Ask HN: What are the best long-form essays or articles you've ever read?

Death Note Anonymity by gwern:

https://www.gwern.net/Death-Note-Anonymity

Tenure by matt:

http://matt.might.net/articles/tenure/

Mitchell's suicide notes:

https://web.archive.org/web/2015/geenstijl.nl/archives/image...

I came here to say the Death Note Anonymity one as well. It was my intro to gwern

You and Your Research by Richard Hamming: https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html

It's rare to have a researcher of that caliber give nitty gritty advice on having the greatest impact in your research.

It's great advice, but can be depressing. The question of "why bother doing anything if you're not advancing your field?" feels like a bucket of ice water on the head.

The world still needs a few workers doing non bleeding edge stuff, and they deserve to be content with life, too. People doing CRUD work aren't necessarily a waste of life.

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...

Best in terms of ROI (I've gotten raise / more consulting project) and changed my thinking on my career.

High Tech Cowboys of the Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace https://www.wired.com/2008/02/ff-seacowboys/