How to Do What You Love (2006)(paulgraham.com)
paulgraham.com
How to Do What You Love (2006)
http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html
19 comments
I think the middle ground is 'dont do what you really dont want to do'. It is often easier for people to know what they dont want instead of what they want.
The world then was divided into two groups, grownups and kids. Grownups, like some kind of cursed race, had to work. Kids didn't, but they did have to go to school, which was a dilute version of work meant to prepare us for the real thing. Much as we disliked school, the grownups all agreed that grownup work was worse, and that we had it easy.
Having a job is said to be even more onerous than schoolwork. And yet all the adults claim to like what they do. You can't blame kids for thinking "I am not like these people; I am not suited to this world."
Hardly. school is much more strict compared to many work environments, from my own experience at least. Think of how many ppl do their jobs half assed but are still employed, or come in late, etc. School was so strict growing up. Mouthing off to a teacher means calls to parents, detention, = 2x punishment (parents + teacher) etc. Can't eat at school except for lunch time , must pay attention, etc. School kids get treated like such shit compared to workers.
Having a job is said to be even more onerous than schoolwork. And yet all the adults claim to like what they do. You can't blame kids for thinking "I am not like these people; I am not suited to this world."
Hardly. school is much more strict compared to many work environments, from my own experience at least. Think of how many ppl do their jobs half assed but are still employed, or come in late, etc. School was so strict growing up. Mouthing off to a teacher means calls to parents, detention, = 2x punishment (parents + teacher) etc. Can't eat at school except for lunch time , must pay attention, etc. School kids get treated like such shit compared to workers.
The main reason why work is worse than school is that by controlling your income and health insurance it gains control over whether you will continue to have food and shelter, and potentially whether you survive an illness.
That control gives supervisors immense (and intoxicating) power because of the constant implicit (and devastating) threat of taking away your livelihood.
Even worse is graduate school, where supervisors combine the role of teacher/academic supervisor and boss/work supervisor. It's sort of the worst of both worlds - still hard to change schools or teachers, but with the added terror of the workplace.
That control gives supervisors immense (and intoxicating) power because of the constant implicit (and devastating) threat of taking away your livelihood.
Even worse is graduate school, where supervisors combine the role of teacher/academic supervisor and boss/work supervisor. It's sort of the worst of both worlds - still hard to change schools or teachers, but with the added terror of the workplace.
I agree. Generally speaking, work was much more enjoyable than primary school for me. It may not be if you don't like the work though. I did a bunch of different kinds of work before I started my career:
- Cleaner - Dishwasher - Cashier - Retail - Warehouse Worker - Farmer - Landscaper - Data Entry
I only hated the Warehouse Worker and Dishwasher Jobs. The cleaner job was my least favorite of the rest, but at least there was a modicum of satisfaction after the work was completed. Finishing busywork school assignments to meet some arbitrary requirement dictated by the state was soul sucking.
- Cleaner - Dishwasher - Cashier - Retail - Warehouse Worker - Farmer - Landscaper - Data Entry
I only hated the Warehouse Worker and Dishwasher Jobs. The cleaner job was my least favorite of the rest, but at least there was a modicum of satisfaction after the work was completed. Finishing busywork school assignments to meet some arbitrary requirement dictated by the state was soul sucking.
Yes I agree, for white collar jobs. And grownups still tell kids that having a job is more onerous than schoolwork.
Grownups say a lot of shit. Just because it isn't true doesn't mean they don't believe it or say it.
Now, compare school to manual labour or many other shit jobs. Traveling by bus hours a day, working nights. Jobs where supervisors will humiliate, swear at you, not pay you overtime. And you take it because it's better than living on the street.
Grownups say a lot of shit. Just because it isn't true doesn't mean they don't believe it or say it.
Now, compare school to manual labour or many other shit jobs. Traveling by bus hours a day, working nights. Jobs where supervisors will humiliate, swear at you, not pay you overtime. And you take it because it's better than living on the street.
> Mouthing off to a teacher means calls to parents, detention
Isn't mouthing off to a supervisor also punishable at work?
Isn't mouthing off to a supervisor also punishable at work?
Like alluded to in 'the meaning of life' movie, school is a preparation for military/war.
paul graham is like david brooks for tech. he presents a simple, clear philosophy that is very alluring when your about 20 years old. in my case, by the time i was 30 i could not believe i had ever found either interesting or compelling. to me, its a kind of philosophical junk food
They both still have a good amount of interesting stuff to say. No public figure is perfect.
EX: I'd take Brooks over 90% of our existing elected officials...
EX: I'd take Brooks over 90% of our existing elected officials...
Managing and dealing with issues, among those we can find the many people who want everything and—better—if—right—now that any elected public official has to deal with, is much different from having a "point of view", "my two cents", "a few words".
It is much easier saying "turn the other cheek" when you are not the one getting slapped.
It is much easier saying "turn the other cheek" when you are not the one getting slapped.
it might sound extreme, but its my honest opinion that they both generally make it harder to understand whats actually going on
That’s exactly how I would put it. I read his article on Philosophy yesterday at 30 after reading his essays at 20 and admiring him. It’s crazy how impressionable my mind was at 20
I do agree with some of this, but a lot of it seems to misunderstand the nature of intrinsic motivation.
> to try to do things that would make your friends say wow
Not great advice. The opinions of friends, like those of parents, can be hard to disambiguate from inner knowledge. So it's important to respect friends' opinions, but not to seek to impress them with the work we choose to do.
> to try to do things that would make your friends say wow
Not great advice. The opinions of friends, like those of parents, can be hard to disambiguate from inner knowledge. So it's important to respect friends' opinions, but not to seek to impress them with the work we choose to do.
The alluring premise of any pg's essay is that if you are smart, the execution can be challenging, but the idea comes easy. Which is attractive to his audience, because it is mostly made up of self-considered "smart people". To others, the words can sound quite banal.
i am not sure i understand you correctly. What do you precisely mean?
I come from a family of laborers, riddled with addiction, poverty and death. I’m a weird outlier.
Yes I worked hard. In fact I put on blinders and made absolutely everything about my work. But I have to acknowledge luck.
I’ve seen so many smart, determined, hard working people get crushed by this business. I’m so suspicious of any self help type advice about following your dream to do what you love. I don’t want to be discouraging and kind of admire how young people propel their ambition because lack of experience is actually helpful.
I was kind of dumb to start in this field. But what did I have to lose? But damn if i didn’t get lucky.
No regrets here. But some guilt about the giant unfairness of it all.