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Uncanny Valley

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Re: Uncanny Valley

#51

Post by kenko »

neilk wrote: post #50

Last night I read the entire article, out loud, to my SO. At first, she said wasn't sympathetic because for her, it was "first world problems", and a millenial's predictable disappointment in the workplace. She's not wrong. But I read it as a kind of drug memoir. An addict talking about their days breathing in all the toxic and intoxicating fumes of the city. And like every former addict it's impossible not to have a…

Man, those workplace disappointments sure aren't "predictable" except in a larger workplace ecosystem that's 100% fucked up.

Re: Uncanny Valley

#52

Post by [deleted] »

neilk wrote: post #50

Last night I read the entire article, out loud, to my SO. At first, she said wasn't sympathetic because for her, it was "first world problems", and a millenial's predictable disappointment in the workplace. She's not wrong. But I read it as a kind of drug memoir. An addict talking about their days breathing in all the toxic and intoxicating fumes of the city. And like every former addict it's impossible not to have a…

[deleted]

Re: Uncanny Valley

#53

Post by moron4hire »

bpchaps wrote: post #48
moron4hire wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, yeah. Clearly you just don't "get it". Clearly you're just don't "want it enough". I say, if you're so smart, articulate what "it" actually is, clearly, without resorting to hand-waiving, or else I will default back to assuming there is no actual "it" there.

I have a different personality with different sets of motivations, compounded with mental health differences that make it near impossible to fit in with the SV crowd. It's one of the few crowds like this, despite their swaths of feel-good attitudes and intentions. It's incredibly exclusionary and dismissive. Funny enough, your comment is a great example of what I mean. I'm assuming you didn't read the article, or els…

I was agreeing with you. I'm sorry, that was my fault. I misused the general "you".

Re: Uncanny Valley

#54

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

mbrock wrote: post #32
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>this article honestly came across as someone who had read too much Bret Easton Ellis recently... I very much enjoyed this article, but I had that BEE thought as well! My theory is that a lot of us human beings manufacture strife and struggle, because that is the Hero's Journey that everyone wants to be able to tell to their grandchildren. In the absence of "real" conflict (war, poverty, abuse), we shine the dark lig…

Joseph Campbell's idea of the hero's journey was, I think, partly inspired by the myth of the Buddha, whose problem was (excuse me) the same as Kanye's: he had everything, yet he was unhappy.

Correct. However it's at this point of the story (both of their stories) that the roads drastically separate.

Re: Uncanny Valley

#56

Post by phantom_package »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #31
seekingcharlie wrote: post #25

Is it because we were the nerds in high school? Is it because we were the kids who had to explain differential equations to our classmates more than once? Is that why we now feel this incessant need to fabricate startups/tech as being "cool"? Is that why we write grandiose tales of how "difficult" life is, moving from CRUD app to CRUD app? Sorry, author. I feel your pain, believe me I do. To me, this article honestly…

>this article honestly came across as someone who had read too much Bret Easton Ellis recently... I very much enjoyed this article, but I had that BEE thought as well! My theory is that a lot of us human beings manufacture strife and struggle, because that is the Hero's Journey that everyone wants to be able to tell to their grandchildren. In the absence of "real" conflict (war, poverty, abuse), we shine the dark lig…

I think that goes deeper than the "story we want to tell" - in other words, I don't think everyone is faking it. Look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

- Physiological - Safety - Love/Belonging - Esteem - Self-actualization

If you're, say, a programmer in SF right now, the first two are definitely taken care of for you. Love/Belonging can be present as a result of your job, but it's also possible that you "stop drinking the kool-aid" at some point (as the author did), so it's not a given. Esteem is really person-to-person, but it's probably not coming from your work as much as what you get in exchange for your work.

Self-actualization is the one you're referring to when you say "what does this all mean, man?". In other words, am I doing what I should be doing? It's definitely the hardest of the bunch, and it's hard to work on that one if any of the others aren't rock-solid (hence the pyramid shape). Only some people nail it down before they die.

Working in tech, I've never felt like I was doing what I should be doing. I'm just lucky enough to be able to make good money while figuring out what that is. I find that that approach to work (I'm trading my time for money) feels (to me) the most honest, and leaves me in the best headspace. It doesn't exactly fit with the startup office culture we have here in SF, so I do consulting, which is a comical situation - I charge a higher hourly rate to interact with this culture less often.

Re: Uncanny Valley

#57

Post by simonebrunozzi »

neilk wrote: post #49
kough wrote: post #12

I've been out of SF for three years but goddamn if I didn't get swept right back into it while reading this. Fantastic writing, made me inhabit that same mental space that I'd almost forgotten about. I miss it but I never want to go back. The line about working at a startup feeling like an abusive relationship hit home pretty hard.

At one startup I was in, I said to a coworker, "It's like we're all the kids, and daddy drinks" and she had a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

I actually just had a small laughter right now by reading it. That's how good it is.

Still smiling after a good minute. Thanks for sharing it.

Re: Uncanny Valley

#58

Post by rrdharan »

hendzen wrote: post #4

Great writing. Reads like a memoir, but with the depth of an ethnography. I believe the company described here is Mixpanel FWIW.

I had the same guess: both the huge number of sales people and the explanation of user analytics as the company's focus were giveaways.

For what it's worth Google shows e.g. some LinkedIn results that seem to now have been redacted, confirming that the author was formerly working in Customer Support at MixPanel.

You can also find a few support forum posts written by the author which confirm it.

Re: Uncanny Valley

#59

Post by rrdharan »

jtfairbank wrote: post #38

“Oakland,” one of them says. “That’s where we want to invest.” “Too dangerous,” says another. “My wife would never go for it.” “Of course not,” says the first, “but you don’t buy to live there.” I live in Oakland. So glad these people aren't coming here.

Even if they're not gonna be your neighbors, from the last quote it sounds like they'll be your landlords. Not sure if that's much better?

Re: Uncanny Valley

#60

Post by [deleted] »

dcposch wrote: post #24

Great writing. It definitely hits on some truth and calls out hypocrisies and absurdities that deserve to be called out. Overall, though, I think this is unnecessarily negative. I think you've got to keep some perspective. There are about eight billion people in the world. 7.9 billion of them would probably give almost anything to enjoy the lifestyle she so eloquently disparages. > I lean in and go to a panel on big…

[deleted]
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