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Sergey Brin's Unretirement

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Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#461

Post by howdyhowdy123 »

largbae wrote: post #287

From observing my parents and other elders, it isn't "work" in the job sense that we all need. It is feeling needed by others. This can be accomplished by being an active grandparent, charity(active volunteering not just allocating money), open-source contribution, mentoring. It can be something other than a job. It just can't be done alone. We are social creatures and need to be needed by each other. Luckily there a…

I agree with this, although I prefer to phrase it as "being useful to others (and appreciated)".

I'd think this is universal but it's interesting to see others in this thread that disagree.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#462

Post by Melatonic »

bsoles wrote: post #370
largbae wrote: post #287

From observing my parents and other elders, it isn't "work" in the job sense that we all need. It is feeling needed by others. This can be accomplished by being an active grandparent, charity(active volunteering not just allocating money), open-source contribution, mentoring. It can be something other than a job. It just can't be done alone. We are social creatures and need to be needed by each other. Luckily there a…

> It is feeling needed by others. My perspective on these things have changed when I saw a successful old friend of mine thank his friend for asking his help. I feel like being asked to help by a friend might actually be a privilege sometimes.

I think it definitely is - simply because it means you are approachable enough (and knowledgable enough) that people feel both comfortable enough to ask and see you as a reliable resource.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#463

Post by arkmm »

seer wrote: post #276
chihuahua wrote: post #97

About a year ago I had an unpleasant and demoralizing experience at work, and thought "fuck it, I don't need to put up with this shit any more" and decided I'd had enough of work for now. In the spring and summer and early fall, it's easy to find enough things to do outside. Right now in the rainy, windy winter it's a bit more difficult. Today I went to the gym at 7am, then did a 2 hour indoor cycling workout at home…

I highly advise traveling - went a similar experience - had some savings that could last for a few years (much longer if I stretched them) So just decided to get a motorbike license and go check out Asia. Ended up finding a partner (totally unexpected) selling everything, moving abroad, marrying them and now expecting a child (planned), all in a manner of 3 years. Has been quite the joyful and interesting experience,…

Maybe a bit off-topic, but how'd you meet your partner while on your adventures?

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#464

Post by __jonas »

fragmede wrote: post #433
Xiol wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regretting not being able to create more shareholder value on your deathbed. So very sad.

Depends on the shareholder. At Sergey Brin's level, that shareholder value shapes the future of humanity, a legacy affecting many more people and will last far longer than spending time with single, or even double digit number of children.

I can't really tell what you're trying to say, do you really think the shareholder value of Google is positively aligned with the future of humanity? As in: If Google builds a really good AI and makes a lot of money from that, this will be a net positive for the world?

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#465

Post by esafak »

yourapostasy wrote: post #327
l5870uoo9y wrote: post #137

It sounds similar to people living long-term on welfare in Denmark. They have food and housing, but their life is devoid of meaning.

> They have food and housing, but their life is devoid of meaning. I find it difficult to relate to such worlds. I make up all kinds of explanations like, "well, it must be because while they have food and housing, they don't have any funds to entertain themselves". Or, "well, it must be because they simply haven't had sufficient education to reach an activation level where the higher tiers of Maslow's come into thei…

They lack curiosity. It can be nurtured, or starved.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#466

Post by heyjamesknight »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #446
fragmede wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> His help was (apparently) not appreciated That's just your take. We don't know where he sat in the team, so we can assume the idea that he wasn't appreciated by his teammates as incorrect. He didn't make the cut based on unknown metrics from upper management, but they have their own reasons for doing things. Getting in to the parking lot of the old office sounds way healthier than not making it out of bed at all.

> Getting in to the parking lot of the old office sounds way healthier than not making it out of bed at all. Missing your ex and lying around depressed in bed is less unhealthy than getting into the car and sitting outside their house.

You've cherry-picked a situation where there is an obvious social norm being broken. A better example would be going to the park and sitting on the bench you used to sit on with your ex. I agree with GP that this is healthier than lying despondent in bed.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#467

Post by TeMPOraL »

MagicMoonlight wrote: post #138
neilv wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be happy to do 60-hour weeks of good work, in a good environment. I wouldn't want 60-hour weeks of dealing with a lot of promotion-seekers, though. I wonder how different Google would be if they'd just paid people enough money they didn't have to think about money, but it was the same amount of money to everyone. You do the work, not for promotions, but because you like doing the work. You can train up for and tr…

Why would I want to be paid the same amount as any moron that gets in? What motivation is there for me to work hard?

That's what's beautiful about this scheme: people with attitude you presented would self-select out of it.

That solves half of the problem of typical work dynamics already; the second half, preventing unqualified morons from getting in and setting themselves up for life by being paid good money for doing nothing, would need to be solved in some other way.

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#468

Post by dang »

lovich wrote: post #146
dang wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know how frustrating it is to have a contrarian opinion and get smacked with the majority's reaction to it (believe me, I know - it's an asymmetric experience in the worst way) - but lashing out is not a good way to react to that. It only makes things worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

It’s very frustrating for the bot’s reinforcement function. This is another account created after widespread access to LLM was available to the public that is pushing a political view that is somewhat coherent until pressed and then it falls apart like all chat bots Maybe it’s a real person and I’m being an asshole here, but it’s hard to tell. The fact that is hard to tell if they are real or not means we need to com…

> Maybe it’s a real person and I’m being an asshole here, but it’s hard to tell.

The site guidelines are clear on this: you should assume that it's a real person and try your best to reel back these sorts of accusations, which are nearly always wrong, and nearly always driven by differences of background and (therefore) opinion.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I'm rushing out the door just now but here are a couple of past explanations about this:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35932851 (May 2023)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41948722 (Oct 2024)

(as well as https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme... of course)

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#469

Post by dang »

alex1138 wrote: post #252
lovich wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Would you please stop breaking the site guidelines? You're doing it quite badly. I don't want to ban you, but posts like this make it hard not to, because people will start accusing us of enforcing the rules unfairly.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: perhaps this will help: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41948722. More at https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que....

Re: Sergey Brin's Unretirement

#470

Post by derangedHorse »

ausbah wrote: post #394

im probably just projecting but going back to work when youve amassed enough to live off to an enormous fortune feels like a failure of imagination. sure everyone needs to keep their hands busy, feel valued by others, etc etc but surely there’s some other hobby, interest, or unprofitable passion project you would invest time into? but maybe being in a corporate environment (any any env) shapes your thinking in such a…

It seems that there’s a misunderstanding in what people think he’d be doing. He’s literally his own boss.

A man who can pay for the livelihoods of like-minded individuals to work on a common goal sounds like a dream.

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