News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by Sohcahtoa82 on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:20PM (#35730406)
Snark aside, this is something that's always kind of baffled me.

If I built a company and eventually found myself in extremely high value (ie, 9 figures), I'd be looking to retire ASAP. That would be it. I won capitalism. Time to spend the rest of my life on Maui sipping Mai-Tais on the beach.

Why anybody would want to continue to work when they already have enough wealth to live an extremely lavish lifestyle without working ever again is beyond me.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by echelon on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:28PM (#35730556)
Because no matter how many experiences you accrue or how much leisure you have, you're already dead on the geologic time scale.

With that perspective, the best thing to do is keep on pushing. Despite whatever pain and headache that might bring, it's one act our short lives can use to push against entropy and the dying universe.

If I ever come into such wealth, I'll spend it all solving as much as I can through my direct involvement.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by mden on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:41PM (#35730770)
Yeah.. but do you think most ultra-rich elite are pushing against entropy or contributing more to it or at best staying neutral while further growing their wealth?
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by TRiG_Ireland on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:56PM (#35731058)
By actively working to make the world worse and increase the sum total of human suffering, à la Musk and Bezos?

If I ever came into such wealth, I think I'd spend my time going back to college to study linguistics. Maybe document some dying languages. Try to contribute to humanity a bit.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by RoyGBivCap on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:36PM (#35730699)
>That would be it. I won capitalism.

Pet hypothesis: A lot of us say that, not being in the position to. But when you finally exit the working class and are no longer required to work, people tend to work on passion projects instead. Sitting on the beach gets boring after a while.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by sarchertech on Thursday April 27, 2023 @02:10PM (#35732266)
A passion project I completely understand. What I don’t understand is what the vast majority of wealthy CEOs are doing: let’s get 5% more people to view our ads, let’s get people to spend 10% more on cheap disposable crap etc…
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by glofish on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:44PM (#35730829)
Re: extremely lavish

Is probably extremely boring - I have never had more fun than when solving problems, life without working on something interesting sounds insufferable to me

How long would I be able to sit on Maui sipping Mai-Tais? Getting massages, ... and more ... whatever I want, whenever I want it ... that is a curse actually.

Surrounded by fake people everyone wanting a piece of the wealth trickle down to them.

On a personal experience, I was a lot happier when I bought my first house, a rundown estate that was the cheapest on the street that then I had to work to improve upon it, ended up replacing most inside and out, some parts I learned to do myself - I ended up remodeling it piecemeal but so, so satisfying

My second house is very respectable, newer, larger, technically incomparably better, it is not even the same ballpark ... yet my new house never provided me with the same joy.

Be careful what you wish for.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by KronisLV on Friday April 28, 2023 @05:27AM (#35739190)
> I have never had more fun than when solving problems, life without working on something interesting sounds insufferable to me.

I'm fairly sure that there are many people like this out there, but for others that just... isn't a problem?

Personally, I quit my last job because I felt like I need to learn some new technology, work on a few personal projects, write blog posts and so on. Since, I've done a little of the above (in addition to improving the security of my homelab and running my own CA), but also took a month off to just enjoy watching videos, reading articles, playing video games, as well as do physical labor around the farm.

And frankly, everything feels enjoyable so far - both intellectually stimulating tasks, physically intensive labor like cutting trees and chopping firewood, as well as passively consuming content, or even zoning out a bit occasionally and having a slow day. Though I can't comment on how long each of those would be satisfying for, that also depends on the person.

I can easily imagine someone enjoying a lavish and relaxed lifestyle and never getting tired of it, though.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by cipheredStones on Thursday April 27, 2023 @12:58PM (#35731095)
Unfortunately I think the answer to "why keep working if you're already rich beyond the dreams of avarice" is "because it means you can keep being ultra-rich and powerful and famous". All your material desires will be met regardless, but you won't get to feel as important if you stop working.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by nsxwolf on Thursday April 27, 2023 @01:01PM (#35731152)
This is what always frustrated me about people like Steve Jobs. Don't you like, ever enjoy stuff?
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by goodpoint on Thursday April 27, 2023 @01:34PM (#35731671)
Oh he very much enjoyed pestering his employees.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by dfadsadsf on Thursday April 27, 2023 @01:25PM (#35731531)
> If I built a company and eventually found myself in extremely high value (ie, 9 figures), I'd be looking to retire ASAP. That would be it. I won capitalism. Time to spend the rest of my life on Maui sipping Mai-Tais on the beach.

There is strong correlation between people who find themselves in 9 figures (outside of inheritance) and people who have completely opposite worldview from yours. If you make money to retire to Maui, you will take the first off ramp which allows you to do it which is way before you get into 9 figures.

Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by jimbokun on Thursday April 27, 2023 @01:38PM (#35731744)
It’s just because you don’t here about all the wealthy people who already quietly did that.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by ZephyrBlu on Thursday April 27, 2023 @01:42PM (#35731803)
Having an executive job confers high status. Being retired does not.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by clnq on Thursday April 27, 2023 @02:04PM (#35732178)
Wouldn't want to be Bill Gates, Larry Page, Steve Ballmer, Jack Welch, or Howard Schultz.
Re:Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 s... by ihatepython on Friday April 28, 2023 @09:13AM (#35740890)
Everybody is different.

Some people might like to use their money to take over an institution like the World Health Organization to implement their eugenics program that they dreamed about as a little kid.

Others might be interested in buying up all of the farmland so that they can control the food supply.

You just never know how you will respond when you acquire that kind of money.