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Quit Your Job

palladiummag.com

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Re: Quit Your Job

#261

Post by usrbinbash »

thelettere wrote: post #237
JimboOmega wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It smells like privilege. That isn't to say that the OP was protected regardless. But the mindset that lets you do this is a mindset that comes from a background of abundance. Where you can always get another job if you want one, where you always have friends or parents who will bail you out or give you what you need. A background where things just always seem to work out.

The idea that only the rich are able to take risks - or even think about it - is a bias, and an ugly one at that. It doesn't match history - the only reason we have many good things is because poor people took major risks - and it's part of the tyranny of low expectations that is seeping deeper every day into the fabric of our culture. It's a remarkably effective way of keeping the pours in their place in the name of…

Of course everyone can take risks, but the consequences of these risks backfiring, are vastly different based on available monetary resources.

A wealthy person may well sink years and piles of money into a dream. If it doesn't work out, meh, that's life. Back to some well paid job and preparing the next try.

Person in strained financial position doing the same and it backfires: May well take years to get back on ones feet, and may even end up in a homeless shelter.

Re: Quit Your Job

#262

Post by sangnoir »

thelettere wrote: post #237
JimboOmega wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It smells like privilege. That isn't to say that the OP was protected regardless. But the mindset that lets you do this is a mindset that comes from a background of abundance. Where you can always get another job if you want one, where you always have friends or parents who will bail you out or give you what you need. A background where things just always seem to work out.

The idea that only the rich are able to take risks - or even think about it - is a bias, and an ugly one at that. It doesn't match history - the only reason we have many good things is because poor people took major risks - and it's part of the tyranny of low expectations that is seeping deeper every day into the fabric of our culture. It's a remarkably effective way of keeping the pours in their place in the name of…

> It doesn't match history - the only reason we have many good things is because poor people took major risks

Check your history again - most of the people who made scientific discoveries or breakthroughs were people of means, or otherwise didn't have to do "real" (paying) work[1] and could afford to dick-around with experiments all day long for months on end and not starve.

1. In history - i.e. from dawn of time to about 1950-ish, when research universities and corporate/government R&D matured.

Re: Quit Your Job

#263

Post by bvm »

themacguffinman wrote: post #175

"If you lose everything you own, you generally still have your network and skills" I get the general call to action that those who have excess resources should leverage that to take big risks, but this really undersells the possible consequences of losing everything you own. No, you don't always keep your network and skills. Sometimes, you lose everything. You lose friends from fallout or you belatedly realize that y…

Nobody knows you when you're down and out.

Re: Quit Your Job

#264

Post by boring_twenties »

sdze wrote: post #239
Jensson wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody risks it all unless they bet their life, everyone can go back making salary doing basic work. For example, if a software engineer risks their life savings on a project and they lose all of that money, they can still go back and make $300k a year just doing basic work, that is hardly "risking their all" either.

Where the hell do you earn 300k per year? In Europe most certainly it this is not possible. Also don't forget life style creep and risk of loss of social circles.

In the US 300k is table stakes for a developer with any experience at a profitable company, certain markets will pay way more.

Re: Quit Your Job

#265

Post by srcreigh »

root_axis wrote: post #145
darkengine wrote: post #41

I know it's bad form to move so quickly into meta-discussion on here, but I feel a lot of the comments in the thread right now are endemic of a certain closed-mindedness that has, to me, come to define in part the Hacker News zeitgeist, which stands in something of a contrast to the site's supposed founding principle of intellectual curiosity. There is plenty of prior art in Western (and other traditions of) philosop…

Your post is interesting but I think you're looking too deeply into it. The pushback in this thread is almost entirely a reaction to the self-assured and self-aggrandizing tone taken by the author. I think on a software startup forum we can all appreciate the tension between the stability of a large consistent salary and the fear/risks associated with striking it out on your own, but the lack of humility and self-awa…

The writing is a piece of philosophy discussing topics of such importance as the meaning of life. If you don't want to look deeply into it, it's not written for you. In which case, the lack of... Nevermind. Have a nice day :)

Re: Quit Your Job

#266

Post by hsn915 »

40four wrote: post #235

I don’t know if the OP is the author of this article or not, but all I have to say I want to buy into the overall concept/ thesis. But the writing is so erratic and turbulent, it is really hard to follow the author’s train of thought. It feels like they are trying SO hard to come across as deep and intellectual, that they lost sight of how it comes across to the reader. It’s like they are trying to force as many ‘big…

It probably means you are not the target audience.

I found the flow of ideas make a lot of sense.

Perhaps you don't have the "ambient background" of the mindset of the author. Maybe reading a few other articles (just pick randomly) from Palladium magazine can help you get a grasp of things -- if you are interested.

Re: Quit Your Job

#267

Post by thelettere »

sangnoir wrote: post #262
thelettere wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that only the rich are able to take risks - or even think about it - is a bias, and an ugly one at that. It doesn't match history - the only reason we have many good things is because poor people took major risks - and it's part of the tyranny of low expectations that is seeping deeper every day into the fabric of our culture. It's a remarkably effective way of keeping the pours in their place in the name of…

> It doesn't match history - the only reason we have many good things is because poor people took major risks Check your history again - most of the people who made scientific discoveries or breakthroughs were people of means, or otherwise didn't have to do "real" (paying) work[1] and could afford to dick-around with experiments all day long for months on end and not starve. 1. In history - i.e. from dawn of time to…

Where did I say science? Many modern scientific disciplines are by their nature exclusionary because they require access to specialized equipment and space, so of course that's somewhat of an exception to my generality.

And I say somewhat because historically a surprising number of breakthroughs did not happen in a lab, nor were discovered by professional scientists. I took a course in the history of science and tech and the primary lesson pounded into us was how often breakthroughs were accidents made by amateurs.

And among the names of poor scientists are folks like Tesla and the early Einstein I mentioned earlier. So my point stands, even extending a little bit at least here.

Re: Quit Your Job

#268

Post by tonyedgecombe »

themacguffinman wrote: post #144
darkengine wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not offended at all. I do see some Meditations showing through here. There is a lot of wisdom to be found in that work, and plenty of parallels to be drawn to the modern world -- Aurelius was, after all, dealing with the Antonine Plague just before dawn in the decline of the Roman Empire. My biggest issue with Stoicism is that it is, at its best, basically therapy. Most of the advice in Meditations revolves around pu…

Isn't this one of the most common criticisms of the US: that its median/common income is miserably low? That's why there's so much polemic about a "living wage" and "debt crisis" in US politics. You're assuming that the low median income of <$35k is enough and that's why "provide for themselves and family" is a low bar, but actually a lot of Americans don't think it's enough.

It doesn't matter how much money people have, they never think it's enough.

Re: Quit Your Job

#269

Post by bawolff »

someguydave wrote: post #224
bawolff wrote: post #208

I was nodding along until i reached: >Yes, even the bane of Darwin’s faith—the humble ichneumon wasp that lays its maggots inside the living bodies of caterpillars to eat them from the inside and burst out on maturity like some alien xenomorph—is a beautiful creature with a sacred task. Like many parasites, its role in the great chain of being is to test the health and defenses of its caterpillar host population. Its…

No, he is offering an idea to square a good and loving God with the horrors we see in life. This is known as a theodicy.

How is that a counter argument to what i said?

The best way to fix the problem of evil is to say that the evil has a higher noble purpose and thus is justified. That applies just as much to man as it does to the divine, and has been how the majority of evil acts in the world get justified.

Giving it a fancy name just means it has a fancy name. It doesn't change the content of the idea.

Re: Quit Your Job

#270

Post by srcreigh »

cutler wrote: post #186

The author lives in a self-centered universe in which the virtues of service and responsibility to others count for nothing. Any goal associated with financial ends is reduced to a blind alley which obfuscates "true" goals but there are many charitable goals which involve exclusive focus on purely financial intermediate goals. Providing for one's family is the most basic of such goals but the author seems to be focus…

> This is a key part of what it means to be a responsible elite. You use your privilege and your personal judgment to explore and solve problems that no one else can.

> If you have the resources to spend some time exploring, if you are on to interesting threads of novelty that few other people have, and if you have the spirit to tighten your belt, throw out your map, and explore off-road, then your real job is to do so.

It's not really self-centered.

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