I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane • Hacker News Board

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#331

Post by at-fates-hands » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 6:54 PM UTC

ZoFreX wrote: post #306

at-fates-hands wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same industry (web development) different companies. The one thing which connects them all is a developer just like in the article. Driven to perfection, willing to do whatever is asked of him, and burns the candle at three ends until he finally goes over the edge. I'm talking averaging 70 hours a week for two year straight kind of candle burning. The kind of narcissistic pursuit which is simply impossible to achieve…

I would like to hear your stories :)

Here you go - didn't want to keep it short:

http://pastebin.com/EmM6sZnR

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#332

Post by neilparikh » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 7:59 PM UTC

ux-app wrote: post #300

neilparikh wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a high school student, who is considering teaching as a future career path, and I have a few questions. 1. What subjects do you teach? Would you recommend teaching them? 2. Did you find any value in working at a non teaching job first, then going into the teaching career? Put another way, if you were doing this all over again, would you go straight to being a teacher, or would you have a non-teaching job for a li…

Hi Neil. 1. I teach Computing/IT and a few AU specific subjects (Research Project and Personal Learning Plan). In the past I have taught Maths up to year 8 level also. Both IT and Maths are great subjects. Personally I'm very happy teaching either of them. One thing to note is that as a teacher you do have to be willing to take on a subject you may not be entirely qualified for. For example I'm currently teaching a y…

Hey, thanks for answering my questions. I appreciate the help.

I do have a few other questions. Could I get your email? If you don't want to post it here, my email is in my profile.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#333

Post by neilk » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 8:51 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #331

ZoFreX wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to hear your stories :)

Here you go - didn't want to keep it short: http://pastebin.com/EmM6sZnR

Thanks - I posted it back to HN https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5586350

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#334

Post by yekko » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 10:16 PM UTC

peterkelly wrote: post #322

yekko wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even 1 Million a year? 10 million a year? It is only fair.

No, not even $100 million or $1b a year. There's a point at which health becomes more important than money. If someone is working so hard that the stress is taking such a toll that their marriage is at risk, they end up in a mental hospital, and/or are considering suicide, money ceases to become a consideration. The most important thing for employers to consider in this sense is the wellbeing of their employees - thi…

Oh well, I'll take it.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#335

Post by minopret » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 10:21 PM UTC

I think this story shows a rather low degree of insight into, or observation of, the programmer's abnormal behavior and health. Come on, tell us a little about adjustment disorder, how it builds up and plays out. Or was it acute depression? Phobia? Paranoia? Was the programmer's family involved? Did he voluntarily seek inpatient treatment? Was he placed in psychiatric detention on judge's orders? Tell us how helpful or unhelpful the employer's health insurance was.

Maybe the purpose of the story is to illustrate a point, probably a good point, about workplaces. Maybe although the purpose appears to be to report a difficult event that occurred to an acquaintance, it just isn't.

In other words, I think it's possible that the story is made up.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#336

Post by fudged71 » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 11:16 PM UTC

stray wrote: post #302

fudged71 wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that legal?!

Is it legal to work long hours? I guess. I live in the US, where what is or is not legal plays second fiddle to what is or is not good for shareholders.

Anything after 40 hours per week is considered overtime in the states, apparently. I don't know if there's an actual maximum number of hours you can legally work.

I've heard that working hours for truckers is very strict in Europe but not as strict in north america. I wonder how that relates across other industries. For truckers it's mostly for physical safety, but cognitive stress can be just as dangerous.