I Will Always Be Angry About Software Engineering(ludic.mataroa.blog)
ludic.mataroa.blog
I Will Always Be Angry About Software Engineering
https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/why-i-will-always-be-angry-about-software-engineering/
19 comments
I think eventually, most people just choose what kind of clownfuckery they're willing to tolerate. I've worked with startups/small shops and F500s and at least at this stage of my life, I would readily choose the drudgery and petulance of the latter over the instability and dehumanization of the former (I will concede that this could be my bad luck and not an essential characteristic). I haven't gone down the consultancy path or entrepreneurship because as you say, it's a different kind of stress that I don't care for.
Thanks very much for the luck, hah, I'll probably need it. We'll see how I go ennui-wise in a year, but people are different, and I'm pretty sure that it'll help a lot. I keep a very healthy dose of activity outside of work, but not having to mangle spreadsheets for eight hours a day is amazing. It honestly feels a little bit absurd that people try to do work -without- an executive mandate at the typical organization.
> Software is worth getting angry about because everything is worth getting angry about.
This sums up the post best for me.
It's really about the human condition. It leans autobiographical (as is tradition) but is quite well written, and feels widely relevant. Set it aside for later if you don't have time now-- maybe a bit on the long side, but not that long. Well worth it for me, and saved.
This sums up the post best for me.
It's really about the human condition. It leans autobiographical (as is tradition) but is quite well written, and feels widely relevant. Set it aside for later if you don't have time now-- maybe a bit on the long side, but not that long. Well worth it for me, and saved.
This resonates very strongly with me - I am happy there are other people writing about this. It may not change the course of society but we need to fight for things worth fighting for and not give in to the system.
Anger is a great motivator in the mid-term yet self-destructive in the long term.
To begin, it motivates - "show 'em!" way. You gain the energy to prove yourself, to excel-over-others, you may feel the thrill of winning while seeing someone else loose. To aim for this gives you drive and makes you "work harder" - after all, you have some sort of goal.
Long-term though, you only discover that such "wins" (from spite) are rather hollow; the dopamine rush diminishes every time and you either need to "win bigger" or grind down others even harder in order to feel anything about it. Pursue this and eventually you'll just get angry with yourself and your powerlessness to retain this anger-fueled energy that once felt so energising. This is where it becomes self-destructive; you'll wail at the world how unfair it is to you because it's responsible for all this inadequacy, rage, powerlessness that you feel unable to retaliate for. Basically, no "win" of yours could be big enough, no loss of others great enough, for you to feel content again.
It's a lot better for the mind to work towards a goal - feel better - than be angry against something/-one. Keep anger focused. Don't burn out.
To begin, it motivates - "show 'em!" way. You gain the energy to prove yourself, to excel-over-others, you may feel the thrill of winning while seeing someone else loose. To aim for this gives you drive and makes you "work harder" - after all, you have some sort of goal.
Long-term though, you only discover that such "wins" (from spite) are rather hollow; the dopamine rush diminishes every time and you either need to "win bigger" or grind down others even harder in order to feel anything about it. Pursue this and eventually you'll just get angry with yourself and your powerlessness to retain this anger-fueled energy that once felt so energising. This is where it becomes self-destructive; you'll wail at the world how unfair it is to you because it's responsible for all this inadequacy, rage, powerlessness that you feel unable to retaliate for. Basically, no "win" of yours could be big enough, no loss of others great enough, for you to feel content again.
It's a lot better for the mind to work towards a goal - feel better - than be angry against something/-one. Keep anger focused. Don't burn out.
>
It's a lot better for the mind to work towards a goal - feel better - than be angry against something/-one.
These are two sides of the same coin.
These are two sides of the same coin.
Good post, thanks for sharing it and the author for writing it!
I liked very much the observations in the first half of the post, however I don't agree with the conclusions. For me the reason for the state of software engineering (and well, many other industries really) is the problem with leadership. We as society often choose wrong leaders[1] and these leaders have very detrimental effects on processes and quality. However, it doesn't mean that what we do in software engineering is intrinsically meaningless, it's just very inefficient. The majority of web and mobile applications do solve a problem people have, because people do need to eat, shop, dress, play, organise their documentation, learn, do sports, connect to other people, share things with each other, etc. More often than not these applications are developed not because of great leadership but despite of terrible one, because the people who write code still manage to do their job despite of it. And the same thing happens in hospitals, you don't think that hospitals' management is much better, do you?
So, basically, the problem with the first approach (Gratitude) is that it ignores the problem. Often ignoring the problem is contributing to it. And the problem with the second approach (Cynicism) is that it exacerbates it, because it essentially promotes the lack of integrity and the same problematic egocentric attitude that's responsible for this problem in the first place.
Being angry is a very natural reaction to this problem, and I do agree it's necessary to a degree. However I don't think it's the solution. I guess the solution is to accept the current situation for what it is, and do your part to change it. You don't need to be angry to do that, but you do need to ditch the wrong expectations about our society and how it works.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Oab42VZRE
I liked very much the observations in the first half of the post, however I don't agree with the conclusions. For me the reason for the state of software engineering (and well, many other industries really) is the problem with leadership. We as society often choose wrong leaders[1] and these leaders have very detrimental effects on processes and quality. However, it doesn't mean that what we do in software engineering is intrinsically meaningless, it's just very inefficient. The majority of web and mobile applications do solve a problem people have, because people do need to eat, shop, dress, play, organise their documentation, learn, do sports, connect to other people, share things with each other, etc. More often than not these applications are developed not because of great leadership but despite of terrible one, because the people who write code still manage to do their job despite of it. And the same thing happens in hospitals, you don't think that hospitals' management is much better, do you?
So, basically, the problem with the first approach (Gratitude) is that it ignores the problem. Often ignoring the problem is contributing to it. And the problem with the second approach (Cynicism) is that it exacerbates it, because it essentially promotes the lack of integrity and the same problematic egocentric attitude that's responsible for this problem in the first place.
Being angry is a very natural reaction to this problem, and I do agree it's necessary to a degree. However I don't think it's the solution. I guess the solution is to accept the current situation for what it is, and do your part to change it. You don't need to be angry to do that, but you do need to ditch the wrong expectations about our society and how it works.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Oab42VZRE
People get motivated in different ways, but I definitely would be worried if I saw someone waste $1M to further their own career and didn't feel any anger at all. That doesn't mean hauling off and punching them in the face, but there's no way I'd bother starting a business to tackle these problems if I wasn't deeply emotional about it.
good. more builders need to feel this way. don’t just get angry, get even too.
step one is acknowledging that a problem exists. this can be hard, especially when one is part of the problem.
step two is overcoming learned apathy. this is often harder.
step three is making things less shit, one day at a time, in any capacity that you can. this is awesome. everyday can be the best day of your life.
good for you. can’t wait to visit melbourne and interact with even a single, slightly less shit, piece of engineering.
viva le renaissance.
step one is acknowledging that a problem exists. this can be hard, especially when one is part of the problem.
step two is overcoming learned apathy. this is often harder.
step three is making things less shit, one day at a time, in any capacity that you can. this is awesome. everyday can be the best day of your life.
good for you. can’t wait to visit melbourne and interact with even a single, slightly less shit, piece of engineering.
viva le renaissance.
Reminds me of the good old days reading the Bile Blog. I suspect this one will go the same way once the consultancy takes off, which would be a shame.
If the consultancy takes off, I can indeed imagine my writing taking a back seat (I'm assuming Bile Blog just stopped writing and didn't sell out). Now that I pay rent through sales and engineering, taking time off to write is hard to justify. If we manage to hit our goals and I still have time in my week, the writing will continue. We're not going to scale indefinitely, though I think we may end up hiring a few people so that we can be eligible to fix government systems.
I like this kind of content, do you have a link to Bile Blog by any chance? It's the first time I hear about it.
It's been scrubbed for years. The best I can find is here: https://web.archive.org/web/20080906122656/http://www.bilebl...
This guy is such a good writer! I love reading his stuff.
That said, so many consultancies start off with his same goal in mind (to do "real" engineering without the political bullshit) and become bankrupt or bought out. I hope they don't meet the same fate.
That said, so many consultancies start off with his same goal in mind (to do "real" engineering without the political bullshit) and become bankrupt or bought out. I hope they don't meet the same fate.
Sorry I didn't like your argumentation style. Your first two points (gratitude and cynicism) are mostly strawmaning tbh, and don't really construct anything for your conclusion?
If your main point is that we ought to act ourselves to create a world we like, I wholeheartedly agree with you. But maybe I misunderstood.
Anyway strawmaning is bad, especially that your arguments stand buy themselves, and to me cut into the overall credibility.
If your main point is that we ought to act ourselves to create a world we like, I wholeheartedly agree with you. But maybe I misunderstood.
Anyway strawmaning is bad, especially that your arguments stand buy themselves, and to me cut into the overall credibility.
Agree about the first two points—but I’m not convinced they’d stand on their own either. They feel flimsy and overly generalized. Putting healthcare on such a pedestal also felt a bit delusional. While it’s inspiring when the system works, it’s far from immune to inefficiencies, especially given how pervasive IT failures are in healthcare too. If the goal is to push for action and improvement, the argument would have been stronger without these oversimplifications.
Writing was like this in the 1990s when people read long form and readers read every word.
Now I just fast read to try to find the point being made and I’m grateful to the author if they can say it in under four paragraphs. In this case I couldn’t find the point but it seemed like an interesting tale.
I think I preferred the 1990s.
Now I just fast read to try to find the point being made and I’m grateful to the author if they can say it in under four paragraphs. In this case I couldn’t find the point but it seemed like an interesting tale.
I think I preferred the 1990s.
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I've been writing software for nearly 30 years and he's preaching the gospel. It's clownfuckery all the way up. I will only add that running your own consultancy can be fun, but it's not going to dissolve his ennui.
I've been down this road. Sure being a consultant, gets you out of the day to day political shitstorm at any given company, but the clients still want software churned out at rate that is incompatible with quality. Plus you have the added bonus of not knowing if you'll have a job in 3 weeks.
Is it worth it? Yes. Do you make more money? Sometimes. Is it easier or less stressful? Not by a long shot.
I wish them the best of luck.