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Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

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Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#131

Post by razzimatazz »

deanCommie wrote: post #90

> Then I worked for a tech giant, and then for a high-growth unicorn. It shocked me how dilbertesque they both were. Full of politicians, and burnt out engineers in golden handcuffs who can't wait to get out, and meaningless business speak, and checked out employees who pretend they're "excited" about everything all the time. The young, wide-eyed engineers seem hopelessly naive to me now. I don't know this person. I…

I think the middle ground can be a great place to work in tech, all it takes is one other person to work with that is willing to care about the things you achieve together.

Typical examples include our dysfunctional regression testing days. Tedium and pain when given the task alone and the person in change is just waiting to hear it's done. Bearable and in fact a shared challenge when you work through it together, with some small elements of process thrown in, and ended with credit given for getting the painful but necessary task done.

Even if a different person sitting near to you is checked out. I actually like to take my job satisfaction and rub it in their face a little.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#132

Post by TomMckenny »

xiaolingxiao wrote: post #39

I have also experience close to burnout and recovered multiple times, in the process I have lost very precious relationships, and entire years were spent in darkness. I also have friends who have been in tech for close to ten years, and are close to burning out though they would never admit to such. This is the nature of the beast, all things that appear glamorous on the outside ( Hollywood, Finance, Tech, many nonpr…

All accurate and objective and good for everyone to know early rather than late. Moving a bit further from the specifics, it's worth noting that this is not a natural state of affairs. Humans evolved to be in groups of about 30-100 people who they knew their whole lives and thus making catastrophic deception nearly impossible. Likewise vast sums of wealth did not exist nor total social and fiscal isolation surrounded by the complete opposite that characterize our city streets and daily life.

My point is that human psychology did not evolve in the context of our current world and will have enormous difficulty dealing with its bad sides. Although the specifics will vary, the number of people in the poster's position is undoubtedly enormous, with the vast majority too tired or ashamed of discussing it or just blaming themselves. This being the case, it would be nice to have serious study of it and resources to address it more effectively. Not to criticize any poster, but it is unfortunate than seeking advice from the web is currently the best one can do.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#133

Post by _bxg1 »

__throwawy1234 wrote: post #129
_bxg1 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what happened to you to make you so cynical, and I honestly pity you for it, but I think this is the exact opposite of what someone in the OP's position needs to hear. It's well and good that you've found a zen way of looking at things despite how bleak you seem to find the whole world, but not everyone can manage such a radical mindset shift and don't need to have their faith in humanity eagerly torched…

Honestly, it's not cynicism, although it used to be until I really thought things through. It's just the truth. I have a great life, I have truly been blessed, and I am very thankful. But to me the glass is already broken. Things may come, things may go, the only thing I control is me, and I am at peace.

Again, that's a very healthy mindset to take no matter what the human condition is, but you don't have to take a scorched-earth perspective on life to adopt such a frame of mind. And for most people, who haven't developed such a frame of mind, that scorched-earth perspective can be really destructive.

Additionally, the part about relationships goes further than simple nihilism. Plenty of relationships are real and go further than transactions. Not all of them, but many of them. Again, I don't know who hurt you to make you take such a perspective, but your perspective is deeply skewed.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#134

Post by Balgair »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #127
bcrosby95 wrote: post #53

> I lost many friends. They weren't ever your friends. People at work rarely transcend beyond co-workers and into actual friendship. If all you do together is work and around-work activities, they probably aren't your friends. You're effectively people locked in a cage together that happen to get along. If you get together on days you don't work together then they might actually be your friend. If they've met your no…

I was shocked at the beginning of the lockdown in Silicon Valley how many colleagues immediately went to a dark place because they had virtually no support structure, social interaction, or even sense of identity outside of their in-person workplace associations. Granted, a lot of in-person socialization out of the office is also off-the-table, but that's not the problem I heard from people. It's not healthy to live…

It's understandable.

Look at pre 2012 SV. All the ping-pong tables, all the beanbag chairs, the free beer, the free laundry, the sleep-pods, the cafeterias, etc. 'Cynical' people thought that these accruements were meant to keep you there and working all the time. People got rid of their apartments, set up Winnebagos in the parking lot. Intents do matter, but still, if you were that kind of person, the one that thought Google was just college 2.0, well, yeah, quarantime is not going to be good to you.

This pandemic is resetting a lot of things. Expectations of intimacy are another thing on the list.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#135

Post by throwaway839246 »

gfodor wrote: post #94

Most of your problems sound like they stemmed from VC. Similar story. It's a good, and hard, lesson. Two things one should not touch when it comes to building healthy companies in 2020: crypto and equity sales to VC. They're going to become fossils soon anyhow [1]. Read Rework by Basecamp. Read The Beginning of Infinity by Deutch. Read the Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Hamming. Watch some Bret Victor talks.…

> Most importantly, know that the future is bright and that our best days are not only ahead of us, but always will be.

I've read (and watched) everything on your list of recommendations. Perhaps I should reread Deutch's chapter on optimism, but I don't have the same conviction that you do. Where does your conviction come from?

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#136

Post by Aeolun »

opportune wrote: post #112
deanCommie wrote: post #90

> Then I worked for a tech giant, and then for a high-growth unicorn. It shocked me how dilbertesque they both were. Full of politicians, and burnt out engineers in golden handcuffs who can't wait to get out, and meaningless business speak, and checked out employees who pretend they're "excited" about everything all the time. The young, wide-eyed engineers seem hopelessly naive to me now. I don't know this person. I…

Also, depending on the place, a lot of the dilbertesque politics and process are just having a safe/more conservative culture. Getting buy in, satisfying stakeholders, making sure the safe happy protocol is followed - it's so you don't end up in a situation where a junior engineer is tasked with fixing production while you bleed $5k/minute and someone gets fired for it. Instead you blame the process and fix it method…

That is true to some extend for the employees’ motives, but the reality is that most just clearly don’t care beyond their paycheck or resume building.

Even the leadership doesn’t want to do what is best for the company/product, but what is best for themselves. It’ll be dressed up nicely of course, but that doesn’t change the reality of the thing.

> Instead you blame the process and fix it methodically.

You blame the process, but are unwilling to really change it, so you just keep repeating the same kind of fixes ad nauseam.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#137

Post by herman_toothrot »

graycat wrote: post #119

A view of technology : Watch an old movie and notice the many improvements in economic productivity, standard of living, quality of life. E.g.: To get salt, had to travel to the local village. For this had to saddle up or harness a horse or two. Now can get the salt delivered or eat in a restaurant or drive to the village on a smooth road in a car with HVAC. Car tires used to wear out in about 15,000 miles and were s…

What brand tires do you buy?

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#138

Post by tanilama »

This seems like a textbook burn-out case.

What you need is detachment.

Real world is ... what it is. Good intention is not enough for good things to happen. Our system seems to be programmed in a way, that it can go worse it will, until it hits the brake.

So relax, the world is what it is. What needs to be changed is our perception. Plus, tech should define a person, it can be part of identity, but don't let it take hold of it. After all, technologies are just manmade tools, they are fancier but no different than knives and sticks. Why let a tool define what you are and what you should be?

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#139

Post by MaxBarraclough »

remir wrote: post #62

I'm bored of tech, apps, gadgets and all, despite the coollness factor. I was fascinated by technology when I was growing up, but I feel like the world's pressing needs and problems are not addressed because there's no "good money" to be made by solving them, which is absurd. I wish beauty, wisdom and optimization would be better valued so we could find pleasure in designing things and cities with beautiful architect…

You might enjoy the Software Disenchantment post we discussed 4 months ago, which was about the state of the software industry (rather than about personal burnout).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21929709

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