41–50 of 90 posts
I think this is more a guide to becoming a normal American than anything else. There's not necessarily anything wrong with that either. Can you imagine what life would be like if everyone were a great hacker bent on changing the world to suit them?
5) Play Farmville. 6) Browse 4chan.
Those who play farmville are the ones this posts is speaking about. While the 4chan crowd as a whole are a young computer literate and savvy crowd. Though correct me if that demographic assumption is incorrect.
I think his offhand implication that reading books is superior to TV is wrong. Most fiction has exactly the same purpose and function on TV, which is to entertain. Yes, reading some books makes you "cultured" but so does TV; just to a different culture. I consider watching all the latest sci fi to be just as "culturing" as reading all the latest sci fi.
What makes these inverse guides so appealing, anyway...
You see this in programming essays, where people show examples of absurd commenting (i++; // increment i). Yes, yes, we're reasonably intelligent readers know that's bad -- show us an example of nuanced commenting, or nuanced thinking!
How demeaning. Agree with some of it but notice how there is nothing here about anything else you might like to do with your life outside of having a job and owning a business. Like a wife and a family. A 9-5 job is pretty much great in those circumstances if you just want to enjoy life - I work for a 10 person company and I've seen what the owner has gone through in the last 10 years it's been going - he has no life…
You're right about the matter of wife and family, but not in way most people believe they are right about it. There is a wide chasm between finding joy in something, and feeling the compulsion to sacrifice for it. That you find joy in your family is fantastic, if only because you've found something to enjoy. That your boss has been slogging away for ten years on his business is fantastic, as long as his enjoyment of…
Thats a really good point and its scary when you see it all around you. And I think the reason it happens is because you dont see anyone else pursuing those options.
I have, recently, moved out to Queens and now live with roommates so as to save money. previously I had my own 1 bedroom in Manhattan. No one at work understands why I did this.
The one thing I've learned though is that if I get a negative reaction from my co-workers then I might be doing something right :) ...
I know many people who have/do the first 3 things on that list and probably find more joy in their lives than this guy gets out of looking at the temporary traffic spike hitting is blog because of a really demeaning post he wrote up in no more than 5 minutes. Happiness and life fulfillment are very much found in the 9-to-5, pay-check-to-pay-check demographic of society. There are things in life one must attend to tha…
I wish this were true because then I would not be trying to get away from a 9-to-5 job which pays very handsomely with no overtime.
The real reason that a 9-to-5 is not fulfilling is because ,as an employee, you are not measured by how much you create. The metrics are a bunch of bogus crap some HR dude listed down before he had to leave to pick up his kids at 5pm. So your forced to do things which are usually unfulfilling and a lot of times inconsequential to the business and your own development.
Add that to dreary meetings, performance reviews which leave you feeling violated and managers who check whether your in on time instead of what you've produced makes for a $hit of a day. Do it 223 times a year and you'll soon realize that 9-to-5 is not about happiness or fulfillment.
There are places like Google where this may not be true but this is par for the course for every job I've worked at.
5) Play Farmville. 6) Browse 4chan.
I think those are two different demographics. Those who play farmville are the ones this posts is speaking about. While the 4chan crowd as a whole are a young computer literate and savvy crowd. Though correct me if that demographic assumption is incorrect.
(Thank goodness for noprocrast!)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Happiness and life fulfillment are very much found in the 9-to-5, pay-check-to-pay-check demographic of society. I wish this were true. The impression I get is more of numb, passive contentment, at least from enough people in this demographic that it is bothersome. They seem to have traded happiness and fulfillment for the image of happiness and fulfillment, and it is difficult to tell the difference until you ask th…
They seem to have traded happiness and fulfillment for the image of happiness and fulfillment, and it is difficult to tell the difference until you ask the hard questions that make them feel uncomfortable and defensive. Or perhaps a person took such a job because his life goals simply do not relate to work. Being another cog in a cube farm may not be interesting itself, but it can be used as a source of funding for t…