
Ask HN: How can you stand sitting at computers all day? - elt0n
This is not what humans are meant to do. This is not social and not fun. Why are we slaving away like that? Building complex is fun up to a point, aren&#x27;t we taking this too far?
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blackflame7000
Its only slaving away if you don't enjoy it. I personally love being on a
computer because usually it means I'm learning something. Whether it be by
reading an interesting article or practicing my craft, none of it is mindless
work.

I think that's the key. To work with a purpose and objective. If I had to surf
Facebook 9 hours a day it would certainly not be fun and I too would very much
feel like I am slaving my life away.

~~~
pfooti
Yes, absolutely - this is another big part of it. I love my work, so I'm not
just sitting around waiting to go home all day.

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atrophying
Easy. I don't sit at a computer all day.

Personally, I find I'm a better coder when I get up and move around on a
regular basis. I'll work for an hour or two, then go for a walk. Come back,
work for another hour or two, go get some coffee from the coffee shop on the
other end of campus. Rinse and repeat. Often times I'll be able to work out a
problem or have a great idea while I'm walking.

There's this idea that to be a coder you have to be in front of a computer
every waking moment, but the most successful programmers and engineers I know
are the ones who know when to step away, who leave the work at work, and take
care of themselves physically and emotionally. Otherwise, you're right, it's
not sustainable at all.

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elt0n
I used to do that too :) it makes it more bearable. I used to love coding, but
I've always missed the real world when I was in that bubble, and now that I'm
not working anymore, it somehow feels more right, it's weird.

~~~
pawn
Are you not working at all anymore, or not working a programming job? If
you're not working at all, may I ask how you eat/sleep? I don't mean to be too
personal, but I'm curious.

~~~
elt0n
I am living on savings while I figure out the next step.

I have coffee and a croissant while reading a book everyday at roughly 10am,
then meals at 1pm, 4pm, and 9pm, and sleep from roughly 1am to 9am. Funny
question :)

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pfooti
Personally: I'm an introvert. That's not to say I never want to talk to
people, but I can go an average work day interacting with a few folks via
email and call it a good day. When I'm being social, I can't get work done,
and I find socializing draining - I need to be by myself to recharge my
batteries. Also, I have a sit/stand desk, so I regularly get up and work
standing.

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devnonymous
> This is not social and not fun.

Although, I agree there are more things to life than sitting at computers all
day, I suspect the elt0n is an extrovert who doesn't get introversion.

for instance, if I were to also read books, listen to music and take long
walks all by myself, it still would not fit in with elt0n's view of what
humans are 'meant' to do.

~~~
elt0n
It seems you are drawing conclusions out of a tree from the forest.

elt0n reads books, plays music, and takes long walks by himself, but he
believes the answer to life is not only 42, but also people. Think about it,
do the very best moments in your life involve a book or a walk or music, or
other people?

elt0n doesn't quite fit in either introvert or extrovert generalizations, but
the social interactions in the tech world don't seem nearly as exciting as
those outside of it. It seems people view tech as an end instead of a mean,
and maybe that's where the idea of slaving away comes from.

Regardless, what do you think is elt0n's view of what humans are meant to do?
Party all day and talk loudly? I would also think so based on the quote you
took out of an already poorly phrased context.

~~~
devnonymous
I agree I might have read too much into it but on reflection that reaction
came after the years of hearing that very phrase 'how can you stand doing such
and such thing ...' from people who really wanted to ask 'why aren't you out
there having _fun_ like the rest of us/other people', all the time not
realising that perhaps I _was_ actually having fun doing what I was doing.

Yes, some of the best moments in my life do involve people but only in the
'more than one person' sense and not in the 'more than 3 or 4 person'. And
yes, some of them do also involve just myself.

To reiterate, I do agree with you about not making your life all about one
thing, I just don't agree with you about what is 'fun'.

~~~
elt0n
I agree that the best interactions are generally one-on-ones or 3 people at
most. And I understand your first point. I was thinking that my question might
just be a symptom of my personal burnout.

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yolesaber
Software engineering is a relatively high yielding field with regards to work
put in and amounts paid out. If I get six figures doing minimal amount of work
- lets face it, most dev jobs (including my own) are very easy and involve
logic of the snapping-together-lego variety - then I'm able to use that money
for good once my basic needs are covered. I run a small press, I buy the art
my friends make, I hold performances and book bands. If being able to rent out
a diner to host a night of creativity and aesthetic exploration means that I
need to sit in front of a monitor for a few hours hungover the next day that's
a fair trade-off in my mind.

Generally speaking I wish more software engineers put their money to these
sorts of endeavors rather than the expensive luxury hobbies many indulge in.
Not to say you can't buy the latest gadget, sail, whatever, but many engineers
make _so_ much money and it's amazing how little you need to spend to make the
world a better, more interesting place to live in.

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J_Darnley
Humans are meant to be productive to society. If you do that by sitting in
front of a computer all day then that isn't taking it too far.

~~~
yolesaber
Humans aren't meant to do anything

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chmielewski
Get ripped in your spare time. Sitting there getting mentally ripped will no
longer hurt, but rather at the end of each, you'll crave the other.

~~~
yolesaber
Get ripped like toke on a heady amount of high quality weed?

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wingerlang
I think it is quite social, although we do use an open office layout.

