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A while back, I overheard a coworker of mine was complaining about a cousin that was couch-surfing his way through relatives, not getting a job, just playing video games all day and moving on to a different relative or friend after getting kicked out of the last place he stayed.

The coworker and the person he was talking to were both very confused by how anyone could ever want to live that way. I had a very different reaction: if I had been aware that this was an option when I was 22, I totally would have done that, but I just never considered it as a possibility.

Even almost 20 years later it still sounds like a great life, other than the soul-crushing guilt and shame I would feel...

Did he actually enjoy living that way? To me, that sounds like the result of having no real options and playing video games constantly to avoid facing that reality...

> To me, that sounds like the result of having no real options and playing video games constantly to avoid facing that reality...

I think that is the point of the parent comment. Some people think it is horrible, like a result of having no options, and some people think it is ideal! Personally, I would go crazy without deadlines hanging over my head and lots of resources to tackle those deadlines with.

A lot of people at age 22 live with their parents and play video games or do whatever.

At least as far as jobs go, there are plenty of jobs you can do ok with ... and not actually be interested in it.

Programming is just a really hard one to do if you're not interested, possibly only because of the number of people who ARE interested (or at least some point were and they got to the point they could actually just surf along).

According to my father, the business world in my country is currently experiencing difficulties finding talent because, in the words of his bosses, "young people today are too soft and quit when things get slightly difficult".

While there are many other factors here that I don't want to get into (such as loyalty being a two-way street and so on), I often wonder whether the idea of "this is not a hobby, it's a job" might have a bit of truth in it. At the end of the day, honest work is better than no work, and we all have to be adults at some point at start pulling our weight.

Would I prefer everyone to have UBI and work only if they want to? Definitely. But not everyone can be passionate about what they do (is anyone really passionate about packing items for Amazon?) and I guess sometimes you draw the short stick.

I grew up doing everything the hard way, self taught holding my own with highly educated peers and spending years on very hard problems to build a future worth having.

I am still doing it the hard way but vastly preferring doing it for myself, instead of for ungrateful bosses that pay penny on the dollar for the privilege to ignore their employees and only ever do something to fix unfulfilled promises when people have already been burnt and it’s too late. I’ve heard again and again from peers that bosses only come round to shitty situations when good working employees threaten to leave and by then it’s too late.

This time it’s the bosses drawing the short stick and they are complaining like they are entitled to employees. You want people to stay? Make it happen, don’t whine.

I have been in management, I know what it takes. Man up.

> is anyone really passionate about packing items for Amazon?

Yes, you can! At least for a short time. I went to New Zealand on a working holiday visa. I did a lot of odd jobs there. I did fruit picking for about one month. First I thought it will be boring, but it turned out really satisfying. You can start optimizing each step of the process, shave down a few seconds here and there, finding better ways to do things. In the end, me and my girlfriend were in the top 5 five with some Japanese people (they are crazy fast), and on average we picked and packed 2-3 times more than the average.

I just want to point out some seemingly boring jobs can be satisfying.

I read a lot of horror stories about Amazon. It won't work with the current way, but that is a good thing. Amazon will have to upper their workplace standard otherwise nobody going to work there.

You know, I'm reminded of the way the CCC conferences are run. Basically, everything (except the toilet cleaners I think) is done by volunteers (aka the people visiting the conferences). I think usually about a third of the attendants do at least a little bit.

You just sign up in the system and choose a shift. Some jobs need an introduction and your account is cleared for them once you attended. If you meet a certain amount of shifts worked you get a t-shirt and preference at next-year-ticket purchases.

What you usually see is even the people with the menial jobs getting really into them as well. The ushers will experiment with new routing to make it faster, the people running the checkroom will optimize the hell out of it and have a competition with the next shift.. it's good fun.

This works because a) they want the whole endeavor to be a success, b) they are allowed to freely fulfill the roles and experiment, c) nobody in particular and everyone in total profits from the work done, d) you can pick up one shift or 20, it's up to you and surely a couple more.

I think it is possible to be passionate about packaging items for sure, but not like this. So I wouldn't say it's impossible to run society with UBI, but it will have to look quite different.

An older colleague of mine a few years back used to come out with some philosophical pearls of wisdom from time to time for us young'uns. I remember him saying once: 'Of course it's not going to be easy all the time - that's why they call it work'.

That sounds like a job for a mental health specialist. There are psychological reasons underlying the initial interests and the subsequent fading of interest, and the right specialist will be able to identify those and use them to guide you down the path to sticking to something.

Speaking as a mental health specialist:

No that is not. We treat disease. Pretending we can fine-tune personality traits is quackery, and no respectable mental health specialist would lay claim to that.

But don’t worry - quacks abound, and they even take your insurance.

I was more thinking that not finding enjoyment in anything would be indicative of depression and that would be something that a mental health specialist can help a person navigate.

I think most people have a capacity for introspection, but some need more direction than others to actually do it and connect the dots. So maybe a core personality trait is largely unchangeable, but being able to recognize its existence and zero in on how it is affecting your life can lead to some real breakthroughs.

I don't know if the best person to help someone through this process of introspection is a psychologist or a life coach or a spiritual director or a teacher or a stranger in a coffee shop, but it seems like there's a place for it somewhere.

How does one go about identifying a non-quack in your field? I’m in the market and I’ve been disappointed with the 2 I’ve seen...

My wife is a therapist, her suggestion is to go call up the largest local University and talk to folks in their psych department for recommendations.

They're usually much more science driven and grounded.

To be fair though, a part of ADHD can manifest itself this way. From what I've read it's a pretty common complaint that people with ADHD have trouble doing things they're not interested in. In a lot of those cases you also hear about how their interests change all the time.

Not really enough information to base a diagnosis on and not that I would be qualified to do so, but the thought certainly crossed my mind that the poster might consider being tested. Lack of interest and lack of maintained interest is certainly in the realm of possibility. Unlike other psychotropic meds, ADHD meds have a fairly high success rate and a rapid onset of effective treatment. Pretty much with one dose a person can tell if they are going to work for them or not. For most that suffer it's like night and day.

I am not really sure a mental health specialist can help you if nothing interests you. It's difficult to imagine every human being having interest in making something. A lot of people may just want to live a chill life.

Unfortunately, UBI is very far away, so whether something interests you or not, you got to pick up the least worst choice and get on with it.

I'd find it more strange if something did interest people for over 40/50 years. Trains for example - that's a long time to be interested in trains!

This.

I recall clearly how amazing mini quadcopters were to me! I bought some, I wrote 3D models and designed my own 3D printable chassis, I even made one from ground up, with FPV camera and all! I built and flew (until destruction) maybe 20 or 25 quads, it was all I did, all day, for 2 months. Now there's a box of spare parts and unfinished related projects that I won't touch before the day I decide to throw it all in the big "electronics junk" bin for use in future projects.

What you did sounds amazing! Yet I’m getting a tone from your comment that reveals some kind of disappointment in yourself. Reminds me of this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22792829. Check out the book mentioned in the top comment (Refuse to Choose), it may resonate with you. It certainly resonated with me after reading it recently.

This is a really interesting question and I'd love to know what other people think of it.

I think you have to constantly be reading and learning about things on your periphery. It can take a long time before your interest in something is strong enough to decide to do it for a living.

interest <-> spending time on something

these feed off of each other. No one is born liking spreadsheets or birthing or insects or woodworking.

when you're young, spend time immersed in different things. some will naturally fit better than others, and you'll see possibilities open up. not everyone has that luxury, however.