alt Hacker NewsYes. The problem here is cultural and most westerners feel:
- It is reasonable to expect a nice comfy desk job with little stress where they get paid well to explore an interest they have. We are all moderns Thomas Edisons no?
- It is unexpected, undesirable and perhaps objectively bad to not live a life without struggle. I bet most westerners would not sit home in poverty and then fly after years to be with their loved one who has struggled to become a cook or delivery person.
For context I say this all as a westerner who tries to shake this mentality. We don't need all of this supposed comfort we only are addicted to it.
> We don't need all of this supposed comfort we only are addicted to it.
This conversation is schizophrenic because we are conflating two different topics:
* from a perspective of mindfulness and gratitude, yes, it is psychologically better to not attach your identity to your career, living space. Eastern philosophy (e.g. Tao te Ching) teaches us about non-materialism; Greek philosophy teaches us about stoicism. All of these perspectives can be useful coping mechanisms when faced with a materially uncertain future.
* from a perspective of economics, law, and politics we can simultaneously acknowledge that when a business built on intellectual property theft (i.e. AI), focused on enriching a small cadre of capital owners, indirectly devalues labor causing material hardship for much of the population of the world, an injustice as occurred. It seems unfair to us, because the skill that we have worked a lifetime to hone has been cheapened by a selfish business that couldn't exist without the work publicly and freely contributed. That is worth being upset about.
I'll point out that Sam Altman also enjoys a very high level of comfort, which he does not need; and that his comfort seems to be predicated on other people losing their livelihood. So why are (intellectual labor class) HNers suffering while (capital owning class) CEOs are not?