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Sergey Brin's Unretirement

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Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#371

Post by pkos98 »

VikingCoder wrote: post #363
pzo wrote: post #344

> Adherents of the popular financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement scrimp and sacrifice to retire early. Only for many of them to discover their dream of post-work life does not match reality. I think the more important goal in FIRE is the 'FI' part - financial independence. Something that allows you to retire early - not necessary that you have to use this privilage. Something that allows you to next da…

FIYNTBOM Financial Independence, You're Not The Boss Of Me. Once you're financially independent, at a level that you're comfortable with, you don't have to put up with crappy bosses. If you're Sergey Brin, you kind of don't really have a boss, do you? If you "retire" into working at a hardware store, or volunteering at the Humane Society, or just shifting into a lower-stress job... Well, that's the dream, isn't it? I…

I think this is just an extension of "Fuck you money"

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#372

Post by ericmay »

kshacker wrote: post #300
cuttothechase wrote: post #47

Sergey's challenge looks like is not in retiring early or with non-work. We had a high performing co-worker who was scared witless after a lay-off episode and this was not because he was worried about lacking money or loss of prestige., but because he could not come to terms with the simple fact of facing the 9 am on a Monday morning with absolutely no expectations. It freaked so much to not feel the hustle and the a…

I took a four-year break from work (2009–2013) and moved to India. The reasons were simple: some family health issues required downtime (though probably not as much as I ended up taking), and I could afford to do this in India in a way I couldn’t in the US. This happened to coincide with the market bottom, but I wasn’t laid off—it was entirely voluntary. I didn’t experience an identity crisis for a single day. I didn…

> One big difference was social life. In India, I was constantly meeting people—connections were easy and organic. In the US, maintaining a daytime social life felt much harder. Everyone is on a treadmill—insurance, income, careers—often not by choice. I know there are ways to build community here, but in India it just happened naturally.

The primary reason for this is the built environment we live in here in the United States. It's very difficult to organically build connections when you have to drive a car somewhere to have basic social interactions. Even some of the items you mention, like insurance and income are very much informed by the requirement to have a car to participate in society.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#373

Post by VikingCoder »

pkos98 wrote: post #371
VikingCoder wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FIYNTBOM Financial Independence, You're Not The Boss Of Me. Once you're financially independent, at a level that you're comfortable with, you don't have to put up with crappy bosses. If you're Sergey Brin, you kind of don't really have a boss, do you? If you "retire" into working at a hardware store, or volunteering at the Humane Society, or just shifting into a lower-stress job... Well, that's the dream, isn't it? I…

I think this is just an extension of "Fuck you money"

I think you're very close to being right...

But I think "Fuck you money" implies, "I honestly don't have to worry about money, ever again."

Now, we all have different definitions for that, but the kind of thing I was talking about is definitely not "Fuck you money," to me.

I think if I had "Fuck you money," my best friends and close family would all have their medical debts paid off. I think my parents and in-laws would have their mortgages paid off.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#374

Post by alex1138 »

ramraj07 wrote: post #310
arjie wrote: post #27

It's been great to see. Google's AI efforts have truly seen a resurgence in quality with his return. What I enjoy about this article is the fact that it presents a view that now seems relatively rare: the idea that you may have a purpose beyond pleasure and that pursuing that purpose is a more fulfilling pleasure than any comfort you could give yourself. I think that kind of thing strikes many people. Sometimes like…

I don't buy this narrative (notwithstanding that great commencement speeches are almost always hyperbole). The way I see it Sergey HAD to come back or risk the poorly managed mess that is google completely drop the AI leadership . It proves again that all thats good in Google happened exclusively because of the two founders and that their CEO is not an effective leader at all.

I've been curious how much the Facebook IPO affected the industry also

We know they lied about video metrics; everyone has to pivot to video to stay competitive (with fradulent metrics)

Given the suspicion of fake accounts and further ad fraud how much have companies felt they have to follow trends rather than come up with sort of, their own organic business models

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#375

Post by tezza »

this is truly bizarre.

It’s as if they’ve never heard of Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs before and further did they don’t know Self Actualizing is right at the very top.

Without that key stone on the top the human being is still a wanting animal. And if you somehow “mission complete” one Self Actualizing, then you immediately start to want something fresh “purpose” etc.

And obviously Self Actualizing doesn’t have to come in the form of work, although often it does.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#376

Post by unethical_ban »

bradley13 wrote: post #267

I totally understand. I "retired" last summer, but I continue to work about 50%, mostly at a new place that needs my help. I like what I do. Anyway, gaming/reading/etc. are fine and dandy, but not something I want to do 24/7. The only thing I don't quite get about Brin is going back to Google. Since he doesn't need the money, why not support open source AI projects?

Probably because he knows the people and frankly, the team that's getting paid billions collectively are the top talent.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#377

Post by jandrewrogers »

piva00 wrote: post #191
jandrewrogers wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works much better for most people if you replace “retire early” with “recreationally employed”. You can select the work you do without optimizing for income or status-maxxing.

The few cases I know of people who retired in their early 30s they really didn't want to even be "recreationally employed", they diverted their efforts to causes they believe are bigger than usual work. They help communities, they started projects in their free time that enhances others' lives in direct and meaningful ways which had nothing to do with their past day job. I believe I'd do the same, forget about coding…

This is entirely within the scope of "recreationally employed". There is no implication that what you spend your time on has anything to do with your former career.

In most cases I know of recreational employment has little to do with their former employment. They often put in a lot of hours and it is still "work" in the ordinary sense but it is entirely self-directed.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#378

Post by krapp »

tezza wrote: post #375

this is truly bizarre. It’s as if they’ve never heard of Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs before and further did they don’t know Self Actualizing is right at the very top. Without that key stone on the top the human being is still a wanting animal. And if you somehow “mission complete” one Self Actualizing, then you immediately start to want something fresh “purpose” etc. And obviously Self Actualizing doesn’t have to com…

Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been widely criticized as being too rigid and simplistic and too biased towards an affluent Western cultural context. It also hasn't been tested and validated by science, and is based on hearsay rather than empirical data.

"Self Actualization" being a primary universal human need is just one guy's personal opinion, it isn't a law of nature or physics.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#379

Post by snake42 »

pzo wrote: post #344

> Adherents of the popular financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement scrimp and sacrifice to retire early. Only for many of them to discover their dream of post-work life does not match reality. I think the more important goal in FIRE is the 'FI' part - financial independence. Something that allows you to retire early - not necessary that you have to use this privilage. Something that allows you to next da…

I might have missed it, but I don't see this quote in the article. Either way, it feels disingenuous when a place like business insider posts these criticisms of FIRE like it is the ultimate gotcha.

Finding a purpose outside of work seems like the main issue most people struggle with when doing FIRE. Once you get going, the saving is automatic and addictive to some, but figuring out what to do with your life to give it meaning outside of a traditional work context is not just an issue with FIRE.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#380

Post by CoffeeOnWrite »

pkos98 wrote: post #371
VikingCoder wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FIYNTBOM Financial Independence, You're Not The Boss Of Me. Once you're financially independent, at a level that you're comfortable with, you don't have to put up with crappy bosses. If you're Sergey Brin, you kind of don't really have a boss, do you? If you "retire" into working at a hardware store, or volunteering at the Humane Society, or just shifting into a lower-stress job... Well, that's the dream, isn't it? I…

I think this is just an extension of "Fuck you money"

It’s more than just money, it’s how you set up your life to be resilient to contingencies. For example finding a compatible life partner. For example finding happiness without lifestyle inflation and breaking free from the hedonic treadmill. Or perhaps having a good lifestyle business for some people. Or having extended family support nearby. I call these things unfuckwithability. Money is a big part of it, but may not be the biggest missing piece for many people.
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