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I am retiring from tech to live offline

openpath.quest

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Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#471

Post by tclancy »

GaryBluto wrote: post #259
tclancy wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>praising the savage acts of violence committed by the Sentinelese (which I find particularly odd considering the author's professed religion). I doubt the Amish (who apply technology selectively and intelligently) would appreciate being compared to them either This feels like a purposeful misreading. The author is using hyperbole to vent about their feelings on where we are right now in tech. The idea being there wi…

> Camping isn't building a sustainable human community. Trust me. My point is that if the Sentinelese were gone, the primitive lifestyle would not forever be lost to time. If somebody finds enough people willing to join them, it would be possible to found an off-grid commune somewhere. > We go camping in the White Mountains every summer and I can tell you based on the campground bathrooms alone that is not a society.…

May I introduce you to the Free State Project.

Also, I don’t think the Sentinelese intended to found a society, given they most likely lack the concept for the concept for that.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#473

Post by tootie »

As an AI hater, I sympathize. I really don't enjoy the engineering world since LLMs. I fully concede their value is immense, I just don't like it. Unlike Chad, I've put in enough years that I can step back and kinda do nothing. I don't want to actually do nothing, nothing. I have absolutely zero respect for the foolish notion of returning to a fully pre-modern lifestyle. It sounds he's accepting electricity, but rejecting the internet which feels arbitrary. Maybe an attempt to return to the world of his childhood which was scary and new for people who born 30 years before him. It's fine and even laudable to want to be more connected to humans and to reject the toxic parts of the online world, but it's another to stick your head in the sand.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#474

Post by RobRivera »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #286
RobRivera wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will admit, when it came to brainstorming sources of crashes with threads, AI has helped me find sources I hadn't considered (as a systems guy, multi threading real experience is something I am sprinting through)

Basically, my app is a memory hog. I went all-in on performance, and neglected frugality. Lots of caches, local copies, and pass-by-value. I suspect the best solution will be architectural, which promises to be a pain.

Yea, one cant go all in on performance, and then not co soder architecture.

A language choice is a starting point but you have to know the techniques of architecture learned.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#475

Post by graypegg »

latkin wrote: post #320

This whole thing is eye-searingly performative. Whether or not he follows through and goes dark after this, this farewell is just so ridiculous. Claims to have not used the internet or a phone since February, does all communication via USPS, declares that AI and social media make him hate himself... But somehow is continuing to post on Bluesky, continuing to update his blog, continuing to post YouTube videos, continu…

Eh, everything these days is coated in a thick sheen of polish. I think maybe the thing that's off about this is the irony in someone announcing that they will no longer be announcing anything... but even then, I don't see how that's worth getting eye-searingly wound-up about.

There's people out there farming social media engagement for their wellness tiktok account by telling people to use their phone less. That has the potential to cause actual harm, rather than just pad an ego. Those folks actually sear my eyes.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#476

Post by abustamam »

saadn92 wrote: post #300
siren2026 wrote: post #237

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

It comes down to perspective tbh. For someone who's worked hard labor throughout their life, the cushy tech job you get is actually worth doing forever. But for people who have never experienced that, I can see why retiring early makes sense, but honestly most of us get to work from home and do our jobs on the computer, which doesn't require much. It's still an amazing career to be in IMO

I consider myself to be very privileged to be a SWE. Yeah maybe it's not as great as it used to be as our capitalistic overlords rain down ever increasing workloads on us in an era of almost limitless productivity.

That said, I would like to retire early, not because I dislike it, but because I like a lot of other things more than it. I'd probably still have a software hobby project or business, but it's nice to be able to choose to do so instead of having to do it because someone wants me to.

Plus I can choose how much AI to use.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#477

Post by oleggromov »

jebarker wrote: post #296
beej71 wrote: post #125

I got into teaching several years ago, leaving industry behind. It's great! I had gotten a little bit tired of programming other people's stuff. It wasn't the programming itself that was dull, but I found most products that people wanted were actually kind of boring and formulaic. And none of them really worked for the betterment of humanity. Teaching is a massive challenge. The stuff that I teach in computer science…

How did you transition from tech to teaching?

And even more importantly, how do you make a living teaching?

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#478

Post by drivebyhooting »

switchbak wrote: post #356
drivebyhooting wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could and did live frugally before I had kids. How can one continue living in a small apartment with lead and asbestos hazards is beyond me.

Many of the homes in the world were built when lead and/or asbestos were in use. Asbestos isn't much of a concern if you don't disturb it - don't let your kids play in the attic or tear out the drywall, and you should be fine. Don't let them lick the paint, and you're probably good. Or paint over it / get it remediated - it doesn't have to be a deal killer. I certainly agree that it'd be hard to have kids in a small…

Don’t let your kids do X Y Z. That means you need to have your eyes on them 100% of the time.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#479

Post by array_key_first »

drivebyhooting wrote: post #298
siren2026 wrote: post #237

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

I could and did live frugally before I had kids. How can one continue living in a small apartment with lead and asbestos hazards is beyond me.

Plenty of people grow up in apartments in cities and live great lives. Often, they enjoy greater autonomy as they age into adolescence. Suburbs are basically prisons for children these days.

The truth is you don’t need a home or an SUV or a front lawn to raise children. And it’s also not necessarily better for them. It might be more cushy, sure, but that doesn’t mean it materially improves their lives in any meaningful way.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#480

Post by array_key_first »

stephenbez wrote: post #405
Nashooo wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easier said than done, no asset producing income will do so indefinitely without a lot work/investments.

My S&P 500 fund has done this and will continue to do this without any work or investments of time.

Passive investing is a fairly new phenomenon and we don’t actually know if it works long term. The premise of the stock market is that it’s a market. Blind and wide investment goes against the principles of how investment works. We could be accelerating bad outcomes because we are basically rewarding and punishing companies based purely on momentum, not performance.

Basically, I think it’s possible that passive investment only works when it’s a small slice of total investment. Essentially, then you ride off the expertise and decisions of others.

What happens when it’s the majority of investment? We don’t know.

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