The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work) • Hacker News Board

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

#141

Post by rodgerd » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:22 PM UTC

Amadou wrote: post #133

Arjuna wrote: post #89

Phrases like, "The myth of burn out" and "Burn out is just a rationalization for giving up early" give me great pause. Burn out is real . It is dangerous, and even an overwhelming, driving passion for your work, your creation, can lead to disaster. Ed Catmull recounted this story about the production of Toy Story 2 [1]: "So we came back, John [Lasseter] told the story crew to take a good rest over the holidays, and c…

This was in June, so it's summer, and the father was supposed to drop the baby off at daycare, but forgot; don't know why... but came and left the baby in the car, and came into work. As an aside... There was a Pulitzer Prize winning article about the phenomenon of parents forgetting their children in the backseat and leaving them to die in the heat. The main take-away is that it can happen to anyone. It isn't a matt…

Do not read that story, by the way, unless you want nightmares.

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

#142

Post by Miyamoto » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:25 PM UTC

nervousvarun wrote: post #105

munificent wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This was in June, so it's summer, and the father was supposed to drop the baby off at daycare, but forgot; don't know why... but came and left the baby in the car, and came into work. Several years ago, I almost did the same thing with my infant daughter. Put her car seat in the back seat. Got in. Started driving. On auto-pilot started heading towards the office. It was only when she happened to make a sound (she o…

Seems like an opportunity for an app (disclaimer: obviously did not do my due diligence and google if there was one first. T minus X seconds in counting until the first 'there already is one' post).

When you leave the house you check that your keys are present in your pocket/purse/backpack/etc.

When you leave the car you need to check that your kid is not present.

A simple solution would be to put whatever it is you require at work, such as your wallet/backpack/briefcase, right next to your kid in the backseat. You should check for your wallet/backpack/briefcase before you leave the car, which in turn will have you check the presence of your kid.

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

#143

Post by saraid216 » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:26 PM UTC

AJ007 wrote: post #90

enjo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 on the burnout piece. It's a complicated thing. I'd liken it to depression. Lots and lots of people constantly fret about being "depressed". Over time it became easy to dismiss depression as a legitimate illness. Apparently every time you feel sad you're depressed, the whole thing just loses its meaning. It wasn't until I met someone who suffered from true clinical depression did I understand exactly the seriousne…

Whats the timeline for real burnout? I describe burnout is any time an individuals focus drops to the point that their work quality potentially becomes damaging rather than adding value.

Ygg2's description seemed extreme to me, so I googled and found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)

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

#144

Post by 6d0debc071 » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:27 PM UTC

Oh please, change the record. Your generation has a money money money aesthetic (no, I don't actually think this, but if we're caricaturing each other...) a boundless greed. But I don't really care that much if I earn more than £30k a year for the rest of my life. I've got enough. Heck, I'm considering taking a couple of years off to read books and build a house.

There's a limit to how greedy I can be.

It's fine to work hard if it's a work of passion, something that you really want to accomplish. And there's certainly something to be said for working through downspots, we all have bad days and quitting just because of some minor irritant that may well pass will scupper your chances of greater happiness in the long run. But working hard just to get money to buy stuff you don't need, or even draw a commensurate pleasure from? Spend less and save more, don't fritter your life away suffering to make someone else's dream.

I'm happy living a life that entertains me, I've sufficient money to provide security - beyond that what benefit am I going to get by doing things that bore me?

You think that it's a race? That we won't get as far? I honestly have to wonder: So what?

You don't get points for finishing life before the other person.

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

#145

Post by abofh » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:28 PM UTC

Arjuna wrote: post #89

Phrases like, "The myth of burn out" and "Burn out is just a rationalization for giving up early" give me great pause. Burn out is real . It is dangerous, and even an overwhelming, driving passion for your work, your creation, can lead to disaster. Ed Catmull recounted this story about the production of Toy Story 2 [1]: "So we came back, John [Lasseter] told the story crew to take a good rest over the holidays, and c…

based on his 2004 graduation, this is a kid - let him write it again in 15 years.

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

#146

Post by mratzloff » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:28 PM UTC

So why exactly am I not allowed to down-vote this link bait garbage?

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

#147

Post by rayiner » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:28 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #99

Arjuna wrote: post #89

Phrases like, "The myth of burn out" and "Burn out is just a rationalization for giving up early" give me great pause. Burn out is real . It is dangerous, and even an overwhelming, driving passion for your work, your creation, can lead to disaster. Ed Catmull recounted this story about the production of Toy Story 2 [1]: "So we came back, John [Lasseter] told the story crew to take a good rest over the holidays, and c…

> This was in June, so it's summer, and the father was supposed to drop the baby off at daycare, but forgot; don't know why... but came and left the baby in the car, and came into work. Several years ago, I almost did the same thing with my infant daughter. Put her car seat in the back seat. Got in. Started driving. On auto-pilot started heading towards the office. It was only when she happened to make a sound (she o…

The not sleeping thing is a bitch. Mine is almost a year and still needs to be topped off a couple of times overnight.

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

#148

Post by neltnerb » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:29 PM UTC

fennecfoxen wrote: post #107

Arjuna wrote: post #89

Phrases like, "The myth of burn out" and "Burn out is just a rationalization for giving up early" give me great pause. Burn out is real . It is dangerous, and even an overwhelming, driving passion for your work, your creation, can lead to disaster. Ed Catmull recounted this story about the production of Toy Story 2 [1]: "So we came back, John [Lasseter] told the story crew to take a good rest over the holidays, and c…

Also, burn-out is NOT a rationalization for giving up early. Burn-out is when you should have given up a long time ago, but you keep pushing yourself too hard instead, and then you fall apart and have difficulty functioning as a human being (to say nothing of performing your job). The article author might have a point or two about a variety of young actors in the workforce, but they're masked by this and other bits o…

I feel like the author is conflating the desire to not be bored with burn-out. It's bizarre that anyone could be that confused about what is going on.

No one who has completed a multi-year project actually thinks that there will never be days when you're bored, or that it's good to jump around from project to project. This is like startup 101 stuff, you can't do a company that does everything, you have to define a project goal and stick to it. Which makes everything else in the post pretty nonsensical.

I think the best you can do is try to understand first your priorities, and then understand what makes you function well so that you can push through those boring, emotionally draining, and frustrating times.

I recently wrote about this for myself, although I'm far from figuring it all out. Still working on how to phrase it all, but maybe someone will find it useful despite my lack of writing skill.

http://blog.saikoled.com/post/62737468595/entrepreneurship-f...

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

#149

Post by 001sky » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:37 PM UTC

lelandbatey wrote: post #50

The author really hasn't said what's actually wrong. He's hating against something he's not even done us the courtesy of defining (in any kind of a substantive way). Once again, we've got a classic "kids these days are so lazy" post without any real content. "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are…

This is an apochryphal quote. Just FYI.

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

#150

Post by gedrap » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:38 PM UTC

enjo wrote: post #77

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…

+1 on the burnout piece. It's a complicated thing. I'd liken it to depression. Lots and lots of people constantly fret about being "depressed". Over time it became easy to dismiss depression as a legitimate illness. Apparently every time you feel sad you're depressed, the whole thing just loses its meaning. It wasn't until I met someone who suffered from true clinical depression did I understand exactly the seriousne…

Totally agree with you.

I love the definition of burn out I've seen on HN a few months ago. Burn out is when you participate in high risk - high reward situation for a while and you end up on the losing side multiple times.

While many people claim that they have burnt out while they just are tired/bored/lazy, there are some really serious cases when it affects the life of the person in all areas and the person really needs some help and understanding, and rather fast.