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The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

garyharan.com

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Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#61

Post by groaner »

nostrademons wrote: post #60
keeptrying wrote: post #46

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 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 l…

Name names? There are an awful lot of prospective entrepreneurs on this site who are just looking for a bunch of big, dumb, complacent tech companies to uproot.

In light of the recent article about life at BCG [1], I don't think you should have a hard time identifying big, dumb, complacent tech (ok, maybe not strictly tech) companies that happen to pay their staff well. But I don't see them being taken down by startups anytime soon, considering the sort of need they are serving (however irrational it may be).

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1257644

Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#64

Post by cookiecaper »

Qz wrote: post #51
mmastrac wrote: post #3

Well said. A 9-5 job is a great way for time to disappear into a void that you'll never get back. If you're not paying attention, you'll lose years to something like this. I know everyone isn't suited for entrepreneurial life, but as a talented developer you can always join a startup as employee 5+ and get a reasonable amount of security and pay, with a chance of a good-sized upside. Even if you're happy in a 9-5, me…

"I know everyone isn't suited for entrepreneurial life..." Is that because they started out that way, or because society tells them they should get 9-to-5 jobs and be happy about it?

I think it's because they started out that way! Of course, almost any skill or desire can be learned, but everyone is born into this world with their own unique set of aptitudes and weaknesses. The unique amalgamation found in each person lends its owner to certain roles and stations in life where excellence is easier to achieve.

Some people are perfectly OK working for someone else. They enjoy the labor of it, they enjoy the pay, they enjoy the company, they enjoy the security and relative comfort and anonymity. It doesn't really bother them that someone else is making 3x more off of the work performed than they are. That's OK. There's all kinds of people who are OK with this idea, too, but believe me that it's much better for some types to remain content with this than to branch out.

Some people are not content with that setup. They want to change things, they want to control how they spend their time (i.e. no hard 9-5 commitment), they want to keep the money their labors produce, they want to direct and lead and organize and control the intelligences and powers for their ends. This is OK and good too.

There's just different types of people in the world. We need employees, both employees on the way to independence and employees who don't mind becoming company men. It's good to have both.

The real thing that should be universal is a plan to develop financial independence such that one is never forced to work a job after it turns south, and such that people do not have to live in fear of their bosses. Of course, many bosses get mad at this idea because it weakens their ability to control their employees.

Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#65

Post by rmundo »

Some of my most cherished friends view work purely as a way to support their family and lifestyle. They don't worry about getting nowhere; in a sense, they're exactly where they want to be already.

Attention-grabbing title aside, this is a great article for people who would like to do something interesting but feel that they "can't" for various reasons or who aren't sure how to start. I can think of several people in high school or college who would appreciate this article.

(I really like the color scheme and font choices, btw!)

Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#66

Post by ovi256 »

jrockway wrote: post #48
paul9290 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

4chan is basically HN, except that on 4chan, everyone has a more reasonable perspective about their worth and ability. Oh, and you can post pictures.

I see what you did there.

Sweet, sweet irony.

Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#67

Post by cdr »

mbrubeck wrote: post #49

Hacker News - and blogs in general - are another way to live vicariously from your couch. (Thank goodness for noprocrast!)

Thank goodness for LeechBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476

It's like noprocrast for everything. (Although I wish they hadn't mangled the UI in the last update.)

Re: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Nowhere In Life

#69

Post by dgabriel »

araneae wrote: post #18
BoppreH wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading makes you better at reading (duh) and writing. Two essential skills that are used daily. What skills does your TV gives to you?

That would be a good point if I were 8 years old. However, my vocabulary is unlikely to increase anymore.

I'm sure there are many words you have yet to discover, and they are still worth learning and using.
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