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Life Is Short (2016)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#161

Post by weatherlite »

rvba wrote: post #122
sofixa wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when it's proven that such model is completely unsustainable economically and socially How exactly has it been proven? That's a very strong word to use for something that has never been tried on anything but very small scale limited pilots.

It hasnt been proven but those who live in Europe see families that get: -free housing -free money -money for children (that they use for themselves) -various other help (clothes, coal, christmas packages) This had an unfortunate effect of creating a group of people who never worked and all they did was raise 3-5 children. Despite the parents not working (so having time to take care of their children) those children…

Welp, soon enough us programmers might join this group of people you're describing...who would've thunk.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#162

Post by [deleted] »

kubb wrote: post #38

This makes you think that Paul would be interested in fighting for a world where people don't waste most of their short lives in bullshit corporate jobs because the market demands it, and instead can focus on important things like their families.

[deleted]

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#163

Post by Aperocky »

kubb wrote: post #38

This makes you think that Paul would be interested in fighting for a world where people don't waste most of their short lives in bullshit corporate jobs because the market demands it, and instead can focus on important things like their families.

These two things are not mutually exclusive.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#164

Post by eastbound »

Glawen wrote: post #136
alexeichemenda wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

France’s RSA does not meet UBI standards that we’re considering in the US / California because the amount paid is so small. If you live alone with 2 kids, RSA would be 899€/month in 2022, far below minimum wage.

RSA is not only the monthly amount paid, the recipients also live in social housings paying next to nothing in rent, heating, healthcare and transportation. A similar thing exists in other country like UK or Germany

And cost of living in France is very low. People are happy with 1800€, as long as they have the rebates for theater and transports.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#165

Post by helij »

ThePadawan wrote: post #120
ablatt89 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny enough, I know some engineers who go to work, non-remote, to escape from their wife and kids for a bit and work becomes an avenue to relax! And having to take care of an aging parent who lives with me, I can understand.

I was interviewing for a job in the middle and towards the end of 2020, and regardless of my chances of success or interest, I asked the interviewers how work from home had gone for them so far. I encountered this sentiment most of all - 40 year old dads who were suddenly stuck at home with the wife and kids, working from an improvised home office. When I asked about returning to the office, most of them were clearly…

I'm 40+ year old dad as well. I don't feel stuck at home with wife and kids. I don't want to ever return to the office. I'm in managerial position and know that WFH is not any less efficient or less comfortable. I find office to have more distractions. Sentiment is shared across the team as well.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#166

Post by stormking »

fsflover wrote: post #143
stormking wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is a family of simple heuristics like the "Golden Rule", "tit-for-tat" etc.

I don't think it works well, or better than religion for many people.

How did you come to the conclusion that religion works at all?

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#167

Post by SimonPStevens »

unity1001 wrote: post #149
twblalock wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If everyone behaved like that, our society wouldn't have the wealth needed to make anyone's lives comfortable and secure, except for the lives of the rich. A job that provides an income to a worker, and generates wealth for society, is not bullshit -- even if all it involves is making crappy consumer products, or working on an assembly line, or doing paperwork all day. In fact, such jobs are the reason the majority o…

> If everyone behaved like that, our society wouldn't have the wealth needed to make anyone's lives comfortable and secure, except for the lives of the rich The society today already has the means to make only 1% of the population work, and still keep the comfort level for everyone as it is. We are making people waste their lives away creating imaginary wealth to bump up the stored imaginary wealth in financial insti…

I'm very sceptical about this claim. Would like to see a source.

Sure, we may have enough "money" to redistribute it. But if 99% of the population stops working, who is going to make everything we use, produce food, run power stations, and transport everything to us. Automation is great, but it doesn't cover anywhere near 99% of necessary jobs yet.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#168

Post by [deleted] »

sriku wrote: post #140

Somewhat related and somewhat tangential. Slavoj Zizek on the "tautological emptiness of the master's wisdom" - """ The tautological emptiness of a Master's Wisdom is exemplified in the inherent stupidity of proverbs. Let us engage in a mental experiment by way of trying to construct proverbial wisdom out of the relationship between terrestrial life, its pleasures, and its Beyond. If ones says, "Forget about the afte…

[deleted]

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#169

Post by ramraj07 »

jdkee wrote: post #4

"One great thing about having small children is that they make you spend time on things that matter: them. They grab your sleeve as you're staring at your phone and say "will you play with me?" And odds are that is in fact the bullshit-minimizing option." This. He is right about this.

This may be true, but this is not the majority of your life - unless you’re on some mission to repopulate the earth, you’ll have maybe 8-10 years when you have children who aren’t babies who want to play with you. Apparently people become magically wise during those years and then quickly forget these wisdom after. If that’s not true then you should be seeing a glut of extremely wise people who’ve been “corrected” by their child raising experience decades ago.

The reality is, kids trigger happiness centers in our lizard brains. Enjoy the short time with them, but let’s not fool ourselves that children fundamentally change your life view in any way. If anything the person you should be working to prioritize is your partner, who if you do it right will be with you fairly unchanged all your life. Given the divorce rates though, most people don’t seem to have gotten that memo however.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#170

Post by Aeolun »

ablatt89 wrote: post #63
kubb wrote: post #38

This makes you think that Paul would be interested in fighting for a world where people don't waste most of their short lives in bullshit corporate jobs because the market demands it, and instead can focus on important things like their families.

Funny enough, I know some engineers who go to work, non-remote, to escape from their wife and kids for a bit and work becomes an avenue to relax! And having to take care of an aging parent who lives with me, I can understand.

Certainly. When I’m at home I sometimes cannot wait to run off to the office. The feeling is often temporary though, and by 3-4 I’m basically waiting until I can get home :)
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