Did you actually read the article? He's probably the one person in tech that is directly aware of what it's like to work at a warehouse because he actually did it for real. He's not claiming to be "making the world a better place" by working at Facebook. He's telling the story of how he got burned out from that world and sought out a real "honest labor" job that he'd heard a ton about in the media to snap out of it and get real.

What more could someone possibly do to wave off the label of "tech bubble non-awareness disease," in your opinion?

> He's probably the one person in tech that is directly aware of what it's like to work at a warehouse because he actually did it for real.

There are plenty of people in tech who didn't have the traditional four years of uni -> FAANG route. They just don't blog about it.

Also, people who worked through college.

> What more could someone possibly do to wave off the label of "tech bubble non-awareness disease," in your opinion?

Going from rich to working in a warehouse until you feel like leaving is not the same experience as working a warehouse because you feel like eating.

" He's probably the one person in tech that is directly aware of what it's like to work at a warehouse because he actually did it for real."

I work in tech but previously did overnight stock at Walmart so I guess that's two people.

What's the point of using this kind of hyperbole in your comment unless you wanted to make others hate people in tech?

He learned what a grueling job was for a few weeks. He did not learn what it means when that grueling job is your past, present, and/or future. The part about the takeout food seals that impression

“For me, a lot of my meaning comes from two things. One is doing something in the world that feels like it's actually making things a little better somehow. And so contributing to society in some meaningful way.”

Yes, I read the article.

To be fair, his most recent job after Microsoft and FB was a Gates- foundation funded startup building tools for healthcare in underdeveloped contexts. I think that might be what the phrase refers to?

I loved the "silicon valley" show, where every single shitty startup was saying that they'd make the world a better place.

He's a stranger sharing his experience, people obviously found it to be interesting.

Re-contextualizing into a class struggle style comment, just because he shared his experience, is not very interesting.

All blogging is narcissism if you redefine narcissism to be the most bland shade of the word's meaning.

How dare he find meaning in things that are different from you. Congratulations on figuring out how to find fulfillment and a balanced life before the rest of us. Philip's journey toward that is clearly different from yours.

I just find it kind of worrisome that he finds meaning in work that other people are exploited for for a lack of better options. Why would a financially independent person choose to help enrich a large corporation over, say, voluntary work to help underprivileged people, animals or whatever else you can think of?

> I just find it kind of worrisome that he finds meaning in work that other people are exploited for for a lack of better options.

I think viewing every warehouse worker as a member of a lower labor caste who is merely being exploited is not a warranted view. The fact that people can easily find meaning in this labor is further indication it is incorrect.

You're also presuming a rather tyrannical existence for these people.. wherein their path through life must be dictated to them by their "best options." People make suboptimal choices for all kinds of reasons, and they don't view their circumstances as being "exploited." Probably because the companies they work for didn't _create_ the suboptimal choices for them in the first place, their employer is a matter of circumstance, not conspiracy.

> Why would a financially independent person choose to help enrich a large corporation over, say, voluntary work to help underprivileged people, animals or whatever else you can think of?

Again.. people make suboptimal choices intentionally. The explanation here is "this is a very low risk option that can be exited immediately if such a whim arises." And in all likelihood, exiting in this way wouldn't prevent you from being hired back later if your fortunes or whims reverse.

Forgive me, but you seem to be a little too comfortable looking down your nose at these people.

A lot of feel-good jobs have an unfortunate public facing component. There are segments of the population that treat service workers with contempt or sometimes even violence.

Retail workers and social workers dealt with the worst of it, teachers deal with this behind the scenes, and nurses and doctors became (more) exposed to this over the pandemic. People don’t put up with emotional, verbal and sometimes physical abuse, and they shouldn’t.

There is a difference between enduring hardships because you want to for fun, and enduring it because you must to earn money.

It reads like a slap in the face

Something about what you said triggered a memory in me. I remember a story about how westerners embraced meditation and how monks described how they ( westerners allowed into the monastery ) completely missed its point by enjoying staring into sand, when it was in theory supposed to induce boredom.

I will admit that I am not sure how I feel about the article. I might be still processing it.

He describes exactly what things he finds meaning in:

> For me, a lot of my meaning comes from two things. One is doing something in the world that feels like it's actually making things a little better somehow. And so contributing to society in some meaningful way.

The parent is commenting on how Philip's previous (and new!) work positions apparently fulfilled those criteria in no small way, in Philip's view. They are noting that it is striking that this is the case, as from the perspective of an outsider looking in, it does not appear that a director at facebook, nor an amazon warehouse worker, fulfills the stated criteria.

From his LinkedIn:

> Launched a global health software nonprofit, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focused on using smartphones to improve rapid testing in low-income countries.

Granted that is 3 years out of a 20-odd year career, but it's the stint immediately preceding the events of the blog post.

Yes, Philip’s journey was an extremely privileged one apparently and required a blog post or it didn’t happen.

I appreciate him sharing his experiences, and I've only known about it because he blogged about it.

It rings true to some of my friend and is potentially very useful to people in the same situation. Brain chemistry doesn't care about rich or poor, and unprivileged here in the US could be extremely privileged in other parts of the world. Engaging in a race to the bottom is of no use to anyone and solves nothing.

This is what I felt but could not put it into words. Non-awareness disease is the PERFECT word to describe what I felt reading this.

Yes, the entire thing was cringe.

But it's not just a tech bubble thing; it's more of a 6-figure yuppie thing. I knew a doctor making $500k/year in L.A. who insisted on taking vacations in disaster zones, etc., as a tourist (not with Doctors w/o Borders) so he could "experience human suffering" and "become empathetic" to his fellow men through their "shared suffering" of being in the same approximate location as people who were starving or seriously wounded.

He doesn't actually do anything with this "increased empathy." He just feels like it makes his EQ super high or something silly like that.

Yep, the guy never reflects on his privilege not needing this job. Bad on the blogger too for not prompting them on this - it could have been an interesting article..

I would encourage you to listen to the podcast, because he definitely does reflect on this, but it wasn’t the focus of my interview, because this was focused on ways in which burned out tech workers try to find meaning in their life, not an analysis of low paid jobs.

> strive to make the world a better place

Are you sure that is the motive?