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Life Is Short (2016)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#181

Post by chownie »

nicksiscoe wrote: post #176
yarrowy wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universal Basic income would solve those problems. Eventually AI and automation should perform all the mundane jobs which is a good thing but we need to provide basic sustenance for everyone.

I understand the justification for UBI from a labor perspective if all “mundane jobs” are automated, but where I haven’t heard convincing justification is on the more abstract “life purpose” side of things. What happens, regardless of UBI, if we move towards a system that provides little to no purpose in working towards anything, or at a basic level, working for a living at all? I know many friends and relatives who…

We don't have a fix for this problem now, we barely paper these social cracks by requiring people to work extended hours in jobs they don't value at all. Most people don't even have the time to think about how unfulfilled they are.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#182

Post by weatherlite »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #59
selfawareMammal wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still a social construct. As knowledge and science advance, the need for religion decreases and it's really on us to accept there are some questions we cannot answer.

>As knowledge and science advance, the need for religion decreases Citation needed, massively! If anything, the powerful technology and knowledge we now wield (weapons of mass destruction, mass surveillance, modern logistics and coordination, global communications) only makes it more important that we don't forget the hard-earned scoial and moral lessons of our pre-scientific ancestors - lessons that were often encod…

In the West is it even debatable that christianity is on a decline? As for the muslim world its more mixed but I do think the younger genereation is less religious than the older ones. It has a long way to go though till we can say its a secularized society.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#183

Post by Bouncingsoul1 »

Tade0 wrote: post #148
ThePadawan wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 found that most such people didn't originally plan for work from home, so their experience was predictably horrible. Also during the pandemic daycare/schools were closed, adding to the problem. Meanwhile me and other young dads who did plan for remote work have now a designated room for an office and children at daycare/kindergarten for most of the day. Until my child was old enough to attend daycare it was indeed…

I planned for this as well, 2 months before Covid happend, so a bit lucky. Anyway it works great and I don't want to go back. The thing I don't subscribe to is the "co-worker" part. you see if my child cannot attend daycare because she is sick, I cannot work full. we have an agreement at my work that in such cases we go into "50% or best effort"mode. I guess it depends on the child and maybe the job, but I cannot code/think/debug while a 4 year old wants to be entertained, also I don't want to sit her in front of a tv/mobile just to calm her down, so 50% it is

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#185

Post by paulryanrogers »

watwut wrote: post #107
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 have colleagues like that. When we had kids, I started to feel sorry for their wifes and realized how egoistical those guys are.

Try not to judge, you don't know their circumstances. Some may have medical, family, or cultural challenges ("Homeschool is only way! Daycare is the devil!") that make time at home stressful.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#186

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#187

Post by serverholic »

nicksiscoe wrote: post #176
yarrowy wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universal Basic income would solve those problems. Eventually AI and automation should perform all the mundane jobs which is a good thing but we need to provide basic sustenance for everyone.

I understand the justification for UBI from a labor perspective if all “mundane jobs” are automated, but where I haven’t heard convincing justification is on the more abstract “life purpose” side of things. What happens, regardless of UBI, if we move towards a system that provides little to no purpose in working towards anything, or at a basic level, working for a living at all? I know many friends and relatives who…

I don’t think it’s a true problem though, but a symptom of being raised in capitalism.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#188

Post by Trasmatta »

SCUSKU wrote: post #43
gallerdude wrote: post #18

There are a lot of great lines in this, but the one that’s always stuck with me is simply “bullshit is the junk food of experience.” It’s a perfect metaphor in so many ways, there’s some fundamental truth glowing behind it like a lightbulb.

The one I never forget is how PG describes his mother's death. "I lived as if she'd always be there. And in her typical quiet way she encouraged that illusion. But an illusion it was." I read this the last time it was posted and this scared the living hell out of me. It has reminded me to never take people, especially my family, for granted. I used to be much more reluctant to go home, but as I've grown older I now a…

Another line from that part:

> After my mother died, I wished I'd spent more time with her.

Sometimes I wonder this about my own parents. I haven't seen them in over a year. I have no desire to see them either, and am dreading the obligatory Christmas call.

I see a ton of advice floating around these days about "make sure to visit your parents a lot, because you'll regret it after they die if you don't". But there's another side to the "life is short" coin: maybe it's not worth spending time with people that make you intensely unhappy, even if those people are your parents.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#189

Post by lotsofpulp »

weatherlite wrote: post #182
AussieWog93 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>As knowledge and science advance, the need for religion decreases Citation needed, massively! If anything, the powerful technology and knowledge we now wield (weapons of mass destruction, mass surveillance, modern logistics and coordination, global communications) only makes it more important that we don't forget the hard-earned scoial and moral lessons of our pre-scientific ancestors - lessons that were often encod…

In the West is it even debatable that christianity is on a decline? As for the muslim world its more mixed but I do think the younger genereation is less religious than the older ones. It has a long way to go though till we can say its a secularized society.

“Religious-ness” has two contexts. One is for philosophical purposes, where a person agrees with a set of assumptions (aka beliefs).

The other context is as a tribal marker, for practical purposes. In this context, the “religiousness” is not about agreeing with the set of assumptions, but pretending to agree and/or going through the motions of various customs as a signal of how committed they are to the tribe.

In societies where individuals need to rely less on the tribe, it might be posited that there is less reason for people to put on a show for the latter reason, so they can afford to be less “religious”. So if, on average, children of Christians are more likely to be economically independent, then they may tend to being less religious, and children of Muslims, who are more likely to be economically dependent on each other, tend to be more religious.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#190

Post by noisy_boy »

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 would guess that if we further split 40 year old dads into introverts and extroverts, the sentiment would also split into loving wfh and being happier working away at the office.
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