Comment by kapilkale | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kapilkale | Hacker News Reader

I don't regret going to management consulting after college. In my opinion, it's the best possible career choice for people who don't know what they want to do.

In my time in consulting, I was exposed to people in every corporate function possible, and had the chance to see what their jobs were like. I worked for tech companies, PE firms, corporations, and government-regulated entities. I spent 6 months in growth equity and got to learn what the buy-side is like.

If I had known then what I know now, then I would have told my 21 year old self to go work at FB or Amazon or some small startup.

But the value proposition for the firm I went to was unequivocal. We will pay you a lot. The opportunities you have when you leave will pay you even more. You'll get to work with other extremely smart people. You will see a ton of industries. You will be able to go to whatever b-school you want when you're ready to apply. And if you get good at your job after a couple years, your hours will go down substantially.

I agree with you. I just recently quit my consulting gig and I would tell my 21 year old self to work for a company that creates "real value."

But the experience I gained during my 2 1/2 years exposed me to multiple industries and I starting thinking much more "strategically" when analyzing businesses. Also, I worked with probably some of the smartest people you could assemble (less a few "odd" ones).

Also, the expense account was nice and fed me well.

FB and Amazon turned out just fine without your help, the only reason you wish you had worked there was in order to extract and benefit from the great pool of wealth and prestige. Your value to society is nil for as long as you spend more mental energy consuming more than you create. Remember that all highly educated people bear a responsibility much greater than ourselves, and this responsibility is fulfilled only by sacrifice and discomfort.

Remember that all highly educated people bear a responsibility much greater than ourselves, and this responsibility is fulfilled only by sacrifice and discomfort.

I'm not sure if you're kidding or not, but assuming you're not, why do the highly educated have any greater responsibility than the less educated?

You can be sure that I was not kidding. Any form of education, combined with intellect and curiosity is a privilege that (believe it or not) a lot of people don't have. Some possess this virtue without the means of attaining it, while others bear the Fortune without the virtue. To be educated and intelligent is to possess a great tool which can serve many if put to good use.

Are you seriously suggesting that people have some form of 'obligation' towards the others, just because they were born with/in a certain intelligence and environment, and that therefore they should relinquish their freedom to do whatever they want for the benefit of the others? If so, and if you're not trolling, I am seriously discomforted and even appalled by your apparent proposition of a fascist or communist "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" morality.

We are so advantaged compared to the rest of humanity it isn't even funny. We have opportunities other people would kill for. We are in a position where we can make a meaningful positive contribution to the world. To throw that all away would be a huge waste.

You don't have to sacrifice personal happiness, but yes, if you're in a position where you can do good and if you then choose not to do good I do consider that somewhat unethical.

Working hard for people like us consists of sitting on a chair and listening to music while we type for 6 hours a day. Maybe another 4 hours or so of chatting and planning and sketching out ideas. While the rest of the world is born in a position where the choice is between backbreaking work for 12 hours a day or being unable to feed the family.

Yes, we have the freedom to lounge about even though a billion people are underfed or living in otherwise miserable conditions, but who can in good conscience exercise that right?

I completely agree. Although it might seem like we work hard and are fairly rewarded, the fact we have the skills and opportunities that we do is through no doing of our own.

President Kennedy gave a great speech about the role and responsibilities of educated people in society. 'Increased responsibility goes with increased ability, for "of those to whom much is given, much is required."' http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/aZ0Im5s0mUqPJlFNs6iO4...

Kennedy was quoting Luke 12:48 in the Bible:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12&vers...

And the bible in turn paraphrased Spiderman: "with great power comes great responsibility."

You maybe right somewhat somewhere but your direct wording doesn't fit with the world I know

You do realize FB COO Sheryl Sandberg is ex-McKinsey right ?

No we don't bear any responsibility to others. We worked for were we are and shouldn't be burdened with losers.

Yeah, good thing that you built those roads you drove to work on this morning. And that you had the foresight to hire those elementary school teachers to teach you math.

Yeah and stick me with a bunch of bullies (hey I consider myself lucky, the fuckers sent my brother to the hospital) whom I now have the honor of working my ass of so that the government can confiscate it so that they can get some food on the table because they are too stupid to make something of themselves.

And I will never see any justice for it, because the law in this country protect the guilty, rather than the innocent.

Yes I properly learned a lot in school and it made certain subjects such as physics and chemistry which required a lab easier. But don't think for a moment that the school was the reason I learned to read or write. I would have done that one my own anyway as I am too much a sucker for good stories.

As for the roads, people went to school before there were roads (paved ones anyway) they made it easier sure, but that is about it.

In summary I don't mind helping those who have tried and failed but I absolutely recent having to feel sorry and repent that I was born the way I was. And most people just need to apply themselves.

This is pretty far off topic now, but I'd suggest dropping the resentment for the bullies, you'll have a more fulfilling life and make better decisions and observations. (Like, for example, very little government money goes to welfare).

> this responsibility is fulfilled only by sacrifice and discomfort.

The highly educated do not owe society anything. No one should have a right to my intelligence. If I want to contribute, I can and will, and if I'm smart enough and execute well enough, I will be rewarded, both monetarily and through watching my creation create real value.

This does not mean that sacrifice and discomfort are the only ways to create value. Wile start ups are roller coasters of emotion, I can bet you that Jobs, Gates, Page et al. Have gleaned much more pleasure from their creations then sacrifice, discomfort and pain.

And the only person who can make them do anything is themselves. Larry and Sergey did not bear a responsibility from society to create Google. They did by their own choice.

Sacrifice and discomfort is not a MEANS to anything, it does however imply delayed gratification that is mostly unpleasant and sends many fleeing to the nearest consulting firm. This would make sense if you actually read the article, which describes many disillusioned ivy's unwilling to sacrifice a comfortable lifestyle for what could otherwise be more personally enriching and meaningful work.

I'm not even sure what you're trying to argue here—nobody wants the rights to your intelligence. But if you take a step back, you can see that every one of us has benefitted greatly from others' intelligent contributions to humanity and we can choose to either keep that wheel spinning or put ourselves at the mercy of others' history-making. If you want to use your tech idols as a yardstick for morality and virtue, you ought to look a little closer.

"I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.” -STEVE JOBS

Some of my favorite quotes, however, are from the mouth of Napoleon:

"All my life I have sacrificed everything—comfort, self-interest, happiness—to my destiny."

"Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest."

i was in consulting too. i played a lot of ping pong and was grossly underpaid. but life was pretty good.

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