Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why you should take your 20's seriously

jasonevanish.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 174 posts

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#61

Post by mediocregopher »

derwiki wrote: post #47
diego wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what cletus says. I'm 43 years old today. Some things just feel uninteresting because I started doing them too young. Interestingly programming is not one of them, I have been doing it for 30 years. On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever [in case you care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEgfe4cYuU ]. It still feels pretty new to me. I know 25-year-ol…

Are programming/rock climbing overlapping interests everywhere or more so in the Bay Area? The problem solving aspect of climbing (particularly bouldering) always appealed to me, and I always see programmers at the climbing gym. But it seems like a disproportionately high number of programmer friends (compared to other friends) climb in SF.

Where I am (not SF) there's definitely a large showing of programmer/climbers at the local gym. I think a large part of it does have to with the problem solving aspect (hell, we call them problems even), but for me it has more to do with it fitting in with my life a lot more cleanly then any other sport does. I don't have to change into a uniform or put on a whole mess of gear or anything of that sort (when I'm going to the gym anyway). I just walk in, put on my shoes, and go. There's no inertia to climbing. There's not many sports that give this; "pumping iron" can but personally I enjoy climbing and solving problems to counting to thirty while sitting in a chair.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#62

Post by flyosity »

I don't like the idea that "having fun" and "building a career" are mutually exclusive entities that don't touch on a Venn diagram. I built a career in my 20s based on things that excited me as a teenager, and I'm still excited by my career and consider my job a lot of fun. I didn't live in exotic countries or lounge around aimlessly because I'd rather be designing and building software: that's my fun. I suspect a lot of people on HN feel the same way, and just because one person's idea of "fun" is to travel around the world doesn't mean that they have a monopoly on what fun means.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#63

Post by [deleted] »

derwiki wrote: post #47
diego wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what cletus says. I'm 43 years old today. Some things just feel uninteresting because I started doing them too young. Interestingly programming is not one of them, I have been doing it for 30 years. On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever [in case you care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEgfe4cYuU ]. It still feels pretty new to me. I know 25-year-ol…

Are programming/rock climbing overlapping interests everywhere or more so in the Bay Area? The problem solving aspect of climbing (particularly bouldering) always appealed to me, and I always see programmers at the climbing gym. But it seems like a disproportionately high number of programmer friends (compared to other friends) climb in SF.

[deleted]

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#64

Post by willholloway »

I have a different take:

College Years, 18-23: This is the time to just be. You can treat college as a stressful strive-fest for meaningless grades, or you can treat it like a 4-5 year vacation. Optimize for gentleman's C's. You still get all the social and class benefits.

23-30: These are your prime productive years. This is the time to amass your fortune.

30 to death: Travel, play golf, foster community and friendships. Get married, have kids. All of these things will be much more enjoyable with some cash.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#65

Post by engtech »

Cyclic404 wrote: post #38
dclusin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. One thing I've noticed about my own life is how hard even 1 year out of your career track hurts you both professionally (skill set) and personally (income/wealth). I was doing financial services programming for a big bank as my first job right out of college before the housing bust. I ended up getting laid off and enjoying the "funemployment" people talk about: 6 month full severance, unemployment at the top…

Did you go back to the same field and responsibilities? I'm taking almost 2.5 years off but I don't really think I'll suffer a set-back.

So much of it has to do with where the economy is.

Looking for a job in 2000 vs 2001 was a change in what you could demand as a salary. Same in 2008 vs 2009.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#66

Post by zpk »

wheels wrote: post #49

This is rather straw-man-ish. He equates having a fun, care-free life as ... working at Starbucks. I don't know anyone who's ever said, "Well, why don't you just work at Starbucks for a decade? It'll be fun and you can get a real job when you're 30!" What's actually said is more like, "Take a few months and a backpack and go travel somewhere" or "start a company with no idea if it'll pan out". Party. Start a band. Ch…

"What's actually said is more like, "Take a few months and a backpack and go travel somewhere" or "start a company with no idea if it'll pan out". Party. Start a band. Chase some girls [or guys]. Read a lot."

I am in my 30's and I hope to continue/start doing some of this.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#68

Post by irahul »

diego wrote: post #37
cletus wrote: post #19

This is a delicate subject because one can view it as a call for those in their 20s to make the most of that time, which is a fine message, to something tantamount to ageism. While it's true that those in their 30s or older can be closed to new idea, that's not because they're "old", it's because they're people and some people are closed-minded. I find a lot of these complaints are more about the cultural and lifesty…

I completely agree with what cletus says. I'm 43 years old today. Some things just feel uninteresting because I started doing them too young. Interestingly programming is not one of them, I have been doing it for 30 years. On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever [in case you care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEgfe4cYuU ]. It still feels pretty new to me. I know 25-year-ol…

> On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever

OT(as far as the OP is concerned) questions from someone who is considering taking up climbing.

1. Isn't what you are doing in the video called bouldering?

2. Do you usually climb in your jeans? I am wondering does it allow you required flexibility?

3. Do you work on your core for climbing or climbing works your core?

4. What would you say about artificial walls and bouldering arenas for a beginner?

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#69

Post by guylhem »

I disagree with a lot of the comments - and with the article point.

We should not think about taking any age seriously or not, but of the bigger picture instead, ie one's goals in life.

Unfortunately, they are not written down for you, and they can be quite hard to find.

There are various algorithm that may work, but all I see in the article and the comments are basically 2 opposite proposals :

- plan A: explore in your twenties to make sure you properly identify your goals

- plan B : commit to your career in your twenties to take advantage of compounding interest (in life as in money)

But we all know alternatives approaches - like iterating between exploration (finding a local maxima) and exploitation (taking advantage of this local maxima)

I guess it all depends if you have already found your fancy, and all longs it will take to get you bored out of it, but it seems to be a much better approach - especially if you do not ignore the money aspect of your fancies (ie starting a band might be fun, but odds of financial return are low)

Also, it seems to me a lot of the comments insist about family and children. These are individual decisions - not givens, something the author clearly stated ("if having a family is part of your life's goals").

Fortunately for men, there is no age limit (and if we keep our rate of technological progress in stem cells and differentiation into germinal lines, there is no reason why it couldn't be also possible for women)

Currently, at least for 50% of the readers, age should not be factored in - opening the door for more iteration of the explore/exploit loop, with the always present opportunity to have kids.

I guess I don't understand or I'm missing something, maybe like the preference of dating someone of a similar age (which might then impose its own preference on optimal child bearing age)

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#70

Post by enraged_camel »

flyosity wrote: post #55
crazygringo wrote: post #39

I "agree", but draw the exact opposite conclusions. You should take your 20's seriously... because it's the only time in your life that you aren't encumbered by building a career, having kids, etc. So you should take your 20's to do the things that you won't be able to do later. Work as a bartender, play in a band, travel the world on the cheap, teach English abroad, date the kind of people you wouldn't marry. You do…

I'm a 29-year old male who spent his 20s building a career I love and now has a 6-month old daughter, so this quote: > Don't waste your 20's "building a career". You've got your 30's and 40's and 50's to do that. Don't be in a rush to have kids too soon. Doesn't really make sense to me. If you don't build a career and finances in your 20s, you either can't afford to have a kid in your early 30s or you have one and ca…

Pretty much. People need to start thinking about their career the moment they get their first job. This means planning out what kinds of skills they need to pick up to advance, opening a retirement account and putting as much money they can into it (compound interest), and never take anything for granted. Those who don't do these things in their 20s are basically going to be 10 years behind everyone who did.
Post reply on HN