Did you take a look at that google executive Forrest Hayes who died from heroin OD injected by a sugar baby from seeking arrangement? I think that's a huge story in itself. The Bay Area has created a lot of wealth, a substantial amount given to individuals who display characteristics of introverted, libertarian, extreme individuality, which along with high drug use has resulted in a burgeoning sex for money trade. In my extremely limited and potentially erroneous pov, this has indirectly further increased drug usage for both the women and men. There are a lot of negative externalities from Silicon Valley and multiple threads to pull on but the extremes of everything from politics to high costs of home ownership has resulted in some quite depressing realities.
Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
621–630 of 642 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#622Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting stuff. Around how old are you and around how much do you make? (get as general as you want)
I'm 34 and make £270,000 a year before taxes and bonuses. My bonus is measured against company profits, last year it was £70,000. This year it should be close to £100,000.
Would you mind sharing (in general) how you got such a large base? That seems high for hedge fund standards - I would expect a large bonus, instead.
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#623I’m not convinced that productivity is a virtue for software engineers. I have production code running untouched for over 8 years that was produced in the laziest straight forward way as possible, simply because I didn’t feel like working so hard. Indeed, I delayed writing any code until I came up with an idea of the minimum amount of code I could get away with, then I minimized that some more. I’ve eliminated entire…
Ah, a perl user ;)
For those who don't know :
"The three principal virtues of a programmer are Laziness, Impatience and Hubris." - Perl man page
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#624Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think it is usually due to being forced to confront life conditions that were being avoided. This certainly may be part of it. However, there are long-term changes in the brain that occur with chronic stimulant use/abuse. I'm looking for the correct number, but I believe it takes about 24 months for the brain to revert to its normal state after stimulant cessation.
"changes in the brain" is too vague to be useful. Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) is supposedly a thing that can last months, but it's just an observation of a collection of symptoms - no analysis of a specific mechanism causing it that I have seen.
> "changes in the brain" is too vague to be useful.
I would hope that someone trying to do something useful concerning addiction and the brain wouldn't go by a comment on Hacker News that was posted via a cell phone.
Anyway, please see my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16477351
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#625Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meanwhile cocaine usage in Zürich is one of the highest in Europe ( https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/drug-capitals_zurich-is-europe-... ) which boggles my mind - I assume this is the finance industry
Not only that but Zurich has been a drug hotspot in the 80s; we had cocaine, heroine, and, we believe, we found out how to fight it: https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-12/us-can-learn-lot-zuri... Now it changed for the better but still the drug scene is relatively big and cocaine is used a lot both by youngsters 18-25 yrs olds and probably also by bankers.
I agree. You really feel how people in Zurich (in social settings) are more tolerant towards drugs than in most other European cities. It's almost like Amsterdam.
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#626Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meanwhile cocaine usage in Zürich is one of the highest in Europe ( https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/drug-capitals_zurich-is-europe-... ) which boggles my mind - I assume this is the finance industry
Not only that but Zurich has been a drug hotspot in the 80s; we had cocaine, heroine, and, we believe, we found out how to fight it: https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-12/us-can-learn-lot-zuri... Now it changed for the better but still the drug scene is relatively big and cocaine is used a lot both by youngsters 18-25 yrs olds and probably also by bankers.
I agree. You really feel how people in Zurich (in social settings) are more tolerant towards drugs than in most other European cities. It's almost like Amsterdam.
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#627Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel completely the same! I have been working in electrical engineering in Zurich, and I've never seen or heard anyone use anything other than caffeine during and alcohol after work. Now I wonder whether I'm just naive or there is a massive cultural divide between Silicon Valley and Central Europe w.r.t. stimulants.
Meanwhile cocaine usage in Zürich is one of the highest in Europe ( https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/drug-capitals_zurich-is-europe-... ) which boggles my mind - I assume this is the finance industry
You really feel how people in Zurich (in social settings) are more tolerant towards drugs than in most other European cities. It's almost like Amsterdam.
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#628A fair bit of marijuana in the Seattle tech scene. No particularly visible ill effects from what I can tell. I have the notion hallucinogens have been used, but no one admits current use (to me). I would expect the more far out tech scene to be more into hallucinogens than anything else. Cocaine, meth, & opioid use - no idea. Personally, I'd guess opioids are uncommon in tech: foggy heads don't fly. No one I know is…
hallucinogens, sure. There is definitely overlap between the seattle area tech scene (more so people who live in Seattle proper, not people who live in Redmond/Kirkland/Issaquah and have a marriage, a mortgage, 2 kids and a minivan), with tech workers who are also regular Burning Man attendees. At least to the extent that if a curious person wanted to find a source of Psilocibe Cubenses mushrooms, they would know who…
I have a personal refusal to ever own a minivan, despite the wife, kid, and mortgage. :-) I just note that I go home to the family to indicate that I can't go to the evening events where more interesting people & discussions are.
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#629Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yikes, are the effects still lingering? Have you returned to baseline energy/focus?
That was four years ago, and I was back to my baseline self in about two months. A month ago I was diagnosed with severe apnea, and since starting treatment I feel like a different person. I wonder whether the apnea was worsened by modafinil four years ago, and that was the reason for my constant wearing down. Maybe I'll do an experiment just to see, but I don't need stimulants anymore to be productive, not even coff…
Isn't modafinil/stims a treatment for apnea?
Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector
#630Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm 34 and make £270,000 a year before taxes and bonuses. My bonus is measured against company profits, last year it was £70,000. This year it should be close to £100,000.
Would you mind sharing (in general) how you got such a large base? That seems high for hedge fund standards - I would expect a large bonus, instead.
It is pretty high, I agree.
I started 5 years ago on a 110k salary with no bonus. Over those 5 years I've worked my ass off, done some questionable things and never once asked for a raise. I work in a department on my own, in a small office. In the past 3 years I have done an average of 80hrs a week, occasionally getting in 12-14 hours on the odd weekend, other than my bonus I don't have any other benefits. I don't question why something needs to be done or the ethics behind it. I just do as I am asked and I et left alone to do it however I see fit.
I don't have a 'project manager', stand-ups or a kan-ban board. I rarely need to attend meetings. I have very few days off, take around 10 days holiday per-year ( we are permitted 32 ) and never question a task given too me. I don't know if there is any correlation in these things and my wage, just laying out the facts.
Its also not like they couldn't get in someone cheaper. The work I do isn't that hard. Its just fast-paced. In this place, time is literally money.
1st year - 110k, no bonus 2nd year - 140k, no bonus. 3rd year - 190k + bonus. 4th year - 220k + bonus. 5th year - as stated above.