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My Life in Weeks

weeks.ginatrapani.org

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Re: My Life in Weeks

#111

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

layer8 wrote: post #105
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like others replying to this comment, I disagree because there is much work that needs to be done which cannot truly provide purpose to most people. However ... I do believe that any job should provide dignity and "purpose" in the narrower sense of something the person doing it believes needs to be done. Any job done full time (however a culture defines that) should also make a reasonable lower middle class life poss…

I think you mean that there are a lot of jobs that while serving a good purpose, aren’t necessarily enjoyed by many. I’m not sure how much that has to be the case. In any case, we should strive to maximize the jobs that are both sufficiently enjoyable and purposeful. The problem I see today is that there is a lot of “bullshit” work being done that doesn’t really serve any good purpose, or even makes things worse in t…

There's a difference between personal purpose and community purpose. I don't expect a city trash collector to consider their work to be their life's purpose, even if they do experience the work as having some purpose/value to the community.

The BS jobs hypothesis, popularized by David Graeber, is IMO quite flawed. It's a way to look at the world without having to get your mind dirty understanding how stuff actually works. Sometimes that can be a good stepping stone to asking "just why are we doing it this way?". However, the broader observation that Graeber makes (essentially: "everybody, especially the people doing them, know it is bullshit") points instead to the disconnect people experience between the work being done by and the actual stuff that they do. No doubt there are some true BS jobs, but I think far less of them than is often supposed. You and/or the person doing them may not see why they are there (and that is a problem), but that doesn't make them BS.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#112

Post by guelo »

HeatrayEnjoyer wrote: post #93
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The first ~1000 are spent in the the very limited tutorial area. I think it's kinda strange that you're saying up to age 19 is "the very limited tutorial area", as if it doesn't count. Up to age 3 or 4, before you have stable memory, perhaps I could understand, but I'm well, well into middle age and I think of some of the time between say 10-19 as the most vivid in terms of my memories, friends, direction of my lif…

I have almost no <20 memories and I'm barely 40.

Same here, I have a few but a lot of holes. Can't think of my day to day teen years at all.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#113

Post by sneak »

pronik wrote: post #92

Gina Trapani! That's a name I haven't heard in a long time and at first couldn't place correctly -- for some reason, my mind went to Groklaw, but Lifehacker was the correct answer. Maybe I'm idolizing my own youth and its associated available free time just a tiny bit and I can't actually believe it's been 20 years, but those felt like good times, Web 2.0 with its focus on communication instead of publishing, with Sl…

There are still tons of websites (more now than ever) not owned by gigantic corporations. It's not their fault that you and the masses mostly stopped going to them in favor of facebook and twitter and instagram and, of course, apps.

(You're on one right now, naturally.)

I get the same feeling when people say "RSS is dead". I read dozens of websites via RSS and my RSS reader still works fine. Very few blogs I want to read don't support RSS.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#114

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #66
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. My advice to young people is -- if you can't figure out what to do in life, make more $$. With enough $$ you will have a world of time to ponder what to do. I also regret that I gave up a FAANG level opportunity because my faily doesn't want me to go to another city. I would hit well over 200K TC by now -- a very comfortable salary in Canada.

On the other hand, there are opportunities that are only open to you when you're young. Squandering those opportunities by working so you can be retired at 40 or 50 isn't free. Meeting people in travel hostels would be one example. Being a young single on a beach abroad is another. Traveling in general is another. Wandering around Prague with some beers and friends you made 6 hours ago hits different at 26 than it do…

I think it really depends on what people want. Some people want meeting others in hostels and that's perfectly fine. But I'd still say for the majority of us getting the FU money early has tremendous advantage.

But I agree there is beauty in what you said.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#116

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #84
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. My advice to young people is -- if you can't figure out what to do in life, make more $$. With enough $$ you will have a world of time to ponder what to do. I also regret that I gave up a FAANG level opportunity because my faily doesn't want me to go to another city. I would hit well over 200K TC by now -- a very comfortable salary in Canada.

I earned over 200k base in Canada and it didn’t make that meaningful of a difference. I gave up chasing money and went to work for an NGO I care about, earning slightly more than half as much as before, and… I love it. I wouldn’t trade incomes if it meant trading the work. I thought the money would help, but with family, something will always suck it up. A trip, furniture, house, extracurricular, etc. I wasn’t gettin…

But would you work for an NGO if you don't have the savings from the 200K job? Maybe it's just me, but I never feel safe without the FU money, especially under this market.

BTW getting 100+K working for an NGO is fantastic! I thought they mostly just pay for meagre money. I only earn some 130K and would definitely love to switch to an NGO job with lower pay.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#117

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

999900000999 wrote: post #44
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. My advice to young people is -- if you can't figure out what to do in life, make more $$. With enough $$ you will have a world of time to ponder what to do. I also regret that I gave up a FAANG level opportunity because my faily doesn't want me to go to another city. I would hit well over 200K TC by now -- a very comfortable salary in Canada.

It's sounds vain, but money is probably one of the most important things. At my (our ?) level it's more a luxury of early retirement, but I had a friend who could never afford to move out. Her parents were pretty bad to her to say the least. She was stuck in a pattern of dating guys, moving in with them, getting kicked out and retreating to her parents. As I told her money gives you options...

Yeah. Money is something that doesn't necessarily bring you happiness, but lack of which would almost surely bring sorrow. I heard some people can live happily without money, but I don't know any of them.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#118

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #69
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #32

This is an interesting way of reflecting on one's life. I have calculated my ROL (Rest.Of.Life i.e. before been garbage collected) productive hours (hours dedicated to side projects) in a similar way, and the result panics me. Assume that I still have 37 years before been garbage collected, and 35 years before cognitive degeneration: Starting from today: [Time-frame 1]: I have 200 days before kid goes to primary scho…

I find it mildly insane that your only measure of productivity appears to be working on some sort of project. If you're really not trying to do that, maybe restructure this sort of assessment to just be a computation of hours you will be awake. That would at least leave it much more open what a productive hour actually means.

I measure productivity by measuring the effective amount of time spent on things I truly care about. I should probably clarify, but "project" isn't always a coding project. For example I also want to study General Relativity and that's a project for me too.

But I would say that most of the human interactions (small talk with strangers, with colleagues, etc.) doesn't bring meaning to my life, although I'm married and has a kid.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#119

Post by paulryanrogers »

karparov wrote: post #42
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. My advice to young people is -- if you can't figure out what to do in life, make more $$. With enough $$ you will have a world of time to ponder what to do. I also regret that I gave up a FAANG level opportunity because my faily doesn't want me to go to another city. I would hit well over 200K TC by now -- a very comfortable salary in Canada.

Quite the irony that the thread started with reminiscing about life and purpose and needing time and valuing relationships and you guys go into the "need to make more money" spiel. Here comes a secret: It will never be enough for you. It's not the money that counts. It's the ratio of income versus expenses, if anything. And if you grow one and don't stop the other one from growing in unison, then you have gained noth…

> I could retire any day (late 30s).

What would that look like? Do you have kids or a family to support? I'm one of two gainfully employed breadwinners among an extended family of 13 adults and 2 kids (my own).

Re: My Life in Weeks

#120

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

kenjackson wrote: post #64
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I have thought about it for a while, I think I have to get rid of work or family to be substantially happier. Apparently getting rid of family is morally wrong, so the only option is to get rid of work, somehow, anyhow. I fully understand why people buy lottery tickets. Hope beats probability on every single instance. I, a Master of Statistics graduates, buy them too.

What’s going on with your family? I can’t imagine much joy without mine.

I guess I'm just not a family person. I don't have too much to complain about my family but I don't (net) gain much. Of course I'm as responsible as your usual parents on the street so I don't want to get rid of my family.
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