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Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

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51–60 of 102 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#51
post #11

Writing code today is way too hard, my work mission is to try to make it easier. I’m more focused on people who already know how to code than people that don’t. This drew me to work on React, Jest, React Native, Nuclide (Facebook IDE), create-react-app, prettier... I feel like it’s better than a few years ago but there’s still so much more to do.

Same here. I'd love to talk to you about this.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#52
post #23

I live in a country (Italy) that has been crushed and whatever mission I might’ve ever had or sense of accomplishment I might’ve ever earned has been superseded by a never-ending sense of dread and struggle to not drown in a decaying world. I have very little time for glib self-improvement or self-coaching. I’m starting to wonder what purpose all of this could possibly serve (”none at all”, comes my self-reply).

I am Italian (living abroad in Luxembourg, Singapore, United States for the last 10 years). I feel exactly like you. I lost almost any faith in our beloved Mother country to be able to emerge from the mud and be a beacon of hope and culture once again. I also hope that in a few years, once I have satiated my appetite for career and startups and money, I will have the willingness to go back and try to apply what I hav…

You’re lucky, in a sense. I have been standing and fighting in the ’mud’ for a decade because we have a family business to defend and preserve, for the benefit of my family and all those who are employed by it. It’s a totally dispiriting experience.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#53

Cal's book is great - but for me, my gut cynical reaction was to wonder if even a successful 'mission' wasn't a false sand-castle that disappears when I die. Two books make note of this: Ecclesiastes would call a mission mere striving after wind and Becker's Denial of Death that would call mission a an immortality project doomed to irrelevance. As others here have noted - Ecclesiastes would agree that enjoying the im…

The idea of your life's accomplishments resounding loudly after you die seems like an overly lofty expectation. Kind of proud. What are you imagining for yourself? Invent something miraculous? Become President? It's unrealistic.

You can still make the world around you a better place and make your life worthwhile for the greater good. Work hard and do your job well. Be a good friend to others, and a good partner. Have children and raise them well. Donate to the less fortunate and improve your community. They aren't going to erect monuments to you for that, but if you do those things, which are certainly in your power, you will be seen as a bright light and example to others in your circle, and you will make the world a better place.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#54
Help kids to grasp the different concepts of science in form of story because kids score good grades but have no idea of how things are working. Actually a wish to revive the era when Muslims were good both in scientific and religious knowledge. I am targeting locals hence will be writing in Urdu. Not easy work though, specially picking a topic and then convert to a story and respective illustration.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#55
post #38
post #11

Writing code today is way too hard, my work mission is to try to make it easier. I’m more focused on people who already know how to code than people that don’t. This drew me to work on React, Jest, React Native, Nuclide (Facebook IDE), create-react-app, prettier... I feel like it’s better than a few years ago but there’s still so much more to do.

After reading (1) which is about a hospital management system built using visual tools, with a first version done in 6 months, I really wonder if code is the right tool when aiming at easy, even when building complex systems. (1) https://www.outsystems.com/blog/introducing-sapphire-hospita...

I just took a look at this and I don't think that the real win in terms of productivity is the fact that you are building an app with a visual environment or code. Both of them are roughly equivalent.

What likely set them apart is the building blocks they provide. If you are a consulting company and building apps for businesses, you are likely doing the same thing over and over and over again for every business. Once you build an hospital management system for three hospitals, the fourth one isn't going to look that different. There are tens of thousands (more?) hospitals in the world which all need such a system.

So the likely next step is to invest in good building blocks that are needed: I want a dashboard with last week patient intake. All of this logic is put inside of a component ready to be dragged & dropped / included in your project and it saves you weeks rather than trying to rebuild it for the nth time.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#56
post #11

Writing code today is way too hard, my work mission is to try to make it easier. I’m more focused on people who already know how to code than people that don’t. This drew me to work on React, Jest, React Native, Nuclide (Facebook IDE), create-react-app, prettier... I feel like it’s better than a few years ago but there’s still so much more to do.

Same here. I'd love to talk to you about this.

Feel free to send me an email: vjeuxx@gmail.com

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#58
post #27
post #23

I live in a country (Italy) that has been crushed and whatever mission I might’ve ever had or sense of accomplishment I might’ve ever earned has been superseded by a never-ending sense of dread and struggle to not drown in a decaying world. I have very little time for glib self-improvement or self-coaching. I’m starting to wonder what purpose all of this could possibly serve (”none at all”, comes my self-reply).

Are Italy's problems related to the hyper socialism in the country? It's something I have heard many Americans say about Europe.

Italy is not ”hyper-socialist”; presupposing it is merely renders conversation about the causes difficult. Rather, the country’s growth model was for decades based on a manufacturing economy whose competitiveness was sustained by progressive devaluation of the currency, for as long as one was available. Similarly, growth was funded by public debt whose affordability derived from inflation. The houses somebody mentions: those are mainly owned by the people themselves, as a manner of protecting their savings.

Italy’s been brought down not by socialism but by incomplete, inchoate, puerile mismanagement rooted in a misunderstanding in what capitalism actually is.

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#59
First, achieving a stable financial situation. Then, the big goal:

Making the world better by: - Stopping the mass murder of animals - Bringing the demise of irrational practices such as religion and astrology - Pushing knowledge forward by contributing to science or teaching those who will hopefully do so, and by making the software environment tidier

Re: Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?

#60
post #48
post #23

I live in a country (Italy) that has been crushed and whatever mission I might’ve ever had or sense of accomplishment I might’ve ever earned has been superseded by a never-ending sense of dread and struggle to not drown in a decaying world. I have very little time for glib self-improvement or self-coaching. I’m starting to wonder what purpose all of this could possibly serve (”none at all”, comes my self-reply).

I'm not Italian, but I love the country and have Italian cousins. These things surprised me: 1. The need for licenses to build anything. I seem to recall the figure of 100,000 euros licence to open a small chemist. 2. The need of support from the local big families for your business to thrive, ie you need to be anointed to make it. 3. The cost of housing relative to income. Who the fuck owns all the housing. I feel s…

Relative to point (3), housing is owned by families as a method of saving because historically inflation was high and home ownership is a coveted value.
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