Life's a piece of shit (Oooh)
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true (Oooh)
You'll see it's all a show (Oooh)
Keep 'em laughin' as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you (Oooh)
Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
31–40 of 167 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#32My answer was found by having kids. For me, one of the absolute best things about having kids was that it eliminated all doubt: I now had a 100% crystal clear main quest that trivially answers, "what should I be doing right now?" if I'm ever not sure. Everything else in life, especially my career, is just a side quest now.
Why am I working? Before kids I foolishly thought it had something to do with being part of a team that is going to really change the world somehow. Now I do it to make money. And by not fooling myself about the "change the world" nonsense, it's now very easy to not work past 5pm, not have Slack on my phone, and be wholly present with my family most of my week. It helps me pick working less over getting raises or being promoted to a position that will demand I'm always reachable. It helps me decide, "do I want to be doing this hobby, or do I want to play with my kids?" It helps me make hobbies more interesting by involving my kids. It helps me never feel like I'm wasting my time here. If I go months without working on some project or developing some set of skills, no problem!
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#33You could be suffering from depression, and it may be worth speaking to a doctor.
Doctors don’t have answers. They’ll give you SSRIs which will numb your emotions and ruin your drive, or they’ll refer you to a therapist who will take your money in exchange for listening to you vent once a week.
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#34If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. There are plenty of opportunities in life you can find you at if that's something you are after.
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#35"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil"
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#36God I love this question. I ask the exact same thing at least twice a week. I use to have real depression over this issue.
I have zero answers for you. Personally, I learned to truly be ok with the answer "we don't know yet, but we're working toward it together". If you can somehow get to that point, you'll feel a little ease and maybe even a bit more connection with the rest of humanity.
I don't feel like most of humanity cares or even thinks about this in any regular interval, but I do. Might sound lame, but I feel like the right thing to do is contribute to meaningful work (space travel, medicine, sustainable energy, ) and focus on immediate problems in those areas.
People like you and I will never be around to see if humans collectively find good answers to these questions, but the same can be said about all the humans before us that got us to this point, and I'm truly thankful for what they built so far for us.
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#37Nothing. You were given the gift of life which is random af in this universe. You come here. You go. Use the time you have in a wise manner.
The pressure to "use the time you have in a wise manner" may be part of what is driving the OPs angst that they must focus energy on some worthwhile end. Someone already mentioned Oliver Burke's book 4000 Weeks but it does a fairly good job of describing a different point of view.
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#38You might be depressed out burnt out. You might be at a job that is demoralizing. For a while, I used productivity as a replacement for fulfillment, and work as a distraction from difficult parts of life.
I eventually realized that I was miserable, and focusing on productivity just made me better at being miserable fast. Some people get joy out of optimizing their life - I don't.
I get joy out of working with people I respect towards a shared goal. As long as it's not actively harmful, I don't care what that goal is. I found a team that I liked which scratches that itch. I spend my free time with friends and family, reading, and doing other activities that are just existing. It works well for me
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#39You're already at a place where you can be content with what you have. There is nothing you need to pursue, you already have it.
Re: Ask HN: What are we even chasing?
#40Escaping the matrix is the aim.