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Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

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Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#51

Interesting. Google and USPS are among the most trusted organizations in the US. They also both have a reputation for being good to work at for different socioeconomic classes. The former has some rate of people killing themselves and the latter has some rate of people killing others to the degree that they're now slang for flipping your shit. I wonder what the difference is.

Google is among the most trusted organizations in the US? That doesn't seem right.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#52
post #19
post #10

Without an understanding of their motive, I think tying "google" to a person's mental health crisis is clickbait. Folks dealing with mental health issues might end their lives for a variety of factors. This is very sad to hear, but the headline (and article) that attempts to connect an employer to a person's death without any evidence is unfair. Note: I do not work for Google.

Well if it was a google employee who committed suicide at home, or off of the various many other places you could chose to kill yourself in Manhattan, I'd generally agree. This person however, jumped off their employers office building.

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Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#53
post #10

Without an understanding of their motive, I think tying "google" to a person's mental health crisis is clickbait. Folks dealing with mental health issues might end their lives for a variety of factors. This is very sad to hear, but the headline (and article) that attempts to connect an employer to a person's death without any evidence is unfair. Note: I do not work for Google.

An employee of Google who jumped from the Google office is a pretty obvious connection. Don't really see how this is clickbait.

Why is this a pretty obvious connection vs. just the pragmatic reality of having access to the Google building?

The factors that play into suicide are numerous, and there is no apparent reason that Google was a causal factor.

This is also not to say that they aren’t, but to point out that speculation about this has zero standing.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#54
post #42
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well if it was a google employee who committed suicide at home, or off of the various many other places you could chose to kill yourself in Manhattan, I'd generally agree. This person however, jumped off their employers office building.

there’s no indication it was an intentional jump. the article says no note or video and that they found handprints, meaning at some point this person was hanging on a ledge. so it is misleading to say he “jumped” if it ends up being an accidental fall. there’s plenty of people who climb ledges in NYC to take photos at night, so would not be surprised if this ends up being entirely accidental as a result of trying to…

I've been through that building very many times. DigitalOcean NYC2 is there, I've had lunch/dinner/drinks there more times than I can count. You don't just "fall off" 111 8th.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#55
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Identifying with your employer to the extent you view it as the pinnacle of your life isn’t likely to end positively. It’s just too much control to cede to a third party who has a business relationship with you.

Ok so what do you tie your feeling of success to? Getting married and having kids? What if your wife divorces you? Same problem.

Why have a feeling of success at all? That seems like a very Protestant point of view. Some people are content just to exist, and perhaps make themselves useful.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#56
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People also did this with Foxconn. Supposedly at Foxconn's scale, the suicide rate wasn't alarming, but with people living in dorms and having suicide nets set up, it looks bad.

It wasn't clear when I read that the rate wasn't alarming if they were comparing the Foxconn rate to the entire general population rate or just the employed general population rate. I think the difference is obvious.

It was very much Foxconn spinning it as to be expected. I have no idea how much to trust that.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#57
post #54
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there’s no indication it was an intentional jump. the article says no note or video and that they found handprints, meaning at some point this person was hanging on a ledge. so it is misleading to say he “jumped” if it ends up being an accidental fall. there’s plenty of people who climb ledges in NYC to take photos at night, so would not be surprised if this ends up being entirely accidental as a result of trying to…

I've been through that building very many times. DigitalOcean NYC2 is there, I've had lunch/dinner/drinks there more times than I can count. You don't just "fall off" 111 8th.

Yeah, and I mentioned that he could have purposefully climbed a ledge to take nighttime photos and tripped.

I’ve seen dozens of “daredevil” skyline shots of NYC where people climb rooftops/bridges to take photos. Someone intentionally jumping does not “hang” on the side, they just jump.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#58
post #46
post #30

This is a tangent, but it reminds me of the plot of The Three Body Problem. The story begins with a series of suicides from top physics researchers because physics just stops working for some mysterious reason which is revealed later in the book. I loved that series of books and this highlights why I like it so much. It's an "optimistic" view of humanity. People are serious in the book so its entirely plausible that…

> It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. Did we read the same book? A huge portion was devoted to the cultural revolution, and it definitely made humans look pretty "malevolent" there. I don't think the book really tries to be optimistic, just realistic, which means it calls out a lot of good and bad.

It's been a while since I read it, but I think the cultural revolution served as character development and how the trauma effected some of the characters in the story. It also served as an analogy for suppressing scientific research. It's something that has been overcome and is (somewhat) overcome in the rest of the book and the subsequent novels from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.

It's not that people are all good, but they are serious, as are the governments involved. It might be more obvious from books 2 and 3.

Compare that to something like "Don't look up" (humans stupid) or "Avatar" (human bad)

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#59

A coworker of mine committed suicide a couple of weeks before the date in which the company had announced that they would lay off some of us. This period of time in which we know layoffs were coming but we didn't know who was going to be let go was morale-destroying and I have no doubt in my mind that it pushed him over the edge. He left behind his wife and two children. His name was Dave Brackman.

Sorry for your loss.

Re: Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

#60
post #14

Such a sad news. It’s really tragic someone go through this. I know the incident could be unrelated but it is also a good reminder the human cost of decisions. The fed taking decisions for the economy, companies taking decisions to maximize shareholder value and ceo pay, etc. all have huge impact on people’s lives, some of it is visible, while some of it is not.

The article says no note, no video, and they found handprints. This was nearly midnight at an outdoor terrace in the office. I guess I don’t see how anyone can say he “jumped” on purpose yet when at some point he must’ve been hanging which could have been a result of tripping on something.

> I don’t see how anyone can say he “jumped” on purpose yet when at some point he must’ve been hanging which could have been a result of tripping on something.

Wouldn't having a barrier low enough someone can trip and fall over be a recipe for a lawsuit? I imagine the barrier was high enough planting hands would be the natural way for most people to get on top or over.

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