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Don't Waste the Good Days

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Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#131

Post by ridiculousthrow »

Barrin92 wrote: post #76
manachar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reframe this critique: This should be the point of civilization and society. We should be working to free everyone to be able to go surfing when able. I dislike that some people get to be "privileged" enough to be able to do so as much as the next guy, but I also dislike when people act like it's wrong to aspire to this. The problem isn't that this is bad advice; the problem is that our civilization currently prevent…

The point of society shouldn't be that everyone is so hedonistic the highlight in their day is surfing. If you're a mother or a father, if you have a church to go to, if you have relatives, if you're part of a political organization or a community you can't just make your own schedule. This isn't bad, it means that you're an adult. If everyone lived this Peter Pan lifestyle we wouldn't have anything you'd call a civi…

We currently have more grown up kids than we do adults. Between the internet, porn, video games, and dude weed lmao, the typical adult is placated and ignorant of their surrounding, existence, potential, and future.

It’s a lot easier to sit there and watch the Colbert Report deliver a sick burn than it is to care and work towards change. Online karma points are the equivalent of gambling reward spikes. It’s all gamified bullshit.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#132

Post by chii »

manachar wrote: post #128
chii wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My point is that ideally we build a society where as many people as possible get to choose what they find fulfilling, and pursue it as much as they wish. But then what of the work that nobody wishes to pursue, but is required? Like farming for food, generating electricity and water, and many of the modern comforts? I'm sure everybody wishes to pursue their own passion, regardless of the value of that passion to _so…

Automate that work as much as possible and richly reward those who pursue it. One of the oddities of modern work is that the lowest paid jobs are mostly those nobody wants to do. Sure, we're not at replicator level, but farming of many crops require far fewer people than many imagine. Personally I find that many things that could be automated are not yet automated because humans are cheaper. Think cashier, waiter/wai…

The underlying assumption of people who make automation arguments are that those whose job got automated out of existence will somehow be able to consume the profits of those automation (and thus enjoy life, rather than to work).

This is wrong, because the automation costed capital, and the capital owners who invested in the automation are the ones capturing the benefits (mostly).

Horses whose job got automated out of existence by cars don't get to retire lavishly - they got turned into glue. And so will the people, if such an event were to happen.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#133

Post by IggleSniggle »

rixed wrote: post #118
JTBooth wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took off right before the pandemic. Now I'm living in Tokyo, engaged, and like my job. Doing weird shit rocks.

Survivor bias?

Really hard to know. My personal experience is that whenever I do weird shit, however, I've ended up in a better place? That is also itself a weird thing. Anyway, great comment, I just don't even know how to begin knowing the truth of this one without a personal belief based on lived experience. How would you even design an experiment to find the truth of this one?

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#134

Post by devwastaken »

amznbyebyebye wrote: post #25

People look at me like I’m insane when I tell them I’m packing up and taking a year off. I’ve f’in had enough. And that’s me, the wife and our two kids- not quite school age. No I haven’t FIREd. No I’m probably passing up a raise and a promo (or maybe not). Super linear growth requires super linear decision making. You either follow the sheeple or decide enough is enough and make some drastic change. Im not getting t…

If you're U.S. based and plan to live in Penang, Malaysia, that is going to be quite rough if/when the children want an American education. Many would kill for u.s. citizenship because of quality of living, medical support, and a court system that is mostly workable if you have money. Of course, I'm assuming based on lack of information. I hope it works for you.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#135

Post by skavi »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #104
gchamonlive wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can everybody earn a year off after working hard? No, because this is privilege. To be born in a rich country. To have family structure to study and go to college, to have a stable job and a successful career after graduation. To be lucky enough to choose a career that is in demand. Or to open a business that is successful. People underestimate A LOT how much of a role luck plays in successful careers. Sure hard work…

I think “privilege” is just the excuse used by people who aren’t willing to work hard, aren’t willing to put the extra time into learning a new skill, or aren’t willing to acknowledge that they didn’t get blessed genetically. It’s easier to create some label and blame everything on that. “Oh, I’m not rich at age 30. Must be privilege.” “Oh, I got passed over for that promotion. Must be their privilege”. People need t…

There certainly is luck involved in choosing a hobby which turns into a lucrative skill. And privilege involved when that hobby is programming which involves having sufficient access to fairly expensive machines.

I think "rose colored glasses" may not be the expression you were looking for. The person you are replying to is not ignoring inequity, they are acknowledging it. Sure people will always live better lives than others, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't work towards a more fair world.

Recognizing that the playing field isn't level, and that outcomes aren't controlled only by the amount of hard work you put in makes it easier to push towards a better world.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#136

Post by forgotmyoldname »

ryandrake wrote: post #41

I feel like there is wisdom in "Make hay while the sun shines." When you're young and unencumbered by responsibility and family, when your cognitive abilities are at their peak, when your energy is endless, when your body is strong and healthy, when your knees work, and your fingers can type without arthritis: that's the optimal time to work and earn. Min-max that salary and stay healthy. Due to compounding interest,…

I’m one of those fools who took a few years off before college, after college, and decided to up and move to a faraway country while I was young.

It’s very likely I’d have more money if I went straight to work while I was younger instead of goofing off. I could probably have paychecks twice as big as I do now.

But you know what? My worst days in the place I live now are better than my best days in my home country. My money goes farther here. I feel like the things I do actually matter now. I had time to develop personal skills and I feel like a better person for it.

Want to pursue money and prioritize your last 5 years of life (and ignore the very real possibility you’ll die or become disabled before then)? That’s fine. But you’re not going to be a failure if you forgo that unless you’re defining success as purely moving up a massive corporate ladder.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#138

Post by tayo42 »

chii wrote: post #83
tayo42 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

every post here in this post is triggering an existential crisis for me. oh what to do...

It pays to understand oneself. Why do people want _every_ fig on the tree? It's because of greed, and desire. If yo can imagine yourself be satisfied with obtaining just one of those figs, instead of only being satisfied from having it all, you'd have a much better time alive. It's the same root philosophy as finishing one project to completion, rather than start many but never finishing it to the end.

This probably changes depending on who you talk to, to me idk if its about wanting every fig. I think its worrying about which fig is the best, and trying to figure out what "best" even means. and curiosity of other figs.

And how much time should you spend on trying to know your self, to pick the best fig.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#139

Post by cm2012 »

gchamonlive wrote: post #93
bluedevil2k wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is still privilege The guy worked hard and earned his year off, don’t dismiss it by calling it privilege. He has the skills and intelligence and hard working habits to earn the year off, this is not privilege. Successful people aren’t successful because of privilege, that’s just a label for an excuse by those who aren’t successful. You get what you earn in life.

Can everybody earn a year off after working hard? No, because this is privilege. To be born in a rich country. To have family structure to study and go to college, to have a stable job and a successful career after graduation. To be lucky enough to choose a career that is in demand. Or to open a business that is successful. People underestimate A LOT how much of a role luck plays in successful careers. Sure hard work…

Not to mention intelligence, willingness to work hard, etc are all highly heritable, aka genetic luck

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#140

Post by erwincoumans »

ChildOfChaos wrote: post #12
yarky wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why though ? Specially since covid, I don't see why knowledge workers can't just follow their own schedule, subject to constraints such as "meeting at x" of course. This is an attitude more than anything I'd say, the "follow the calendar" mentality doesn't have to apply to you unless you choose so.

A lot of employers still won't allow that even though it's possible. You have to be online on messaging services/contactable by email with quick response during normal hours, making it very hard to do much else in this time. Covid has meant more people working remotely, but hasn't changed working schedules that much from what i have seen here at least.

How can you get 'in the zone' with constant messaging/on-call. I'm glad not to be in such position.
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