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Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

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Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#281

Post by bargl »

nabnob wrote: post #36

I've been having the same existential crisis for a couple years now. I started working at a FAANG company right out of college, then after a bunch of personal health problems ended up taking a leave of absence that I didn't return from. I took a long break from software and started learning politics, philosophy, and history, and eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political…

> I don't want to just donate to charities, I want to end systemic problems that lead to charities needing to exist in the first place.

Everyone wants this. The problem is that it's intrinsic to human nature. We might get away from it some day, but until we can universally trust the people who have power we won't get there.

When I was Catholic, I liked the serenity prayer (I still meditate on this from time to time). It helped me scope what I accepted as my own personal responsibility to fix. Picking a job where you can code on something that actually helps people AND make a living is a great experience. It shouldn't be everything, but sometimes it's enough.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#282

Post by drukenemo »

balabaster wrote: post #67
onemoresoop wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happiness is overrated too. One needs to be content and aware first of all. Friendships are great to have but most can't do without them because they're truly afraid of being with themselves(e.g alone)

I've spent much of my adult life feeling alone, if not physically, mentally. I think this is common in careers where we're paid to spend our time thinking. It's a hazard of our profession exacerbated by who many of us are as human beings. We found ourselves in these careers precisely because of this trait, our ability to think deeply about solutions to problems - which seems to be a net side effect of our proclivity…

I’ve moved to another country 10 years ago and had great difficulty rebuilding my social life. After years agozining about my loneliness, I had an epiphany: it was just a primitive fear (probably of survival), and once I confronted it as a non-lethal threat, it lost its power and control over me.

It’s great to have good people around you, but if this fear is dominating you, it will always be there tormenting you. My personal experience showed this doesn’t have to be the case.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#283

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

asdfman123 wrote: post #234
ben7799 wrote: post #90

Maybe too many people are trying to find all their meaning in life through their work. It's not a recipe for success for most people, I think the media plays it up a bit too much. They're only covering the success stories in terms of people who are single minded and who make their work everything. The author of the article doesn't mention any relationships or other interests in life, no passion for anything but work.…

To me, this guy sounds like he's suffering from classic burnout. I know because I could have written the exact same thing when I burnt out in undergrad: "I tried prioritizing my work, focusing on the things I felt the most passionately about, but when I tried to work on the projects at the top of this list I couldn't summon any energy. Yet I spent hours and hours thinking obsessively about the ultimate point of my wo…

> “It's pretty simple: you can't work at an insane pace forever, and eventually your subconscious will rebel and stop working with you.”

I think there are versions of this where the issue is not pace or volume of work, but rather “meaning” or greater societal impact.

I used to work at a place that gathers a ton of location data on its users, and then packages it into data products & advertising products.

It wasn’t the pace of work that burnt me out there, but instead the lack of meaningful impact. Even a light workload at such a place was already heavy enough to create burnout.

Just as you need rest from volume of work, you also need rest from work that exploits others or work that does not appear to have a constructive purpose.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#284

Post by jeofken »

sastraxi wrote: post #223
jeofken wrote: post #169

For years I struggled to become financially independent (as Mr Money Mustache). Years upon years of watching the clock until it hit 17:30, hating the dumb coders who made a mess for me to clean up (because I know FP, and if we had types these bugs wouldn’t be here in the first place!). A year ago, I pulled the plug, and retired. Finally, I could work on my dream project every day. I did so for 6 months, and travelled…

Feeling seriously inspired by your post. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! You’re putting a big smile on my face! It is good to be good

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#285

Post by lowken10 »

ben7799 wrote: post #90

Maybe too many people are trying to find all their meaning in life through their work. It's not a recipe for success for most people, I think the media plays it up a bit too much. They're only covering the success stories in terms of people who are single minded and who make their work everything. The author of the article doesn't mention any relationships or other interests in life, no passion for anything but work.…

I so agree with you. One thing I will add. If you commit to excellence in something you will most likely fall in love with it.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#287

Post by drngdds »

nabnob wrote: post #36

I've been having the same existential crisis for a couple years now. I started working at a FAANG company right out of college, then after a bunch of personal health problems ended up taking a leave of absence that I didn't return from. I took a long break from software and started learning politics, philosophy, and history, and eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political…

>I don't want to just donate to charities, I want to end systemic problems that lead to charities needing to exist in the first place.

You could give some of your salary to political groups that you think will help fix those systemic problems. If you're working for a FAANG, you're probably making like twice as much as you need anyway.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#288

Post by azeirah »

mettamage wrote: post #7

I'm so jealous he got to work with Bret Victor on Dynamicland! (in a positive sense, I suppose envious is a better word) I've met 2 types of computer science students at uni: (1) the ones that love programming and love the mechanics of it. (2) The ones that love making music or similar forms of media. The reason the second type gets into computer science is because they love media and they love it so much they're wil…

The word you're looking for is "artist" :p

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#289

Post by pier25 »

nabnob wrote: post #36

I've been having the same existential crisis for a couple years now. I started working at a FAANG company right out of college, then after a bunch of personal health problems ended up taking a leave of absence that I didn't return from. I took a long break from software and started learning politics, philosophy, and history, and eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political…

> eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political and won't be fixed by technology

I agree.

I work at an education company on a digital product. I got on board excited because I deeply believe education is the best way to change the world.

After 4 years I've realized tech is just another tool. The quality of education depends entirely on the quality of the educators and the pedagogic system they are using. Tools are pretty much irrelevant.

So basically the only reason the company has a digital product is because it looks great on sales presentations and everyone expects us to have tech since our competition has tech too.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#290

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

danans wrote: post #157
nabnob wrote: post #36

I've been having the same existential crisis for a couple years now. I started working at a FAANG company right out of college, then after a bunch of personal health problems ended up taking a leave of absence that I didn't return from. I took a long break from software and started learning politics, philosophy, and history, and eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political…

> But why is my own intellectual curiosity more important than whether someone else gets to eat? It's not, but unless you are working on something that is directly impoverishing someone to this point, then the economic or social system that allows people to go hungry and without basics is more to blame than your particular role. People don't go hungry anymore due to lack of societal resources. It's due to either a la…

No individual snowflake thinks it is responsible for the avalanche. Being aware of your own contribution to the state of the world and being willing to change that are important, even if you account for only a minuscule part of the problem.
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