Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs • Hacker News Board

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#141

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 12:55 PM UTC

mingusrude wrote: post #89

nicbou wrote: post #63

The topic is nice, but above all I thoroughly enjoy the writing. I feel like I get a lot more done precisely because I don't like to eat frogs. I sleep until I'm rested. I don't touch my computer until I've had tea on the balcony. I work on what feels right, when it feels right, for as long as it feels right. If the weather is nice, I'll hop on my bicycle and forget about work. But when something sparks my interest,…

When I interviewed for my current job, I had to take psychology test and I'm very skeptical to those kind of tests. The guy that ran the test explained that this wasn't about putting me into a colored box but trying to figure out what I naturally preferred to do in a work situation with the idea being that things that I enjoy are probably things that I'm good at because it takes less energy to perform. I don't know i…

[deleted]

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#142

Post by mijoharas » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 12:55 PM UTC

vanderZwan wrote: post #38

> For legal reasons, I’m not saying the people who write this stuff are literally Lucifer in human skin. It’s just that, if I wanted to maximize human misery, I would 100% try to convince people to spend more time doing things they hate When Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote Good Omens thirty years ago they already hit upon this idea when Crowley, a demon and one of the main characters, tries to explain to his fe…

I also seem to remember that Crowley had a hand in the shape of the M25 to help maximise misery.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#143

Post by wnolens » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 12:56 PM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #63

The topic is nice, but above all I thoroughly enjoy the writing. I feel like I get a lot more done precisely because I don't like to eat frogs. I sleep until I'm rested. I don't touch my computer until I've had tea on the balcony. I work on what feels right, when it feels right, for as long as it feels right. If the weather is nice, I'll hop on my bicycle and forget about work. But when something sparks my interest,…

> work on what feels right, when it feels right, for as long as it feels right

How have you achieved this?

I once had a setup like this, but eventually the work which permitted that freedom got boring, and I was so void of responsibility that I felt a pain of meaninglessness. Climbing out of this hole was via a feast of frogs.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#144

Post by AvocadoPanic » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:08 PM UTC

hcks wrote: post #101

jongjong wrote: post #56

This seems to be a major epidemic nowadays. I suspect that mechanistic, meaningless, purely mimetic pursuit of success has some pretty negative consequences on society. I suspect it might explain why so many people are interested in engaging in politics (or company politics) and zero-sum value extraction schemes instead of just adding value... They're not interested in the process at all, only in the outcome; financi…

> They have no intrinsic pride in the work they do; it's all about status, money and power. Damn these modern people, why would they look after things so irrelevant as “status, money and power” instead of taking pride in completing Jira tickets?

Agile with a pedantic scrum master is a particular kind of hell.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#145

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:10 PM UTC

istinetz wrote: post #110

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you told a king from 500 years past that in the future there is a magical "other" world inside a crystal crafted by the finest of mages where conquest, diplomacy, and economics can be practiced to perfection without risking no lives nor resources but that of time, and that this endeavor is both stupid and a complete waste of time, he'd think you're not only mad, but foolish to squander such an opportunity to learn…

I know and agree that there are lessons to be learned from civ and dota. I never said it was a complete waste of time, but it is an addiction that takes over your life. Tiktok, reddit, binging netflix, in contrast are probably directly harmful.

[deleted]

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#146

Post by jrochkind1 » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:11 PM UTC

jongjong wrote: post #56

This seems to be a major epidemic nowadays. I suspect that mechanistic, meaningless, purely mimetic pursuit of success has some pretty negative consequences on society. I suspect it might explain why so many people are interested in engaging in politics (or company politics) and zero-sum value extraction schemes instead of just adding value... They're not interested in the process at all, only in the outcome; financi…

I agree with your basic diagnosis, "Many people are spending most of their lives doing stuff that they don't want to do". But I want to add: most of their lives doing things they find meaningless and pointless. (See Graeber on "Bullshit Jobs" for just an instance, not exhaustive).

So I don't agree with your next conclusion, I don't think that's leading to "shortcuts instead of trying to do things the right way." To do things they don't want to do the right way? To do things that are meaningless and pointless, but do them the "right way"?

I agree with, I think, the OP, in that what you are suggesting is metaphorical "get better at eating frogs, why are you so lazy about it?"

But I agree with your basic explanation. My interpretation of why people might engage in office/politics is: to try and find some meaning in life. The politics seem meaningful because politics (of both varieties) are actually core to what humans as humans do.

The problem is not "How do we figure out how to force ourselves to do the meaningless boring stuff we don't want to do the right way?" The problem is: How do we find meaning in our lives that have been structured so we spend most of them doing meaningless things we don't want to do, and are not sure how to live otherwise. And, with regard to harmful or unhealthy forms of "politics" or "drama": In what ways do our attempts to find meaning backfire?

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#147

Post by ttyprintk » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:12 PM UTC

mingusrude wrote: post #89

nicbou wrote: post #63

The topic is nice, but above all I thoroughly enjoy the writing. I feel like I get a lot more done precisely because I don't like to eat frogs. I sleep until I'm rested. I don't touch my computer until I've had tea on the balcony. I work on what feels right, when it feels right, for as long as it feels right. If the weather is nice, I'll hop on my bicycle and forget about work. But when something sparks my interest,…

When I interviewed for my current job, I had to take psychology test and I'm very skeptical to those kind of tests. The guy that ran the test explained that this wasn't about putting me into a colored box but trying to figure out what I naturally preferred to do in a work situation with the idea being that things that I enjoy are probably things that I'm good at because it takes less energy to perform. I don't know i…

I had a similar experience which, when combined with my academic background, pointed toward a particular corporate need that (to my surprise) was mostly received as unpleasant. It’s a decision support role starting with a risk-based statistical model of products, then devising for hypothetical competing devices the best selling points. The test was useful to decide which frog, reminded me of the movie Brazil.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#148

Post by jrochkind1 » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #63

The topic is nice, but above all I thoroughly enjoy the writing. I feel like I get a lot more done precisely because I don't like to eat frogs. I sleep until I'm rested. I don't touch my computer until I've had tea on the balcony. I work on what feels right, when it feels right, for as long as it feels right. If the weather is nice, I'll hop on my bicycle and forget about work. But when something sparks my interest,…

What is your occupation where you get paid to work only on what feels right, only when it feels right, for only as long as it feels right, with leeway to hop on your bicycle and forget about work whenever you want?

Cause I am interested in this line of work. At least if it pays enough to live comfortably.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#149

Post by bluedino » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

danuker wrote: post #78

6stringmerc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard a quote once that a general or some leader said he preferred “highly intelligent and slightly lazy” people because they found the most efficient and reliable ways to get things done, and quickly as a bonus!

Bill Gates — 'I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.'

A true lazy person would never do it.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#150

Post by fluoridation » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

hcks wrote: post #101

jongjong wrote: post #56

This seems to be a major epidemic nowadays. I suspect that mechanistic, meaningless, purely mimetic pursuit of success has some pretty negative consequences on society. I suspect it might explain why so many people are interested in engaging in politics (or company politics) and zero-sum value extraction schemes instead of just adding value... They're not interested in the process at all, only in the outcome; financi…

> They have no intrinsic pride in the work they do; it's all about status, money and power. Damn these modern people, why would they look after things so irrelevant as “status, money and power” instead of taking pride in completing Jira tickets?

No, instead of taking pride in doing something they actually enjoy.