Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

simpleprogrammer.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 226 posts

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#61

Post by calinet6 »

RyanZAG wrote: post #18

I feel sorry for the author of this post - he actually believes hard, boring work is the only way to accomplish anything. I've done both hard, boring work, and easy, efficient and enjoyable work. The easy work was both more enjoyable, more profitable and far better for my life as a whole. Life is not fair, there are no points awarded for working harder or being more diligent - there are only 'points' awarded for acco…

Seriously. This article is just useless flamebait, unworthy even of the slightest praise.

It fails to comprehend any of the complexities of circumstance, time, or humanity, yet claims to have a point above them all. This is the mark of a single-minded spoiled child without worldly experience, who has fallen into some success after a short stint of hard work and doesn't understand his place in the stochastic processes which led to his creation, upbringing, and situation.

This bullshit is to be shredded; not lightly but intently and with prejudice. It should be put down for its failure as a perspective. For its disservice to the betterment of our profession.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#62

Post by mscarborough »

princess3000 wrote: post #32

Does writing yet another article about those darn kids these days count as hard, boring work or easy, enjoyable work?

It's hard work to determine the answer. The author seems to think it's an obvious life lesson. So it's easy for him to understand, and probably enjoyable to write. Maybe boring to keep clicking on the 'bold html' button?

I'm so confused!

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#64

Post by calinet6 »

jsonmez wrote: post #47
Smudge wrote: post #41

Somehow this article manages to be both wise and presumptuous. The points he makes speak from experience. It's a perspective that is too often ignored by younger generations: You can't always quit a job when the work gets boring -- sometimes you just have to push through the tedium if you want to be the best at what you do. This is a widely applicable bit of advice. But the way this message is presented -- to chastis…

My point is only that if you quit a thing, don't do it without something else lined up, it is just foolish. Doesn't matter if it is your own business or another job, but you don't just say, "I don't like this, so I'm not going to do it anymore."

Maybe not for you; in general that's a silly detail to argue about.

You can always change your situation. This is one of the most valuable pieces of advice I've ever received.

How you do it is an implementation detail, but the most important thing is knowing you can.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#65

Post by xradionut »

I disagree with the OP.

It's never been widely claimed that "Work should be fun." There's a reason work is called work. :)

And there's a lot of "hard, boring work". In my lifetime, I've worked on the farm, in fast food, in factories, in the military, in wafer fabs, at desks, in school and at work benches in all sorts of crazy roles enduring all sorts of physical and mental strains.

Creating the same damn CRUD application over and over for years is just as dull as chopping weeds in a oats field. It pays more, but at a certain point a creative mind wants difference, a challenge, something to accomplish.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#68

Post by Confusion »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #59
gboudrias wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is priceless. And then: It doesn’t matter how brilliant you started out or how much faster you exited the gates than everyone else, those who consistently get up every morning and direct their energies along a single path, no matter how boring it may be, will eventually pass you on each of the many roads you haphazardly travel. That's not how life works. You can direct all your efforts to bending cutlery, but yo…

> You can direct all your efforts to bending cutlery, but you're not going to make a good living out of it. You're just not. It's like you're specifically trying to undermine yourself. You never heard of Uri Geller?

Yes, and not because he directed all his efforts to bending cutlery. His efforts were directed at creating the illusion of bending cutlery and marketing himself (and mostly the latter). Quite a difference.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#69

Post by Smudge »

jsonmez wrote: post #47
Smudge wrote: post #41

Somehow this article manages to be both wise and presumptuous. The points he makes speak from experience. It's a perspective that is too often ignored by younger generations: You can't always quit a job when the work gets boring -- sometimes you just have to push through the tedium if you want to be the best at what you do. This is a widely applicable bit of advice. But the way this message is presented -- to chastis…

My point is only that if you quit a thing, don't do it without something else lined up, it is just foolish. Doesn't matter if it is your own business or another job, but you don't just say, "I don't like this, so I'm not going to do it anymore."

Hi Jason -- That point is not quite what I read from your initial post, but regardless I tend to agree with most of your advice. I just really disagree with your assessment of loren. (So apologies if my reaction seemed overly-negative).

It sounds to me like loren did have a few project ideas lined-up, and the drive to work on them. While personally I'd want a better guarantee of future revenue before quitting a job, I can't fault someone for following their passions like that. He may someday become wiser and more experienced, but my hope is that he'll be able to look back without regret on his decision to quit.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#70

Post by Smudge »

jsonmez wrote: post #58
shubb wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having followed what Loren is doing now (Penflip), I think he made the right choice. It may go big, it may not, but it is a great execution of a nice concept, and has a lot of potential. I don't think you can call the guy lazy. He just decided to work real hard on something else.

That is not what he said in his post, and I am excited to see him doing Penflip. I wish him the best. Glad that he did decide to commit to something meaningful after-all.

loren concluded his post with this:

> I'm going to build whatever keeps me up at night. I have a long list, but there's one project that I'm particularly passionate about. It might turn into a startup. It might not. Who knows.

So, sounds like it was exactly what he said in his post.

Post reply on HN