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The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

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Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#51

Post by aaronem »

gboudrias wrote: post #40
jmduke wrote: post #9

Uh, the Nietzsche quote has a slightly different connotation when you give it a wider context: When seeking work for the sake of the pay, almost all men are alike at present in civilized countries. To all of them work is a means, and not itself the end; on which account they are not very select in the choice of the work, provided it yields an abundant profit. But there are rarer men who would rather die than work wit…

This is priceless. And then: It doesn’t matter how brilliant you started out or how much faster you exited the gates than everyone else, those who consistently get up every morning and direct their energies along a single path, no matter how boring it may be, will eventually pass you on each of the many roads you haphazardly travel. That's not how life works. You can direct all your efforts to bending cutlery, but yo…

> The author may be a great programmer

Really? He reads like a motivational speaker. What's he shipped? Where's his repo?

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#52

Post by tetatet »

zokier wrote: post #34
tetatet wrote: post #25

It does matter what passion you pursue. The right passion will drive you to get better. The passion for just getting along with people who don't give a toss will leave you utterly dissatisfied, physically tense, and miserable. It takes some experience in experiencing how poorly dispassionate and, inevitably, disappointed, people can be to be sunk in this. You may want to read this - http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-…

> If you have more time, read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I read them couple of times when I was a teenager, but I can't make the connection here.

tBlind, religious following. Your daemon dying... You being disconnected from your daemon. Yes, tenuous, but existing... OP is a man without a daemon. Tenuous, but existing. Read it again...

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#53

Post by rturben »

Smudge wrote: post #41

Somehow this article manages to be both wise and presumptuous. The points he makes speak from experience. It's a perspective that is too often ignored by younger generations: You can't always quit a job when the work gets boring -- sometimes you just have to push through the tedium if you want to be the best at what you do. This is a widely applicable bit of advice. But the way this message is presented -- to chastis…

> "Maybe loren quit because he wasn't being fulfilled."

This is the thing that strikes me the most. I'm fairly young still and have begun working at a company as a programmer. I've been there for about five months and can already say that this isn't where my passion lies. There's nothing wrong with trying to figure out where you really want to go in life and trying to achieve it. Not everyone gets it right on the first try, so to try and admonish people who quit when they "get bored" isn't the best attitude in my opinion. I don't think that's what this article was trying to say, but the author comes across as thinking that the only reason people quit a job after a year or two is because of boredom/lack of dedication when in reality it could simply be a part of the trial and error that is life.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#54

Post by return0 »

RyanZAG wrote: post #18

I feel sorry for the author of this post - he actually believes hard, boring work is the only way to accomplish anything. I've done both hard, boring work, and easy, efficient and enjoyable work. The easy work was both more enjoyable, more profitable and far better for my life as a whole. Life is not fair, there are no points awarded for working harder or being more diligent - there are only 'points' awarded for acco…

Ironic that this is the most voted comment, because it validates the post's view. Despite you feeling sorry for him (adding entitlement to injury), he seems to have a good assessment of the HN crowd.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#55

Post by smoyer »

I going to float an idea out there that might not be too popular ... I think companies caused the workforce to adopt this attitude, and I think the healthy spot is in the middle. We tend to oscillate around the optimums right?

Companies used to offer a good worker life-time employment and a pension, and they supported the idea of a reasonable workload as it would lead to longevity in their workforce. The combination of excess workers and the menialization of many jobs prompted the companies to minimize their commitment to the worker, both in salary and relationship.

Once the relationship was gone and it was obvious to the worker that they were valued for their effort on the hamster-wheel, is it any wonder so many of them were lacksidasical about how fast they spun that wheel? And when work because rote, is it any wonder that creative types that were in those positions were disenchanted?

The other interesting thing I've noticed is that you end up having both types of people in any given environment ... some of the people work hard because they don't want to get yelled at, want a step up the ladder, etc, but when you watch closely, you'll often see that the "lazier" employees (the ones the hard workers keep expecting to get laid off) actually garner about the same rewards for dramatically less effort.

Of course, these are my observations and your mileage may vary ... I've spent the majority of my working life doing work I enjoy, but I no longer identify my worth by what I accomplish on-the-job.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#56

Post by return0 »

skrebbel wrote: post #7

There might be a point here, but the whole "just suck it up and keep going for years and years" attitude that I'm getting from this post feels, well, misguided. If you think you can improve your life, work better, with more fun, with more meaning, with better challenges, then by all means go for it. There's no need to stay put at a place that sucks for you and that slowly boils your brain to pulp just because some ol…

> If you think you can improve your life, work better, with more fun, with more meaning, with better challenges, then by all means go for it.

Sure, but what if that is to the expense of others? The widening wealth gap seems to suggest so.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#58

Post by jsonmez »

shubb wrote: post #48
Smudge wrote: post #41

Somehow this article manages to be both wise and presumptuous. The points he makes speak from experience. It's a perspective that is too often ignored by younger generations: You can't always quit a job when the work gets boring -- sometimes you just have to push through the tedium if you want to be the best at what you do. This is a widely applicable bit of advice. But the way this message is presented -- to chastis…

Having followed what Loren is doing now (Penflip), I think he made the right choice. It may go big, it may not, but it is a great execution of a nice concept, and has a lot of potential. I don't think you can call the guy lazy. He just decided to work real hard on something else.

That is not what he said in his post, and I am excited to see him doing Penflip. I wish him the best. Glad that he did decide to commit to something meaningful after-all.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#59

Post by thaumasiotes »

gboudrias wrote: post #40
jmduke wrote: post #9

Uh, the Nietzsche quote has a slightly different connotation when you give it a wider context: When seeking work for the sake of the pay, almost all men are alike at present in civilized countries. To all of them work is a means, and not itself the end; on which account they are not very select in the choice of the work, provided it yields an abundant profit. But there are rarer men who would rather die than work wit…

This is priceless. And then: It doesn’t matter how brilliant you started out or how much faster you exited the gates than everyone else, those who consistently get up every morning and direct their energies along a single path, no matter how boring it may be, will eventually pass you on each of the many roads you haphazardly travel. That's not how life works. You can direct all your efforts to bending cutlery, but yo…

> You can direct all your efforts to bending cutlery, but you're not going to make a good living out of it. You're just not.

It's like you're specifically trying to undermine yourself. You never heard of Uri Geller?

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#60

Post by jbail »

I grow weary of people telling other people that they don't know what hard work is...especially as it contributes to the constant putting down of my generation. If you want to make a condescending, sweeping generalization about an entire generation of people, I have some advice: Don't.

As an aside...I watched the author's "Why You Need People Skills" video on his website. At 3 minutes in he talks about how rubbing people the wrong way won't get you good results. He has another video titled, "The Power of Positivity"...which I'm guessing would be the opposite of the disparaging post he just wrote? I don't know what my point is other than you really look like a jerk when you try to act like you're positive and good with people..and then act the complete opposite.

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