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I never heard the term "lying flat" before this article, but I live that lifestyle and I'm not "wallowing in mediocrity." I code, make artwork, compose music, write fiction and non-fiction, and cook gourmet food. For years I miserably grinded for Big Corp and considered just ending it all. Since quitting my job my depression has lifted and I'm working 12+ hours a day pursuing my dreams. My sole motivation in life is to learn and create my visions. Materialism does not motivate me. Money is an obstacle, not the objective. If anything, being self-motivated to learn and produce should be the norm, greed and materialism should be shunned.
> I’m working 12+ hours a day pursuing my dreams
Something doesn’t add up here. I don’t think you are embracing the exact same lifestyle described in the article.
I just want to write code. I hate the days when all I do is sit in meetings for pre meetings for pre meetings or write docs about docs about docs.
edit: clarified on docs and meetings a bit.
I must say that any coder who won't document their code is detrimental to the world of software engineering. It is Job Number One to accurately document, from the start, what your code does and what it's supposed to do. If a SWE can't write a design document, comment their code, accurately describe source commits, and at least assist a technical writer in writing the manual for the app/tool/framework, then that SWE should be fired and re-educated.
I have strong feelings about this, but I find that an enduring problem in my experience as an end-user is poor documentation of just about everything I use. I mean, vendors don't even bother bundling the manual anymore, not even as a PDF. It comes in little WWW help-files that are like tasting baby food.
I will always harken back to the 80s when my family purchased two Commodore computers, and they had the best documentation ever. That user manual explained the 6502/6510 architecture, the memory layout, sprites and sound, as well as BASIC programming. I learned those computers inside and out, because they were well-documented. Hardly anything lives up to that now.
I enjoy documenting and reading code. I also enjoy reading design documents that are very technical in nature and actually motivate the decisions and direction. I even read research papers on my free time. I also enjoy writing such documents and respective code.
My issue is that I spent 4-5 days writing a darn excellent document on the proof of concept that I had built for a service we are supposed to launch this fall with a code freeze on September 1st.
And today I had to spend all day writing yet another document summarizing what I had written in the first one so that I can have a discussion with other principals to get their comments (I got great comments from 2 in the presentation and follow up discussions), just to get an approval and the go ahead to productionise what I had already built that was shown to work. No other approach exists, no other poc exists, and most of my time is now fragmented because of the meetings.
No other engineer working on this had an approach that could actually work for reasons I explained in yet another document, the more seniors had claimed they’d need a month to get the poc done. I did it in far less time, and had it all well documented. That was the most fun I have had in a while.
Upper management (2-skip manager) gave me lots of praise and blew off another meeting he had to stay on for the additional questions and discussion, and scheduled another full on 1h meeting with me alone to discuss it further.
I’m thankful that I’m from a place with plenty of responsibility and land up for grabs, and that I stumbled into this industry.
From what I can tell from reading casually, growing up today in many parts of the USA, China, or Seoul, or even Europe is a real struggle to claim reputation, responsibility, and assets for yourself.
You can withhold it from "the system" but you don't get to keep it :(
Two, it's not cool nor in the CCP's best interest. It's their worst nightmare. It's young people deciding their economic situation is so bad that they might as well just give up and not provide labor. Urban youth unemployment is above 20% in china. Bleak as hell. Especially considering the grind of the education system and what it promised people.
There are incels on 4chan that discuss how to maintain their "NEET" lifestyle, and those are hardly the only people that want to circumvent the system of wage slavery that they were born into.
Everyone depends on the output of others. Working so that you having something to give in exchange for what you get from others is not "slavery".
Even our "liberal" city is robbing the homeless camps every week, and harassing them to go somewhere else, but they are not allowed to go anywhere else anyway, and by taking any possessions they might have, INCLUDING OBAMA PHONES which are their only connection to counselors and public advocates which can get the food and a temporary bed occasionally, we are actively making their lives worse for the mild comfort of people who don't even live here. It's insanity.
I think "slavery" is an apt description, seeing as they have no choices in their life, and any attempt to start improving their life is kneecapped to please people who seem to hate those with nothing.
I need you to tell me with sincerity that you think what Walmart and Amazon are doing to their rank-and-file employees isn't wage slavery.
Rather it is simply a rejection of the pervasive cult of meritocratic / hustle-culture propaganda -- which defines anything that questions (let alone has the temerity to directly oppose) its tenets as ... the sure path to mediocrity. Coupled with an observation that is the former which itself fosters mediocrity (and worse) in spheres that truly matter (health, relationships, personal fulfillment).
Not lower but different living standards.
Also, please mind the context. Lying flatism is originated in China, that is famous for the absurd work-life balance. You know, work 6 days/week, 9am to 9pm or even stay later. Find a romantic partner, but spend time with them only Saturday evenings and on Sundays. Bring kids into this amazing lifestyle, see them also on Sundays (the rest of time, grandparents will take care of them).
It's kinda obvious that people started to understand that something is going wrong and now are testing the way to fix it.
I mean, I don't see my work as work, I see it as working in interesting and new tech, getting to play with interesting stuff and solve complex problems; and I do it for fun. When the fun stops because I am forced into crud or boring stuff, I'll just leave.