I'm working on nothing. I want to do something but I have no ideas and I'm also laid off so I have the time but no mental motivation.
Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
251–260 of 288 posts
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is true. The big turning point was the release of the iPhone, a device that allowed people who didn't know what a computer was to access the internet.
Why iphone? We had internet on mobile phones before that point. But I agree with idea that internet became dumber with more people in.
I think mostly just the iPhone exploded it, and also made a lot of things much more low effort. Like take for example people constantly posting photos of themselves and food and what have you on social media - pre iPhone high quality photos required a separate camera and a computer in order to upload onto social media. Post iPhone you could do it all from one device.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How wrong were we Nowhere! Social media brought out the true character of people; most (many?) of us are negative species, mix that along with bad people.
Ehh this type of thinking is reductive. The primary issues are a combination of nature vs nurture. The age of argument, the solution has always been some combination of both. But when you look at our western society over the past 60 years or so, you see that -fundamentally- the nurture part of the equation is being heavily influenced by capitalistic forces. For example, news used to be once a day, then 3 times a day,…
> There isn't more news now than 100 years ago, so how do you feel all that time and how do you keep someone engaged?
So, I agree with your point, and I also agree that there isn't enough news to fill 24/7 coverage... but there is definitely more news, or at least more news that may be of interest to any given audience, than 100 years ago because we live in a more globally connected society where issues in another country can absolutely have direct impact on us because manufacturing/materials sourcing became something that now happens on a more global scale.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#254Yes. I quit my job in September, haven't really produced anything since despite having a lot of free time on my hands. I find the software space to be very uninspiring at the moment; everything that's going on is LLMs and crappy LLM wrapper startups. In all my years of HN surfing addiction, the last 6 months have been the most boring, but maybe that's just me.
LLMs are just what is in the news
Why do you think that represents the software industry as a whole?
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am not the OP, but I disagree here. Happiness that we find in our social life, our friendships, family and relationships is not the same or swap-able with our career. This is something I learned the hard way, being drunk on startup cool-aid in the early life till it wore me down. Friendships or other things I mentioned: not that everything is smooth, but there is a sense of comfort, pleasure, joy that just does not…
The point of disagreement here is probably with regards to our definitions of happiness. What you define as happiness, I see as just forms of temporary satisfaction or pleasure. In my opinion, I think happiness isn’t the goal since it’s temporary. Instead we should aim for equanimity which arises from the complete cessation of stress and doubt and is much harder to obtain but is longer lasting.
I would highly encourage* you to read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I used to look at happiness and love also from a high pedestal point of view. As if I am more intellectual and these are mere temporary illusions. This book changed my point of view. Also, I live in the land of people living in love and harmony with Buddism being a strong presence all around (Nepal, Sikkim, etc.).
I embraced life, love, bonding, friendships, heartbreaks and have never looked back.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#256Wow, I just wanted to say thanks a lot for posting this. I'm in a very similar boat. I was always very focused and goal-oriented in my younger days - a bit of a workaholic but generally enjoyed working hard. A number of changes since the pandemic have left me feeling very similar to you: 1. Like tons of other people, I re-evaluated my relationship with work during the pandemic. To be honest, it wasn't easy. I think a…
I do feel that the world would be better off if all the big tech companies (Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) just completely stopped building any new tech.
I'd restrict that to social media. That and "competitive" journalism are turning society to trash IMHO.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#257i am in the middle of switching between job functions, and my free time is currently split between applying for jobs and doing things other than tech that i am more passionate about.
i am learning new things at work and while it would be a good idea to demonstrate it through some smaller projects using them. but i share the sentiment with op and the others in terms of personal drive to do such stuff.
i do find the "show HN" posts demotivating like some people would find other people posting about their great lives on social media.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#258The pandemic did this to a lot of people. Habits are difficult to form, and are more easily broken. In my estimation, the pandemic caused many people to lose everything, or at least lose a lot of things which they spent years creating or building. Rebuilding from proverbial ground zero, or seeing the transient nature of things that may not have seemed quite so transient (be they projects, friendships, relationships, careers) before become destroyed, does quite a number on motivation.
Obviously, some people flourished during the past few years. Though, the majority of my coworkers and friends hit the permanent suspend button on side projects and other things. It is difficult to stay motivated on projects when you realize how much can be taken from you in an instant.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#259Wow, I just wanted to say thanks a lot for posting this. I'm in a very similar boat. I was always very focused and goal-oriented in my younger days - a bit of a workaholic but generally enjoyed working hard. A number of changes since the pandemic have left me feeling very similar to you: 1. Like tons of other people, I re-evaluated my relationship with work during the pandemic. To be honest, it wasn't easy. I think a…
I am far younger than you, but ditto on all counts. The pandemic crushed everything that I studied and worked for. And it taught me as someone in my early 20s that even though I spent my entire life with my nose to the grindstone, everything could be instantly stripped away by world governments, and friends and coworkers and family members could also suddenly turn on each other like rabid dogs.
Honestly, at least be grateful that you had some good years of excitement, it seems. I was young during the 2008 crash, but it affected my family. And now I have no motivation for anything. My peers are similar. Why build something only to have it crushed? A lot of us are just living in the moment. We also saw people with lifelong careers and families of their own have their lives destroyed by various governments in the USA and abroad.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#260I'm working on myself through my work, if that counts? I'm a staff-level SWE. I took the last year off of paid employment because I felt anxious and stressed even though everything was, objectively, fine. I had some poor health habits that I was staunchly ignoring and a project I was deeply vested in at my job was ripped out from under me. The meaning I ascribed to that project was giving my life purpose and, with th…
Thanks for writing all that out, I'm in a similar situation I suppose and you've made me feel better. And I love the idea of your ant colony.