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Comment by lampposthotdog | Hacker News Reader

It's because they work for companies that serve no real purpose and should not exist.

No, it's because they are swimming in technical deficiencies and aren't in a position to do anything about it. On top of that, they are pressured for unrealistic results and attend meetings that serve no real purpose and should not exist (and should have been an email instead). It's all right there in the article.

Perhaps the best way to one-line it would be: They are not allowed to achieve a suitable level of quality.

> aren't in a position to do anything about it

Most salient.

Pros:

- not have to worry about replenishing your bank account every month

- have all your modest needs in life met

- workplace is in a way the only community of like-minded people have outside of family

Cons:

- help realise someone else's dream

- you might forget you have any dreams of your own at all

---

My adult mind has been shaped by the controversial, maybe conspiratorial discussion about self-employment rates over the past century in the Deus Ex game, and as I've grown older, I've found I'd rather struggle on my own path rather than making myself care about someone else's idea.

https://youtu.be/0mAFryoa6Po?si=gGFMKRkLA_GKridQ (take it with an open mind and a grain of salt, it's cyberpunk conspiracy fiction after all)

For a deeper discussion, I can only recommend Ross Scott's review of the game: https://youtu.be/rxOKEsBx4NU?si=fp3LTFAJrGtEDbZH

> - workplace is in a way the only community of like-minded people have outside of family

Not having friends is more of a modern American culture thing. When you have no social life independent of your work life you get that and the loneliness epidemic in US

I've worked for companies that serve a positive purpose and should exist, and still felt immensely unhappy with my work. It helped, but didn't solve the problem.

They can’t find purpose outside of work?

If your work takes great amount of your time from your life, it better be meaningful and purposeful.

Religion only takes a day a week (and maybe only an hour or two of that day). If time spent on task is where you find the most meaning, then work has to be first. Certainly that's the way it's been for me, and it is quite depressing, but for reasons that are specific to me, I need my health insurance more than most, and like most I also need to eat and have a place to live and all that mundane stuff.

Yeah singing to Invisible Sky Santa really makes my life better.

I mean it doesn't change jack, but placebo effect + community are better than nothing. Plus it's a 3rd space that doesn't charge anything, usually.

But then how come they get paid?

Side-effect of a broken system?

Not OP but capital is misallocated all the time by the market

Every bubble, ever, plus every rube that gets hustled by snake oil.

Printed money.

The article points out it's technical debt..

I've worked in quite a few companies which had tangible purpose, yet a lot of my code ended up in the bin and even more of my time spend at work was wasted on bullshit.

amen!

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