> People can change, but in the end it's all probabilities and statistical distributions: it's much easier to be constantly exercising all our lives or working hard all our lives than to have a Damascus moment and radically change our ways (and it's much easier to move in the direction of less, rather than more, effort or commitment).
Yes, that's right. People CAN change, but they usually don't.
> But I remember seeing a picture of PG taken at one of the YC events a few years ago and immediately thinking " this physical condition is approaching heart-attack risk". From reading his tweets, from which it's clear how much he loves his kids, it's easy to come to the conclusion that we all have some sort of ongoing cognitive dissonance and convenient rationalizations for whatever behavior we support or defend.
You could just as easily be describing my dad. I'm going to call him on the cognitive dissonance next time we Skype. I don't expect he will change, see the first point, but I have to try.
> I could make up all kinds of rationalizations for why work-life balance is important and spending time with our families is fulfilling and cite that shaky study about people on their deathbeds who say they regret spending too much time at work and not enough time with their loved ones.
I would say that's very true. Balance is important, but one might temporarily balance things at an unsustainable level to achieve an important goal. Or one might find other ways of compensating. I'm a workaholic, but I balance that with my marriage by spending almost no time on outside relationships. My wife gets almost all my free time, so it's functional.
> Yes, a more exciting work environment, with more agency, surrounded by brilliant people is more inviting (for some!) than working in a top-down, no-agency workplace. But most of all, I confess that I don't like to spend too much time working, which doesn't mean I love not doing anything, but that I don’t like working the way we normally think of it, which can include: managers, deadlines, commuting, finding someone to cover for us when we have to go to the hospital when a parent isn't feeling well, performance reviews, or the usual start-up issues we all know.
Well you're talking about the same plodding kind of work PG is talking about. Who enjoys that or wants to overwork on that (unless there's some concrete benefit that makes it worthwhile for temporarily doing so.) I don't overwork on my day job. I will put in more hours if it's an emergency, but then I take that time off afterwards when things settle down. I don't ask permission, I just say I worked overtime yesterday to fix the problem we had, so Friday will be a half-day for me. If an employer objected you can bet next time there's an emergency I will leave it until the next day.
I overwork on my own projects, and that's fine by me. That's also when I feel most alive and happy (at least when things are going well) - even more sore than playing games or drinking with friends or whatever other activity I enjoy.