Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech • Hacker News Board

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#91

Post by terminalhealth » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:45 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #86

terminalhealth wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forcing women to wear veils is not oppression in the same way scolding a child is not oppression. Both have a measurably positive effect on social functioning (e.g. consider how weak modesty norms in the West are beginning to make Western culture rather uncomfortable to live in at times). Genital mutilation, on the other hand, is oppression because it is unnecessary; it does not improve the living conditions of anyon…

> scolding a child is not oppression This is not as self-evident as you imply.

Hitting a child is probably counter-productive. Scolding it all the time is definitely counter-productive. Scolding it in extreme situations is quite effective in my experience; this is what I was referring to.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#92

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:45 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #87

terminalhealth wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forcing women to wear veils is not oppression in the same way scolding a child is not oppression. Both have a measurably positive effect on social functioning (e.g. consider how weak modesty norms in the West are beginning to make Western culture rather uncomfortable to live in at times). Genital mutilation, on the other hand, is oppression because it is unnecessary; it does not improve the living conditions of anyon…

>> Forcing women to wear veils is not oppression in the same way scolding a child is not oppression Women can be compared with children now?

[deleted]

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#93

Post by molteanu » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:46 PM UTC

joelx wrote: post #60

high_derivative wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My inside-FAAMNG experience has been that most employees seem to be not interested in the politics and are primarily focused on doing good work (people in their 20s), or on putting in their 8 hours and going home to their families (people >30 mostly, of course they also want to do good work, just have additional new priorities in a young family). Then there is a vocal minority who leverage that no individual's perfor…

I agree completely with this. Keep in mind that true evil is MBS ordering the murder of journalist Khasshogi. True evil is invading and conquering Crimea. True evil is murdering your generals with anti-aircraft guns or watching dogs tear them apart while still alive. Serving banner ads across sites does not even remotely compare.

...or invading and destroying countries and countless communities across the globe with a smile on your face.

I agree with you completely!

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#94

Post by LMYahooTFY » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:47 PM UTC

As of now the most popular comments here seem to decry the notion that anyone making six figures could ever relay an experience of misery. This is utterly non-sensical.

The article, to me, seems to imply that perhaps working at a radically free corporation doesn't yield pure bliss and benefit.

Is there some reason this article needs to balance out any possible misery with all the luxurious amenities Googlers enjoy? Does anyone actually think that it's not possible someone could have a miserable experience at Google?

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#95

Post by jcheng » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:50 PM UTC

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #47

peterwwillis wrote: post #15

> To invent products like Gmail, Earth, and Translate, you need coddled geniuses free to let their minds run wild. A cute meme that people like to repeat because it 'sounds right', not really accurate. Gmail was someone's pet project, Earth was purchased, and Translate was a boring statistical analysis program for 10 years. I mean, really, how "wild" does your mind have to be to write a crappy CRUD app or design an a…

To me, Google Maps/Earth seems to be one of the most advanced web apps in the world. Gmail and Translate are, indeed, not extremely exciting.

At the time Gmail was introduced, it's hard to overstate how groundbreaking and influential it was. Totally raised the bar for web apps everywhere by making effective use of XHR, which at that time was hardly known even to web developers. An absurdly large amount of storage space (1GB when Hotmail was 10MB, IIRC?), fast and effective search. There's a reason Google was the most loved and respected company in tech for years, and IMHO Gmail was a huge part of that.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#96

Post by esoterica » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:50 PM UTC

pcstl wrote: post #75

I find it somewhat hypocritical that this article describes Google as a safe haven of dissent and open discussion, while it is pretty unanimous that expressing even slightly right-of-center opinions at Google will have you ostracized and possibly fired.

I'm willing to bet you have a pretty wild idea about what "slightly right of center" means. The most recent "conservative" Googler in the news whining about being fired (Cernekee) was an open white supremacist.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#97

Post by asdff » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #59

segmondy wrote: post #32

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most companies have issues, and these issues are not "Company" issues but PEOPLE issues. Once you're large enough, you are going to have people with differing opinions, beliefs and values. These are going to clash. If you happen to be on the losing side and don't learn to accept it, y…

puts on international hat Actually, all of you Westerners[1] are rich entitled whiners. You have consistent access to clean water that comes straight to your house, you even have a house, with insulation and carpets no less. You have a cornucopia of diverse and nutritious foods, and your social institutions will even feed you if you're poor! Not only do you have all these necessities, even your poor people have opule…

A $2000 rusty car, a $40 used tv, and any cellphone made in the last 10 years do not equal opulent expensive toys in my eyes. There are homeless people with these three things. The 'welfare queen' of your conservative fantasies does not actually exist.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#98

Post by brandmeyer » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #64

Do Google employees understand that most people hate their jobs and you work because you have to?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in action.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#99

Post by jlokier » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:52 PM UTC

ryanmercer wrote: post #70

jlokier wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if a part-time degree might help you. It would take longer, but you could do it while still working, and perhaps you could apply for positions that ask for degree-level education, while showing that you are in the process of doing a degree? (After all, there is no guarantee all jobs get fully qualified candidates applying, even though the ads ask for that.)

I'm LDS (Mormon) and we have BYU which is well respected, there is a program called BYU-Pathway ( https://byupathway.lds.org ) where for the first year you drive to a local location and take some basic classes, that aren't accredited (so you can't get loans) but do convert to credit at BYU that I've been thinking about doing when the next round starts up here in a month or two, assuming there are enough local applica…

Those are tight circumstances, but you sound really well organized, with a good plan.

The inability to get even a $1200 loan when you have a sensible plan, sucks. Since you are LDS, famed for church community... is that something your church, friends or family might help out with?

In my experience, that's an amount friends lend each other if they've known each other a long time and can do it. Sometimes, with the understanding that the payback terms are extremely flexible. Because that isn't at all a hardship amount for everyone, and it sounds like it could make a big difference to your life.

Whatever you do, best of luck.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#100

Post by esoterica » Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

tnolet wrote: post #46

segmondy wrote: post #32

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most companies have issues, and these issues are not "Company" issues but PEOPLE issues. Once you're large enough, you are going to have people with differing opinions, beliefs and values. These are going to clash. If you happen to be on the losing side and don't learn to accept it, y…

I regularly have chuckles with friends about entitled tech workers. Complaining about the type of bottled water, the gym compensation plan, the type of company laptop. It's really sad.

Why is it "entitled" to make demands of your employer if you are in a position to make demands? Do you also "chuckle" at people who try and negotiate pay raises or more vacation days?