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Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

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11–20 of 41 posts

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#12
Sounds like you've been unfortunate and have spent all your time with financially driven people. A bunch of that might from from working in advertising. I can assure you that there are founders and companies that are ethical and moral, though they may be rare. My point being that you might want to focus on changing the type of people you work with as much as the topic and market segment. Certainly you will find a higher percentage of people motivated to do good for the world in the nonprofit sector, for example.

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#14
I worked a lot on advertising/marketing related software. And had very similar feelings.

Only until I've resolved my main personal psy issues.

Since then I don't care. Job is just a mean to an end. As long as I don't do anything illegal - i'm fine. If I don't like it - I change it to something I like more.

I don't give a single duck how others make money or how much they make. Also I know that there are as many assholes hiding behind noble "missiona" as there are among entrepreneurs just trying to make good money.

I work as long as it is valuable for me and my goals.

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#15
take a deep breath. go for a walk. exercise. look at the clouds and wonder why they make the shapes they do. start conversations with people you don't know. clean up trash from the street. send a letter to a friend. record the sounds of birds. draw a picture or make a comic book about how you feel and mail it to yourself. dig a hole and then look at the dirt with a macro lens. try to get really good at making noodles. volunteer at a school, teach programming to kids. make a robot that draws a picture and mail it to your mom. get a job at the library. make friends with a crow. set a long term, 1000 year vision for your life. smile at your heart and be kind to yourself. pour yourself a cup of tea, smoke some hash. get good at making pickles. champion biodiversity. fill in the cracks with gold. wave to strangers in a heartfelt way. forgive yourself because you are good enough.

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#16
Since you know the ads surveillance Borg so well you are uniquely positioned to understand how to solve the problems it has created for everyone. Spend a lot of time thinking about why your past work doesn't sit right with you and the conditions that caused you to be paid to do it. Then consider what could be changed that would make these conditions slightly better. That will help you find other groups whose work you value or come up with your own ideas to pursue.

There are extremely obvious problems in energy and biotech that everyone wants solved but they are harder to break into with your background. However it's probably not truly that hard to contribute in a software capacity if your horizon is a few years.

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#17

I worked a lot on advertising/marketing related software. And had very similar feelings. Only until I've resolved my main personal psy issues. Since then I don't care. Job is just a mean to an end. As long as I don't do anything illegal - i'm fine. If I don't like it - I change it to something I like more. I don't give a single duck how others make money or how much they make. Also I know that there are as many assho…

Of course people are motivated by money but there is are difference on how you can achieve that goal. And in advertising it is mostly on the backs of the most naïve users.

In contrast there are people that really improve software and products for everyone and there are countless examples of that.

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#19
post #15

take a deep breath. go for a walk. exercise. look at the clouds and wonder why they make the shapes they do. start conversations with people you don't know. clean up trash from the street. send a letter to a friend. record the sounds of birds. draw a picture or make a comic book about how you feel and mail it to yourself. dig a hole and then look at the dirt with a macro lens. try to get really good at making noodles…

realize you're still caught in the hamster wheel of capitalism and all you did is moot

Re: Ask HN: Had enough – a need for a new beginning

#20
post #15

take a deep breath. go for a walk. exercise. look at the clouds and wonder why they make the shapes they do. start conversations with people you don't know. clean up trash from the street. send a letter to a friend. record the sounds of birds. draw a picture or make a comic book about how you feel and mail it to yourself. dig a hole and then look at the dirt with a macro lens. try to get really good at making noodles…

realize you're still caught in the hamster wheel of capitalism and all you did is moot

Feelings are a strong motivator for actions, and learning/experiencing which of those activities lead to a more positive emotional/mental state is the first step to enable healthier decision making, even to escape the wheel if still necessary. It's hard to realize their value while only mentally executing them in a state where the wheel is the dominant outlook.
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