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Have Taken Up Farming

dylan.gr

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Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#11

Post by jiriknesl »

ironbound wrote: post #7

So they hit a mid-life crisis, and rather then take small steps they read the bible and move to an island to start farming, I wish them luck.

I guess, these things are long somewhere in the mind, before people execute.

People change countries, partners, careers not because of one book. This is usually the last drop. They were long-term unhappy, yearning for something else.

And as this guy wrote, he was sick, he was burned out. I suppose, he wasn't able to limit his screen time, it was all or nothing. Sometimes, those big changes work better than incremental steps. 20 years ago, I went from a pack of cigarettes a day to zero. If I went to 19, then 18, then 17, I might still smoke to this day.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#12

Post by Tade0 »

tonnydourado wrote: post #5
yownie wrote: post #2

from one extreme to another, notice the pattern.

Maybe if he had read a better bible translation he would've reached a more moderate spiritual enlightenment =P

I didn't read the article, but a quick Ctrl+F confirmed my suspicions.

I was raised Roman Catholic and to me it was always a head scratcher why would someone insist on a certain translation which is at least two languages away from the original.

It's a whole field of study and there's broad agreement that as language evolves translations need to be updated, otherwise you'd have to become an expert in that old language the work was written in on top of everything else.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#13

Post by mentalgear »

> All that remained was to decide what to do with my life. From a spiritual perspective, there are only two career paths one can take: farmer or artisan. Anything else unavoidably involves doing evil or is essentially meaningless.

Seems shocking at first, but the more you think about what our SWE works does, for whom, and who benefits the most of it ... IMO it makes sense.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#14

Post by apsurd »

Nition wrote: post #8

> From a spiritual perspective, there are only two career paths one can take: farmer or artisan. Anything else unavoidably involves doing evil or is essentially meaningless. I thought this was a beautiful statement; something to really help us think about what we're trying to do here on Earth. But personally I would add Artist to this. Painter, sculptor, musician, writer, poet, and so on. We need those too. Edit: As…

i take artisan to mean the same as your meaning

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#15

Post by embedding-shape »

mentalgear wrote: post #13

> All that remained was to decide what to do with my life. From a spiritual perspective, there are only two career paths one can take: farmer or artisan. Anything else unavoidably involves doing evil or is essentially meaningless. Seems shocking at first, but the more you think about what our SWE works does, for whom, and who benefits the most of it ... IMO it makes sense.

Well, "essentially meaningless" does away with basically anything that isn't water and food, so lets be measured. Working on video games could be done in an ethical, sustainable and non-evil way, but also one can argue is "essentially meaningless" together with everything else too, including "artisan".

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#16

Post by NoBeardMarch »

reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #6

I'm happy this person found a way to live that's meaningful to him, but I grew up as a farmer. You're coming back to something we've known a long time. If a god is what let's you get there, then good, let god keep you whole. But this is what the classics of stoicism (in the literal sense of both) have been telling us the whole time. We make our own meaning, and money isn't it. Go and grow things. Raise things. Build…

It's honestly quite interesting to me how this presents. I mean: Yes, people should ultimately pursue some form of happiness, but for me that happiness is genuinely doing software engineering work, and I do not think we should demonize the 9-5 office-job. In my opinion it gets too much flack, and the "move to a farm"-dream becomes some kinds of utopic ideal, which I really do not believe it is. I have worked much heavier, more manual jobs in my life and they do not provide more happiness. If anything, they provide less comfort.

For some, the benefits for society are not as immediately visible as a farmer producing potatoes or corn which he/she can touch with their own hands, but in my personal view my job positions me as a not insignificant cog in a gigantic machine which has genuine benefits for society (and some negative influences, yes).

Some red flags in the linked article. Spirituality and barefoot running, which I do not believe is very evidence based to recommend. My opinion is that anyone working a software engineering office 9-5 should also always be doing strength resistance training and some cardio every single week. This should provide the health benefits needed to survive in what is a sedentary job.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#17

Post by thinkingemote »

Nition wrote: post #8

> From a spiritual perspective, there are only two career paths one can take: farmer or artisan. Anything else unavoidably involves doing evil or is essentially meaningless. I thought this was a beautiful statement; something to really help us think about what we're trying to do here on Earth. But personally I would add Artist to this. Painter, sculptor, musician, writer, poet, and so on. We need those too. Edit: As…

We do need art but do people need to choose that as their career path? Traditionally perhaps, was an artist part time, was art made communally as leisure?

Some had rich patrons and there were travelling bands of entertainers...

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#18

Post by ironbound »

reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #6

I'm happy this person found a way to live that's meaningful to him, but I grew up as a farmer. You're coming back to something we've known a long time. If a god is what let's you get there, then good, let god keep you whole. But this is what the classics of stoicism (in the literal sense of both) have been telling us the whole time. We make our own meaning, and money isn't it. Go and grow things. Raise things. Build…

Farming could very well be trading one solo activity for another. With Building community and social groups seems the better option to have grown.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#19

Post by nicbou »

mentalgear wrote: post #13

> All that remained was to decide what to do with my life. From a spiritual perspective, there are only two career paths one can take: farmer or artisan. Anything else unavoidably involves doing evil or is essentially meaningless. Seems shocking at first, but the more you think about what our SWE works does, for whom, and who benefits the most of it ... IMO it makes sense.

You can apply software development skills to public good. It's just not the most common path, nor the best-paid one. I should also highlight that SWE has one of the most prolific gift economies out there.

The author also forgot another path: teacher.

Re: Have Taken Up Farming

#20

Post by Bairfhionn »

spapas82 wrote: post #9

Is this actually a business that can make money? My family owns around 1000 olive oil trees in Greece that produce eatable olives and extra virgin olive oil. The thing is that we always sell the product in intermediates that would pack it up and sell it in a much higher price. I don't know of any small producer that sells the product directly to the consumer. This seems like a very big investment and not really susta…

I always get my olive oil from a farm in Italy that only sells direct to customer. Or my coffee from a shop that gets the beans directly from the farmer (direct trade > fair trade).

It's possible, the market is kind of small I guess but you need to have a product where the customer is happy to pay a premium.

And being a software developer helps because you might have the money to invest?! :)

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