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Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

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Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#151

Post by Evbn »

TheFuture wrote: post #135
Lagged2Death wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're the Michelangelos of the great age of machine intelligence which is yet to come. If there's a great age of machine intelligence to come, then one in a million of us may be a Michelangelo. The rest of us are house-painters, and the houses we paint are slated for demolition within our own lifetimes.

So true. Just crushed me...

What is wrong with everyone doing well, including your peers and descendants? Why must everyone want to be the top dog forever? You are going to die. No one will buy or code their way out of that, not even Zuck or Gates

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#152

Post by Evbn »

Surio wrote: post #74
jacquesm wrote: post #36

Hell yes! There are many different kinds of programming, some are fun and some are not. If you really want to be doing this when you're 50 make sure you get good enough that you can pick the projects that are fun. If by the time you are 50 and you've been doing this for 3 decades you are still gluing api's that's not the fault of 'programming', that's a direct result of choices made earlier. And one more thing: on th…

@Jacquesm, I agree with your FU money concept and I am actively working on that. I think this comment is a byproduct (side-effect?! (-;) of your having achieved FI. But what you mentioned here is what I would consider "Let them eat cake instead" advice. :) Not well thought out. Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion, and besides historical perspectives are based on whatever set of lenses you choose to wear. Actually, o…

By grandparents were busting their hump building new businesses after fleeing genocide in their home country, I wouldn't trade my life for theirs.

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#153

Post by Surio »

Surio wrote: post #74
jacquesm wrote: post #36

Hell yes! There are many different kinds of programming, some are fun and some are not. If you really want to be doing this when you're 50 make sure you get good enough that you can pick the projects that are fun. If by the time you are 50 and you've been doing this for 3 decades you are still gluing api's that's not the fault of 'programming', that's a direct result of choices made earlier. And one more thing: on th…

@Jacquesm, I agree with your FU money concept and I am actively working on that. I think this comment is a byproduct (side-effect?! (-;) of your having achieved FI. But what you mentioned here is what I would consider "Let them eat cake instead" advice. :) Not well thought out. Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion, and besides historical perspectives are based on whatever set of lenses you choose to wear. Actually, o…

@Both, That has been my point exactly. All of this "my life is worse or better than before/my-ancestors" is context/situation/location dependent to a very large extent. Same goes for jacquesm expert advice on "you can pick the projects that are fun".

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#154

Post by prodigal_erik »

joshyeager wrote: post #109
michaelochurch wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like that idea as well, but the problem is that your manager will, over the long term, change. Most people have no insurance against some person they've never met being hired above them. You need enough independent credibility to protect yourself against that. You have 5 years of managerial experience, so you probably have enough work experience that any job move would be a likely promotion, so your company has inc…

Most of my experience has been in product-focused teams, so there is a good mixture of R&D and polish work. The company as a whole has to spend time convincing customers that our product is useful, but the development team is able to focus on actually making a useful product. I can see how what you're saying could be a much bigger problem in a project-focused organization (or if you're working on a product that isn't…

My version of "values software" is that it be mission-critical. If it breaks, we're going to be chatting at 2 AM and testing a patch at 3, because we'd lose vast sums of money or customers by waiting until after breakfast. I met my favorite manager turning around a shop like this.

Most software is utter garbage because everyone knows better than to actually rely on it and nothing bad happens to incompetent people maintaining it.

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#155

Post by Surio »

Lagged2Death wrote: post #108
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #49

I love programming and still consider myself a programmer first, although I do a lot of other things too. If I wanted to rag on programming, I'd point out how many dysfunctional programming workplaces we have, or how our tools are always 100 times more complex than they need to be, or how setting up and managing the programming environment can take the joy right out of actually doing the work. (I could go on at lengt…

We're the Michelangelos of the great age of machine intelligence which is yet to come. If there's a great age of machine intelligence to come, then one in a million of us may be a Michelangelo. The rest of us are house-painters, and the houses we paint are slated for demolition within our own lifetimes.

Good perspective. Always appreciated. :-)

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#156

Post by nprasanna87 »

After being inspired by a Team Lead in my office, 2 years into my career as a software engineer, I chose to focus all of my efforts onto Programming. The main reason it seemed attractive than any other option was that I liked the feeling of having found a solution to a seemingly hard puzzle or a challenge. The small victories. But of course now the reasons include the prospect of creating something of value for which I could get paid passively. Thanks to hacker news! And yes, I like it and don't see myself doing any other thing that programming!

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#157

Post by fooandbarify »

Wintamute wrote: post #142
gliese1337 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

23, programming for, what, 14 years, maybe? And I hope I still have as much fun when I'm 57. I can certainly imagine myself doing so, for much the same reasons; it is partially about the happy dance feeling when something I built works, but long-term happiness and satisfaction come from seeing it getting used. It's really, really cool to see someone's masters thesis and think "I helped make that!" or drive by an elem…

I think it makes more sense to start measuring from the time you started professionally programming ... so if the 57 year old parent has been programming for 33 years that suggests that he's measuring from when he left full time education (24). My apologies if you've been coding professionally since you were 9 though :)

I wouldn't put it past gliese1337. I turned 24 yesterday, and I can honestly tell clients that I've been programming professionally for over a decade. (Obviously, my abilities/standards have changed since then, and so have my rates... hopefully that trend will continue!)

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#158

Post by Surio »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #136
Surio wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading through all the comments has reinforced my original comment that this kind of "bring it on" passion is heavily correlated to geo-location, culture, industry and day-to-day grind that one is put through. >> Monetising that is generally harder Tell me all about it! So, I've heard of elephant graveyards and jet graveyards... Now, where do all those grizzled, veteran (old) programmers go away (other than into man…

we hang around on HN, moaning

Ha Ha! lol :))

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#159

Post by Surio »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #136
Surio wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading through all the comments has reinforced my original comment that this kind of "bring it on" passion is heavily correlated to geo-location, culture, industry and day-to-day grind that one is put through. >> Monetising that is generally harder Tell me all about it! So, I've heard of elephant graveyards and jet graveyards... Now, where do all those grizzled, veteran (old) programmers go away (other than into man…

we hang around on HN, moaning

Ha Ha! lol :))

Re: Do You Really Want to be Doing this When You're 50?

#160

Post by Surio »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #136
Surio wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading through all the comments has reinforced my original comment that this kind of "bring it on" passion is heavily correlated to geo-location, culture, industry and day-to-day grind that one is put through. >> Monetising that is generally harder Tell me all about it! So, I've heard of elephant graveyards and jet graveyards... Now, where do all those grizzled, veteran (old) programmers go away (other than into man…

we hang around on HN, moaning

Ha Ha! lol :))
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