<story><title>Four Years in Startups</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/four-years-in-startups</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>shellmayr</author><text>The text really captured my attention. I&amp;#x27;ve recently been struggling with whether or not tech and the modern internet are a force for good. I always enjoyed tinkering with hardware and software, and have been working in related jobs because it pays well and there are always interesting challenges to solve. But the societal shifts ongoing in Europe, the filter bubbles and breaking down of discourse, the xenophobia and the growing divide between large parts of society as well as the erosion of (local) media and the crisis of mental well-being among both adults and adolescents, which I feel are at least partly attributable to technological changes in the past ten years, have led me to think that maybe the most important thing for people right now may be spaces without technology, without personalization and just being confronted with the community of others. This does not seem like a problem solvable by the means of technology and makes me wonder whether I&amp;#x27;ve spent my life learning about technology only to abandon it at some point.&lt;p&gt;Are there any good resources about what I call my &amp;quot;tech hangover&amp;quot; to navigate how to move on, maybe convert this education into something of societal value beyond screens? Or am I being too cynical about everything and in reality it&amp;#x27;s all much better than I&amp;#x27;m seeing it? Open for anything here really, but struggling with the status quo.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kirso</author><text>It feels to me that overall people are quitting their corporate jobs and searching for meaningful and impactful things to do professionally. There are some movements which are trying to do something like AI for good, but it seems like generally people know that &amp;quot;something is not right&amp;quot;</text></comment>
<story><title>Four Years in Startups</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/four-years-in-startups</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>shellmayr</author><text>The text really captured my attention. I&amp;#x27;ve recently been struggling with whether or not tech and the modern internet are a force for good. I always enjoyed tinkering with hardware and software, and have been working in related jobs because it pays well and there are always interesting challenges to solve. But the societal shifts ongoing in Europe, the filter bubbles and breaking down of discourse, the xenophobia and the growing divide between large parts of society as well as the erosion of (local) media and the crisis of mental well-being among both adults and adolescents, which I feel are at least partly attributable to technological changes in the past ten years, have led me to think that maybe the most important thing for people right now may be spaces without technology, without personalization and just being confronted with the community of others. This does not seem like a problem solvable by the means of technology and makes me wonder whether I&amp;#x27;ve spent my life learning about technology only to abandon it at some point.&lt;p&gt;Are there any good resources about what I call my &amp;quot;tech hangover&amp;quot; to navigate how to move on, maybe convert this education into something of societal value beyond screens? Or am I being too cynical about everything and in reality it&amp;#x27;s all much better than I&amp;#x27;m seeing it? Open for anything here really, but struggling with the status quo.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>v64</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t have any good advice, but just wanted to say you&amp;#x27;re definitely not alone. I left the tech industry due to these feelings and observations.</text></comment>