study it from first principles. The main issue is the tremendous cognitive effort demanded of Software Engineers (Dijkstra's paper "The Humble Programmer" is relevant here) which exceeds the plasticity/adaptive capacity of the Human Organism. Couple it with the c…

Anecdotal evidence incoming: I once needed to tow a motorcycle and the guy who showed up used to manage data centers for Amazon. He didn't miss it. The "brain drain" he felt at the end of the day was especially painful for him. Altogether, he was much happier towing motorcycles for a living and tinkering with tech during his off hours. He also made more money towing motorcycles, so it was a win-win for him. Although, he quit before the salaries for engineers skyrocketed.

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#32

Post by Kaiyou » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 4:29 PM UTC

AlchemistCamp wrote: post #26

Kaiyou wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I never found those truly ergonomic keyboards available with a QWERTZ-layout, which isn't just a software problem, since German has four letters more (äÄ, öÖ, üÜ, ß) and those ergonomic QWERTY keyboards never account for this, so the value is diminished.

Both keyboards are programmable, and it's extremely easy to do so with the Freestyle Edge.

You cannot program missing buttons.

On the right side to the '0' and 'P' I need two more buttons, right from the 'L' and the 'M' three. (Also, on the left side of the 'Y' which on QWERTY is a 'Z', I also need another button. Without those buttons in those places all ergonomic advantages will be lost, since I have to remap those buttons somewhere not especially ergonomic.

The buttons in question are btw: ß´ü+öä#,.-I'm on Linux, so I doubt the hardware will be easy to program.

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#33

Post by 1111638594 » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

I was wary myself before commiting to a techy job, decided to get into sys admin shit. Haven't felt passion doing anything tech-related in a long time, so probably wouldn't recommend. Software development might be different, though.

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#34

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

I'll say this much: the longer I work in technology the more I loathe it. Every time anything breaks, which it seems is absurdly often these days, I get really angry. It isn't enough I have to deal with esoteric issues brought on by overly complex bullshit at work, no, pretty much everything people use today that runs on electricity has the same damn problem! People are even putting this shit in their light bulbs! Their fucking lights! Famously simple enough to be operated by a switch for, what, over 100 years and now some jackasses who want to sell shit think its a good idea to put more computing power than man took to the fucking moon into it!?

It's enough that I'm seriously considering some sort of technological ludditism. I'll start a new lifestyle, one where we only use technology simple enough for the average 10 year old to hold an accurate model of in their head. We'll trade messages on snail-mailed disks between our Commodore 64s or something.

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#35

Post by badpun » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 7:27 PM UTC

ScottFree wrote: post #31

truth_be_told wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True to a certain extent. However it is not just a matter of labour. The nature of Software Development is so very different from other jobs that we need to study it from first principles. The main issue is the tremendous cognitive effort demanded of Software Engineers (Dijkstra's paper "The Humble Programmer" is relevant here) which exceeds the plasticity/adaptive capacity of the Human Organism. Couple it with the c…

Anecdotal evidence incoming: I once needed to tow a motorcycle and the guy who showed up used to manage data centers for Amazon. He didn't miss it. The "brain drain" he felt at the end of the day was especially painful for him. Altogether, he was much happier towing motorcycles for a living and tinkering with tech during his off hours. He also made more money towing motorcycles, so it was a win-win for him. Although,…

Well, I imagine Amazon is pretty bad with regards of risk of burning out. Meanwhile, you can cozy up at any of the megacorps (large banks etc.) and, with some luck, consistently don't do too much work.

Re: Ask HN: Is it too much to work AND play with tech?

#36

Post by undulation » Wed, Jul 17, 2019, 9:22 PM UTC

raindropm wrote: post #25

For me, the key to not burnout (fast) is to have separate mindset for hobby and work. Say, my hobby will not relate in anyway to my work (that's quite obvious) but also not about personal development, nor about maximizing my "potential", nor about peer pressure, nor a way to make passive income or how it'll help me in my life in the future, because that'll be the best recipe for burnout. Those business/self developme…

Could not agree more.

I'm not sure if it's a recent phenomenon or if it's something that makes itself apparent in young adulthood, but I can't help but notice how many people frame their hobbies and extra-work activities in terms of their ability to maximize personal potential and provide some measurable personal profit. I'm certainly not exempt from this thought-pattern, and I think it takes a serious toll on one's mental well-being. When every bit of your free time must be driven towards some worthwhile pursuit that will provide some measurable benefit, you rob yourself of actually cultivating a genuine hobby: an activity that you pursue for its own sake and enjoyment, and not for some additional gain as a result of practicing said activity