People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige • Hacker News Board

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#151

Post by tpmx » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:21 PM UTC

ken wrote: post #84

It seems so bizarre to me that there is an r/cscareerquestions at all. And the only other r/__careerquestions are computer-related (IT, UX, DS). It's not like dentists and architects haven't discovered the internet yet. Computers are the new gold rush. It seems like most people today got into this field just looking to strike it rich.

(It does explain the whole webdev/javascript situation a bit, I would claim.)

I don't mind people entering this field with a goal of getting rich. The problem is when that is their only motivation.

There are definitely lots of other factors at play here, but I kinda look back at the late 90s/early 00s with nostalgia. It seemed like most of the people you worked with, or even interviewed back then had some basic level of sincere passion for the field. Today that's not really the case. That makes the work less fun.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#152

Post by beaconstudios » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:23 PM UTC

_4ziu wrote: post #133

beaconstudios wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marcus Aurelius being a writer on stoicism, I feel I have to point out that stoicism would suggest that you control how you feel about yourself and are only tying your feelings to external factors. You can feel good about yourself without external validation. Influencing others is only practically useful in your lifetime, so posthumous fame doesn't really do you anything.

But it does other people good after i die, and i care about other people even after i die.

but that's a different perspective - stoicism addresses the hedonism treadmill and how to get off of it (as well as how to respond to misery) - it isn't in opposition to charity or altruism. It's a totally different thing to try to have a great influence for posthumous fame and recognition, versus just trying to help people whether they know it was you or not.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#153

Post by throwawayjava » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:26 PM UTC

tmh88j wrote: post #138

wwwdonohue wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 350k is a safe "lower end" baseline from which to build a rainy day fund, though.

Is this a joke? $350k annual income puts you in the top 1% of earners in the US. Surely you don't believe less than 1% of people in the US can live comfortably and have a safety net, do you?

It's helpful to remember that the Bay Area is extremely expensive, and even more helpful to remember that some people have large families.

I could pretty comfortably raise a family of 6 on $100K in a midwestern city, or a family of 6 on $80K in the rural midwest/south. Without sufficient retirement savings, mind you, and my safety net would be non-exisent. I'd need at least another $30K-$50K on those numbers to build a strong safety net (remember, it's a safety net for 2 parents + 4 kids, not for one person...).

Doing the same in SFBA would probably require at least $250K. Maybe more.

> Surely you don't believe less than 1% of people in the US can live comfortably and have a safety net, do you?

The number is larger than 1%, but probably still smaller than you think.

The average American definitely doesn't have a sufficient safety net. IME, the average American raising more than 1 or 2 kids almost certainly doesn't have a sufficient safety net.

So, no, you don't need to be in the top 1% of earners in the US to have a safety net. But if you have a large family, you probably have to be in the top 10% to live comfortably and have a safety net and retirement.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#154

Post by mywittyname » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:26 PM UTC

pkhamre wrote: post #60

> Should I learn to make pasta from scratch? No, that’s crazy. Nobody cares if you can make pasta from scratch and it’s not going to make any money. I think the author got it wrong here. He mixes the words "successful" with "fame". By learning a skill like making pasta from scratch, you can make yourself and other people happy. And if you go deep into the field, you can even make money on it, if that's important to y…

Perfecting, or at least very gooding, already perfected tasks is an important component to becoming successful in areas that are not so established. Highly successful people are very good at other tasks that don't make them any money. They might make world class pizzas, be a competitive Tae Kwon Do fighter, have sailed boats around the Great Lakes, shred on a guitar/piano/violin/theremin, etc.

If you become great at becoming great, then your odds of being highly successful improve dramatically.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#155

Post by jacobwilliamroy » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:27 PM UTC

astuyvenberg wrote: post #7

This post also resonated with me, especially the quote from /r/cscareerquestions > Got an awesome internship at an interesting company? Well, it wasn’t FAANG, so who cares? Got a FAANG internship? Well it wasn’t one of the good FAANGs, so if you really think about it, you really didn’t accomplish anything. Got into a “Good FAANG”? Well, the other intern works on his own startup idea when he goes home. Why aren’t you…

Fortunately, there are still some places to work without such drawbacks but shhhh - they're a secret.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#156

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:27 PM UTC

astuyvenberg wrote: post #41

akhilcacharya wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. Purchasing real estate (or even a Tesla, etc) is out of reach for people like me, and likely will be for 10+ years from now. Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle.

But the person earning 150% more than _them_ isn't purchasing a Tesla. It's a Lamborghini or a Bugatti. It's not a 3br home in SF - it's a summer home in Napa, or a chalet in Tahoe. The person earning 150% more than _them_ is coveting the latest Bell Jetranger, or Gulfstream G700. The obsession for more is the same at all levels.

[deleted]

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#157

Post by theFeller00 » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:30 PM UTC

akhilcacharya wrote: post #70

astuyvenberg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the person earning 150% more than _them_ isn't purchasing a Tesla. It's a Lamborghini or a Bugatti. It's not a 3br home in SF - it's a summer home in Napa, or a chalet in Tahoe. The person earning 150% more than _them_ is coveting the latest Bell Jetranger, or Gulfstream G700. The obsession for more is the same at all levels.

Strictly in my case, even 4 or 5 levels of these jumps is still FAANG total compensation, so no Lamborghinis or Summer homes. Ultimately the super-rich that can afford those things are still orders of magnitude richer than people that just save/conservatively invest.

A huracan seems like an achievable car after a number of years at a job like that. A Bugatti does not.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#158

Post by slothtrop » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:31 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #65

I have the opposite problem. I have zero drive for status & prestige, but rather follow my passions no matter how unfashionable they are. And it hurts my career. I don't have twitter followers who fall over themselves to offer me a job the very second I enter the job market. I can't shame a company or other big entity for behaving badly. I have very little leverage for many important career-improving opportunities be…

Take comfort that extra control and maneuverability from social exposure is mostly moot if you already know and do what you want. It sounds like you're saying that better social media presence can improve job prospects, and that might be true, but a portfolio and experience is still king here.

If you're fussing over a blog regularly but hate it, you've included that in the destiny in question. That experience is not divorced from it. Just a question of what you're willing to compromise.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#159

Post by xivzgrev » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:31 PM UTC

I took a happiness course once. It said that instead of chasing status, we should chase flow. The idea being status is dependent on what others think, which is inherently unstable, while flow is joy for yourself.

There’s a book I read, can’t remember name but basically it said instead of chasing recognition, we should chase knowing. Recognition was lots of random strangers liking some surface thing about you. For example I like band X - if I saw them in public I’d want to say “hey I love your music!”. Or conversely, I think band X sucks, and I want to say that. It’s a shallow opinion held by many.

Knowing is respect by people who have the authority to actually evaluate your talents. In this case, it would be experienced musicians. What do they think of the band’s music? These people actually have the relevant experience to evaluate your work. If a group like that admires your work, it’s a deeper, more satisfying “like” than a bunch of random people. Yet we are typically wired to chase the approval of the masses.

These things can be hard, I certainly don’t do them all the time, but it’s helpful direction if you can relate to this article.

Re: People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige

#160

Post by theFeller00 » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #69

akhilcacharya wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. Purchasing real estate (or even a Tesla, etc) is out of reach for people like me, and likely will be for 10+ years from now. Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle.

Lol that's not how getting rich actually works. People get quickly used to new income, a bit better phones, clothing, cars, vacations etc. Plus 50% increase doesn't actually translate to 50% net income, taxes % go up in most western world pretty steeply, so the jump is not that big. This isn't valid for 100% of the folks obviously, but say 90% fall into this trap one way or the other. It is paradoxically easiest for…

Unless you're just doing the passive index fund thing, which there is obviously nothing wrong with, I don't think many understand the stress levels that come from trading. Insane highs. Insane lows. Lows you will eat at you for years.