I’ve had a lot of trouble thinking deeply what I’m looking for in my life. I try to be very rigorous on most topics but on this one I can’t seem to find a logical conclusion or even a consistent one. Sometimes I’m optimizing for my happiness in the moment, other times I sacrifice instantaneous pleasure for long-term happiness (or so I think). Is there any conclusion/function that describes what you optimize for with your decisions?
Would love what other HNers who have thought about this have concluded.
Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
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Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#2tmux works for me.
https://youtu.be/5iXzqN8-34E
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#3tmux works for me. https://youtu.be/5iXzqN8-34E
I don’t get it :S
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#4Mostly long-term happiness. Sometimes I do things that make me happy in the moment (pop and cheez-its), and are negative long-term, but mostly I work/play toward the long-term positive gain. I don't try to take the most optimal path towards a goal if I think the path will be too negatively draining. It's important to have fun along the way. The journey is long, and the destination fleeting so it's important to have fun.
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#5Vacation Time.
I spent several years in my late twenties and early thirties working to increase my bill rate and shorten the length of contracts that I took. The plan was to eventually be that guy from the engineering joke who rocks up for an afternoon at your plant, draws a red X on the side of your boiler, and delivers a $30,000 bill. [1]
I got to the point where I was travelling the world for most of the year every year and doing the occasional 3 month contracting gig, before figuring out that SaaS is a better long term way to get where I wanted to be.
I’ve written a bit about it here:
https://expatsoftware.com/articles/guy-on-the-beach-with-a-l...
Edit to add: [1] I actually met that guy once, on a beach in Nicaragua. His “job” was to remain within a few hours of an international airport. Because he was a pipe fitter qualified to fix the fiddly bits oin a nuclear power plant, so if they ever needed a guy to do The Thing they’d better have one on call.
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#6Vacation Time. I spent several years in my late twenties and early thirties working to increase my bill rate and shorten the length of contracts that I took. The plan was to eventually be that guy from the engineering joke who rocks up for an afternoon at your plant, draws a red X on the side of your boiler, and delivers a $30,000 bill. [1] I got to the point where I was travelling the world for most of the year ever…
what laptop is that in the pics?
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#7Vacation Time. I spent several years in my late twenties and early thirties working to increase my bill rate and shorten the length of contracts that I took. The plan was to eventually be that guy from the engineering joke who rocks up for an afternoon at your plant, draws a red X on the side of your boiler, and delivers a $30,000 bill. [1] I got to the point where I was travelling the world for most of the year ever…
what laptop is that in the pics?
X60, the last of the 4:3 12" Thinkpads, complete with a real Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn block.
They're cheap as cheap on eBay, accept 2TB SSD and (sadly only) 4GB memory, and run crazy fast as a Windows 7 dev machine for the road.
I've had 3 of them, and will likely buy a couple more before they become too scarce.
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#8Mostly long-term happiness. Sometimes I do things that make me happy in the moment (pop and cheez-its), and are negative long-term, but mostly I work/play toward the long-term positive gain. I don't try to take the most optimal path towards a goal if I think the path will be too negatively draining. It's important to have fun along the way. The journey is long, and the destination fleeting so it's important to have f…
It sounds difficult to aim directly for long-term happiness. I find that short term happiness (as long as it's not vices) are the best path to long term happiness.
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
what laptop is that in the pics?
X60, the last of the 4:3 12" Thinkpads, complete with a real Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn block. They're cheap as cheap on eBay, accept 2TB SSD and (sadly only) 4GB memory, and run crazy fast as a Windows 7 dev machine for the road. I've had 3 of them, and will likely buy a couple more before they become too scarce.
It looks like one used in hacking related movies.
Re: Ask HN: What utility function are you maximizing in your life?
#10Mine is with God. If you actually believe in an all-powerful higher being, it's strange to not leverage on that.
I believe all wealth, knowledge, and safety comes from God, and the rest of the world is just the medium for it. So I try to not focus too much on financial planning, interview skills, trying to extract as much as possible from a job/client, or things like negotiation. I think these things will come; just focus on producing as much value as possible in this world.
I also try to avoid luxury and bragging. It's tempting for some to flex what they can offer, or enjoy what they earned. I'm reminded of the early Caliphs, who would turn down gifts from other sovereigns and take as little salary as possible, and donated all they had, because they didn't want to be held accountable for abusing their leadership role.
It sounds like a tough, monastic life, but maybe it's just a culture not many grow up in.
What if you could be happier on as little as possible, and feel secure? What if you didn't have to impress anyone? What if someone similar can be more successful, and you could sincerely feel happy for them? What if you could just go out there and help a complete stranger, and never ask for anything in return? Or just give away all your savings, because you can expect God to bring you more?
I'm not sure if happiness is the word for it, but there is a sense of peace and comfort.