Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality • Hacker News Board

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#451

Post by researcher11 » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:30 PM UTC

edblarney wrote: post #437

researcher11 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality part of me thought it was a joke.

"It is so perfectly stereotypical and dicorced from reality " It is exactly reality - and that you don't grasp it only validates how utterly self-deluded Millenials are. By every measure Millenials are doing better. Millenials have: + Better healthcare, more coverage + Better access to education, information, more college grads than ever + More job opportunities, more diverse fields to apply knowlege + More opportuni…

What is stereotypical and divorced from reality are the things you are missing.

The economy is structured as a ponzi scheme. The ponzi scheme will collapse and many unsympathetic boomers will go broke.

To take your interest rate example. Prices are inversely correlated to interest rates. If you buy when interest rates are high (low prices) and sell when interest rates are low (high prices) then you benefit enormously. Since interest rates are pretty much as low as they can go then there is no upside left for millennials. Only downside. I, like many millennials, wish for much much higher interest rates. Low interest rates are another wealth transfer from those with earnings (millennials) to those with capital (boomers).

I do not suggest that all millennial complaints are valid. I'm simply saying that they shouldn't be dismissed with technological handwaving. The hidden message in the complaints is that we're in this together. The ponzi scheme economy hurts all of us.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#452

Post by antisthenes » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

beaconstudios wrote: post #393

vedranm wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, the disagreements are not minor anymore, as you can see on the social networks and in the streets of the USA.

many of the disagreements are being given hyperbolic treatment to the point where all Trump supporters are Nazis and liberals are all SJWs. That's not an environment that's conducive to talking about why e.g. the immigration ban is too far in defense of national security. It just becomes another "us vs them" black-and-white situation that can drive nothing but division.

It's the greater problem of the anti-science sentiment of the general public.

Even some of my brighter & more successful friends lack the self-awareness to have a constructive dialogue with the other side without "feelz" getting in the way of "realz". It doesn't help that none of them are policy experts or economists, but there it is.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#453

Post by rthomas6 » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

Aeolun wrote: post #265

peckrob wrote: post #72

I've watched this happen to my friends. One that I graduated high school with in particular comes to mind. We all played video games back then. Half Life, Goldeneye, Starcraft, Everquest, etc. He was a smart guy, driven, usually made better grades than me (I was lazy in high school). Took a job at an medical supply company after graduating from high school intending to work for a few months before starting college. W…

Lost? I'm not certain I'd put it like that. I'm assuming he at least enjoyed playing games all that time.

Would you really characterize this as a fulfilling and meaningful ten years? Do you think he was happy?

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#454

Post by antisthenes » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:41 PM UTC

robattila128 wrote: post #432

fdupoo wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Redistributing wealth more and more creates less opportunity for the free market to lift people out of poverty. What? No it doesnt? How do you even Is this satire?

I should have used the word socialism instead of redistribution to make it more clear on my stance, but I didn't want to get political. You are right though, butchering the middle and upper class with taxes then passing it around does help people out of poverty -- At the cost of making our future generations poorer, happens every time through out history. I am heavily against government welfare. For markets to surviv…

Ah, you're one of those who think government corruption is what causes collusion and regulatory capture.

Surely the purely perfectly competitive free markets would never collude and lobby the policymakers to create barriers to entry.

I'm going to chalk it up to you never taking anything beyond Economics 101, so it is forgivable and understandable. But do yourself a favor, and try not to embarrass yourself in the future.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#455

Post by researcher11 » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:41 PM UTC

Danihan wrote: post #441

researcher11 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pensions are the first to go. They already are in many places. Taxpayers will be unable to bail them out. If you think being 20 with a shitty job is bad then consider being 65 with no savings or income whatsoever.

If you're 65 and have no savings or income you really lived your life wrong. I mean, even if you bought a house at 35 and just made minimum payments, at least that would be paid off. And I'm sure taxes could be paid by renting out one room..

This thread is in the context of a major economic downturn. Many @ 65 are not set up as defensively to survive one.

Counters to your example would be modern day Detroit, modern day Greece, and the Weimar Republic.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#456

Post by antisthenes » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:43 PM UTC

nunez wrote: post #435

Aeolun wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Confirmation bias? Just because it worked for you, doesn't mean there aren't a thousand people who tried and failed at exactly the same thing. Your chances are definitely higher than zero if you try, but unfortunately it's no guarantee that you'll succeed.

So what's the alternative? Give up and cry before even trying? Knowing that you might fail and flame out is the definiton of risk; you do it because the upside is worth it

Obviously the people who drop out of the labor force don't think the upside is worth it.

Otherwise they'd be out there, looking for work. Instead of dismissing the possibility that they act in their rational self interest, perhaps you can study how the actual risk/reward ratio evolved for these people over the course of the last few decades.

But that would be quite a bit harder than giving self-help advice on the internets.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#457

Post by kamaal » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

Aeolun wrote: post #262

nunez wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with this. My immediate family and I came from having next to nothing. We busted ass and have money now. We aren't rich, but we're enjoying life in ways we couldn't growing up. If we, instead, believed the rhetoric that life is screwed unless you came out of a "lucky vagina," we would still be broke, in Brooklyn, trying to make ends meet, and I would be another socially-inept dude that spends way t…

Confirmation bias? Just because it worked for you, doesn't mean there aren't a thousand people who tried and failed at exactly the same thing. Your chances are definitely higher than zero if you try, but unfortunately it's no guarantee that you'll succeed.

The point is you need to qualify by trying first.

"There is no point in trying, because you will fail" kind of attitude prevents you from trying at the first place.

There is one reason to be assured of failure, which is by doing nothing at all.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#458

Post by researcher11 » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #385

mozumder wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That still seems expensive. You can get by with that much in rural areas of the US or Detroit.

He didn't say if it's per month or per year.

It's per year. Panama is more expensive than many areas of the US but the lifestyle is subjectively better. Plus you don't go broke trying to pay for medical coverage or treatment. And there is no tax on foreign sources of income.

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#459

Post by alphonsegaston » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:51 PM UTC

edblarney wrote: post #440

alphonsegaston wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, here's one. The boomer's coasted on the tail end of a rising post-war economy and government largesse, then burned the ladder behind them and destroyed their legacy by electing Reagan. By any measure (college financing, wages, home prices) they were ridiculously advantaged relative to young people today, who now have to suffer under an obscenely priced regime of credentialism, largely administered (for their ow…

"The boomer's coasted on the tail end of a rising post-war economy and government largesse, then burned the ladder behind them and destroyed their legacy by electing Reagan. " Utter bullshit. It's not even anectodal - it's just complete narrative fiction. This is HN, try some facts. Which material or social elements regarding standard of living between the generations, implies that 'Millenials have it harder'? By eve…

I was actually alive during the Cold War because I'm an older millennial, but since you're on some Boomer Archie Bunker rehash trip, I doubt that matters.

Anyway, here's a good breakdown on how we're worse off financially: http://younginvincibles.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/FHYA-...

Re: Young men dropping out of the job market to spend time in an alternate reality

#460

Post by kerbalspacepro » Fri, Mar 17, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

soverance wrote: post #417

kerbalspacepro wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what you are describing might be called 'Weaponized Flow State'. Flow states that arise while [acting, playing music, playing sports, programming] are really hard to generate. You have to develop those skills without "dynamic difficulty setting" that the author refers to. But when your basic skills are enough for you to do well, you can get drawn into a flow state much quicker.

I disagree that these flow states are difficult to generate. While they are extremely more common within designed experiences (such as video games), they can and have been applied with great effect to more "common" tasks, such as acting, playing music, or sports. The very best article I've found on the subject is here: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/166972/cognitive_flow_... Highly recommended reading.

What I'm saying is that 'common' tasks that generate flow states take much longer than video games to generate the same cognitive effect. For example, when I play guitar I _must_ deliberately practice. I play the same 30 second melody half as slow, then only a quarter slow, and then finally i try really hard to play it at the right rhythm, and after a little more practice I'm playing it mechanically. I now can enter a flow state much easier.

Looking at your link- I start out with low skill, but with something that has high difficulty. I wratchet my skill upwards until I enter flow state. Video games, on the other hand, use dynamic difficulty settings to change the difficulty to my skill. They generate the flow state programmatically.

Nice article though.