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Comment by GDC7 | Hacker News Reader

The only true answer is that out there are 8 billion people waking up every day.

And all they do is seeking social relevance, and by doing so they are inadvertedly diluting your own social relevance.

There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner.

You stop working and your relevance is eroded away...hell you could keep the amount of work constant or even increase it and your relevance would be eroded away if you are in a sector or a country which is not performing well.

The biggest lie that those at the top of the social pyramid have ever managed to pass onto the rest of us is that "it ain't a zero sum game"

Well, matter of fact it is.

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> 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance,

No they don’t. Most of this earth is seeking food and clean water and substance. You’re lucky enough to have that and seek your social relevance

> Most of this earth is seeking food and clean water and substance.

You are underestimating the intelligence of people in 3rd world countries.

They might be fighting violently to procure themselves those things, but in their mind there is always the thought of reaching a point when their social status is so high that they won't have to fight violently, but other people in the village would bring food and water to them as a sign of respect.

That's basically the sole reason for becoming a shaman or a sorcer

I sincerely recommend you go test your hypotheses out in the field.

Geez. I’m underestimating their intelligence? Have you visited the 3rd world? I have. Many times, and food+shelter is THE number one priority.

I think this is sort of a false dichotomy, and potentially a defeatist take. There is an increasing body of evidence that any work done above 40hrs/wk for thought work is only beneficial for a few weeks at a time. After which overtime is necessary just to maintain what would have otherwise taken only 40hrs. What this tells me is that it's essential to learn how to strategically work longer hours, knowing that the recovery time will reduce your hours by at least as much (personal experience is that 2x is actually more realistic to getting back to normal measurable output). I see it as no different than athletes who learn when to expend that extra energy in competition such that it doesn't leave them flagging the rest of the match.

I also think you may be overestimating the amount of effort it takes to sort of tread water if necessary. I suspect it's more of a logarithmic decay function in terms of social relevance. I've come to think that the hardest part of staying socially relevant isn't the amount of effort it takes to stay on top, but to actually recognize when it's important to spend effort on some new trend, and when it's important to ignore other trends. I think for this it's even more important to take a step back and take time out to reflect rather than actively trying to work insane hours.

Depends on what you define as work.

Is going golfing and having dinner with clients considered “work”? How about attending fundraisers, concert events, etc. where you have the opportunity to dramatically alter the course of your business with the right connection?

> but to actually recognize when it's important to spend effort on some new trend, and when it's important to ignore other trends

And in order to do that you need to put in the work to study the trends and understand if they are the future or a simple fad.

The only way to do that is to put in the work, studying papers, reading a lot etc.

That is still work, because sure as hell it ain't leisure

Not sure social relevance is really on everyone's agenda given how many high paying jobs don't really have that.

some people work because they have to though, it's not just about "social relevance".

True, but this article is about "insecure overachievers" who work at "elite professional organizations". I think there's a decent argument that these people are largely driven by prestige AKA social relevance.

>There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner.

This is called retirement

some of the richest ppl in the world dont do that, i dont think they are socially irrelevant

no most of those 8 billion are just trying to put food on the table by whatever means - relevance is probably the last thing on their mind - you can't blame people for trying to survive

yes everything in this capitalism dominated world is owned by somebody so even for food to survive, you have to engage in economic activity

yes if you work on problems that nobody needs solved, nobody's gonna solve any of your problems

there is no biggest lie, those at "the top" are simply enjoying the benefits of nature's bountifulness, inheritance, corruption, inability of common people to organise and negotiate for a better life, etc

it's a zero sum game only by design - that common people play partly out of ignorance and partly out of necessity

> no most of those 8 billion are just trying to put food on the table by whatever means - relevance is probably the last thing on their mind - you can't blame people for trying to survive

You are underestimating the intelligence of people in 3rd world countries.

That's basically the sole reason for becoming a shaman or a sorcer

I sincerely recommend you go test your hypotheses out in the field.

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