Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months

They weren't "minimizing." The point is that this article is trying to create a "Googlers are killing themselves" narrative, which is unwarranted.

I agree that suicide is tragic and we shouldn't minimize any instance of someone taking their own life.

I was trying to say that linking it to Google and implying it is a trend based on just two suicides given their extremely large employee count isn't statistically sound without additional supporting data. I was speaking about the link to Google rather than the suicides themselves.

"Significant" here meant "worth of a national news article."

It's clear that the journalist is crafting a "Why are Googlers killing themselves?" narrative.

Mental health resources at Google are there to collect evidence in case the company closes to fire you and needs to defend against a lawsuit.

It has no more standing than speculating that the suicide was related to a failed relationship with a coworker. And even in that case, a failed relationship is not usually the cause of suicide, even if it's a precipitating factor. Causes generally tie back to systemic issues.

Of all the ways one can die, suicide stems from the most deeply complex and systemic factors in one's life. To sit here and speculate about the cause with no information is irresponsible and I'd argue at the heart of what's wrong with social media today. For some reason people feel the need to have answers, even poorly considered speculation. I'd argue that it's far better to be willing to accept that there are times that require us to just withhold speculation until there's enough information to do so responsibly.

Whatever the cause turns out to be, these early discussions are the last contact most people will have with the topic, meaning whatever speculations are shared are likely to be the primary memories of those involved.

This community is quick to demand evidence and citations on most subjects (and rightly so), and this should be no different.

Yeah, and I mentioned that he could have purposefully climbed a ledge to take nighttime photos and tripped.

I’ve seen dozens of “daredevil” skyline shots of NYC where people climb rooftops/bridges to take photos. Someone intentionally jumping does not “hang” on the side, they just jump.

Sure, there's always "room" for speculation, and someone will always speculate. But that doesn't give this speculation any basis nor should it excuse irresponsible dialogue that seeks to generate answers for the sake of answers instead of accuracy and real information. There's a time during which such speculation is straight up irresponsible. It fuels narratives and feeds anger for reasons that can't be justified with data.

Layoffs are happening across industries. Are you suggesting that there is something specific about the way Google did theirs?

Suicides are higher across all demographics right now, and there's a pretty clear emerging consensus that there's a growing mental health crisis, and that it's not tied to a single employer.

Does this mean that Google had nothing to do with it? We don't know. But for anyone suggesting a connection, at least provide a plausible reason the connection exists, how it explains this scenario, and why that explanation is specific to Google. Otherwise why would such speculation provide any value?

The HN community is pretty good about demanding evidence and eschewing simplistic narratives that have no evidence to back them. Suicide is a tragic subject that evokes emotional responses, but that does not excuse baseless speculation.

I have always held multiple answers to "what is my life's purpose".

On a universal level, there is no purpose.

On a global level, there is probably no purpose.

On a societal level, maybe you can do something to help <insert whoever you want to help without harming others>, if that makes you happy.

On a familial level, people usually feel good interacting with family/friends, so the purpose could be to keep those feelings going.

Up to the individual to play the game or not play the game, no right or wrong answer. But if you are tying your happiness to expectations of being able to cause grand changes at the universal/global/even societal level, then you will probably be disappointed. Everyone's existence is almost certainly meaningless in the "big" picture.

Lawn chair Larry's story was kinda like that I think. I would love to take the flight but would never want any interaction with the authorities or publicity. They seem to ruin everything.

Due to forced back to office somebody must drop their remote master studies. Somebody will not see pregnant wife whole day. Somebody will not be able to pick/bring kids from/to school. Another one must cancel his weight loss program during lunch break (funny enough, this guy is the most productive and kindest one in the whole floor). It’s rude silent layoff, only management wins reducing headcount with such clever measures.

It would appear most people don't care about those products, then.

I scrolled through and didn't care about the first page. Maybe Hangouts? And I have free GSuite still so don't know why that's on the list.