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Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

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Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#71

Post by khazhoux »

renewiltord wrote: post #41

Interesting. Google and USPS are among the most trusted organizations in the US. They also both have a reputation for being good to work at for different socioeconomic classes. The former has some rate of people killing themselves and the latter has some rate of people killing others to the degree that they're now slang for flipping your shit. I wonder what the difference is.

> slang for flipping your shit

This is because there was a string of postal-worker incidents in the 80s or 90s (I forget) which grabbed the nation's attention. I don't think USPS actually has a murder problem.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#72

Post by tempsy »

sterlind wrote: post #68
tempsy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and I mentioned that he could have purposefully climbed a ledge to take nighttime photos and tripped. I’ve seen dozens of “daredevil” skyline shots of NYC where people climb rooftops/bridges to take photos. Someone intentionally jumping does not “hang” on the side, they just jump.

unless they have a change of heart? or maybe they're standing on the ledge trying to get up the courage to jump, and slip? a lot of people who attempt suicide immediately regret it (of the survivors.)

ok but the criticism is the headline says he jumped when they don’t know, and that a fall is not a jump

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#73

Post by khazhoux »

protonimitate wrote: post #67
khazhoux wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They weren't "minimizing." The point is that this article is trying to create a "Googlers are killing themselves" narrative, which is unwarranted.

There's nothing in the article (if you read it) that tries to paint that narrative. As far as NYP goes, it's actually pretty mild and factual. I don't understand why so many commenters here are jumping at the chance to defend poor little Google from the evils of bad journalism. Also how is > Maybe there is a real issue but two suicides within such large number of employees isn’t really significant. NOT minimizing?

It's /mildly/ crafting the narrative in the very title... "second worker," which is implying "this is a pattern." Even the first word of the title is "Google."

As for the minimizing, remember that on HN we aim to take the best possible interpretation of our fellow members' comments. I'll assume that the person who wrote "isn't really significant" isn't a heartless monster, and therefore what they meant what that "this didn't merit a Google-focused NYPost article."

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#74

Post by renewiltord »

khazhoux wrote: post #71
renewiltord wrote: post #41

Interesting. Google and USPS are among the most trusted organizations in the US. They also both have a reputation for being good to work at for different socioeconomic classes. The former has some rate of people killing themselves and the latter has some rate of people killing others to the degree that they're now slang for flipping your shit. I wonder what the difference is.

> slang for flipping your shit This is because there was a string of postal-worker incidents in the 80s or 90s (I forget) which grabbed the nation's attention. I don't think USPS actually has a murder problem.

Last one was within a decade, apparently. https://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/ex-postal-worker-accuse...

An ongoing problem, with at least one per decade and more than one for most since the 70s

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#75

Post by mydogcanpurr »

renewiltord wrote: post #66
tedivm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is among the most trusted organizations in the US? That doesn't seem right.

Why not? They've pretty much only provided great products to the average consumer. Google and Amazon have a great positive direct impact on most Americans' lives. Here's a report from direct surveys: https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands-2020/ Most people don't really care about a Doubleclick pixel or Amazon gazumping sellers with an Amazon Basics thing. For many, the latter is a positive thing and a trusted…

Don't make me point at the sign...

https://killedbygoogle.com/

That's just one example, and I really don't care enough to list more reasons.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#76

Post by renewiltord »

mydogcanpurr wrote: post #75
renewiltord wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? They've pretty much only provided great products to the average consumer. Google and Amazon have a great positive direct impact on most Americans' lives. Here's a report from direct surveys: https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands-2020/ Most people don't really care about a Doubleclick pixel or Amazon gazumping sellers with an Amazon Basics thing. For many, the latter is a positive thing and a trusted…

Don't make me point at the sign... https://killedbygoogle.com/ That's just one example, and I really don't care enough to list more reasons.

It would appear most people don't care about those products, then.

I scrolled through and didn't care about the first page. Maybe Hangouts? And I have free GSuite still so don't know why that's on the list.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#77

Post by ziziyO »

haswell wrote: post #53
protonimitate wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An employee of Google who jumped from the Google office is a pretty obvious connection. Don't really see how this is clickbait.

Why is this a pretty obvious connection vs. just the pragmatic reality of having access to the Google building? The factors that play into suicide are numerous, and there is no apparent reason that Google was a causal factor. This is also not to say that they aren’t, but to point out that speculation about this has zero standing.

A worker kills himself at work by jumping off a work building and you are here trying to tell me speculation about work being involved has zero standing? I don't buy it.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#78

Post by stcroixx »

symlinkk wrote: post #40
stcroixx wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Identifying with your employer to the extent you view it as the pinnacle of your life isn’t likely to end positively. It’s just too much control to cede to a third party who has a business relationship with you.

Ok so what do you tie your feeling of success to? Getting married and having kids? What if your wife divorces you? Same problem.

I personally don’t have any feeling of success and don’t seem to miss it, I’m quite content.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#79

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

justrealist wrote: post #17
stcroixx wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Identifying with your employer to the extent you view it as the pinnacle of your life isn’t likely to end positively. It’s just too much control to cede to a third party who has a business relationship with you.

At some extremes, this is false, right? What about someone becoming an astronaut? Getting elected president? Be cautious who you cede your identity to, but it's OK to be genuinely excited about some career outcomes.

> Identifying with your employer to the extent you view it as the pinnacle of your life isn’t likely to end positively.

> At some extremes, this is false, right? What about someone becoming an astronaut?

Sorry about the source, but have a look at this workplace discussion between two Russian Astronauts, about how that after the big send-off the job is a "heavy routine" and "depression hits". But they can't give it up.

https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/grzwfl/i_love_this_c...

- "I'm fed up. Fuck. This is the last time"

- "hahahaha"

- "What, dammit?"

- "This is the tenth time I hear that from you. We live while we work or fly."

I mean, what do you do after being an astronaut? If it's "the extreme pinnacle of your life" and it's over.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#80

Post by khazhoux »

renewiltord wrote: post #74
khazhoux wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slang for flipping your shit This is because there was a string of postal-worker incidents in the 80s or 90s (I forget) which grabbed the nation's attention. I don't think USPS actually has a murder problem.

Last one was within a decade, apparently. https://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/ex-postal-worker-accuse... An ongoing problem, with at least one per decade and more than one for most since the 70s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_postal_killings

Shocking list. Of course, one must factor the number of employees, and this list is over a 50-year period.

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