Readit News> All joking aside, we fledgling mathematicians understood that the single most important thing was not raw intelligence or knowledge (Americans tend to lag behind in the latter compared to all international students). What mattered was passion. The way to become successful in mathematics, like almost every endeavor, is to care about it, to love it, to obsess over it. And in this, Eastern Europeans had a clear superiority, a cultural advantage. They had been trained, from an early age, to love mathematics more intensely.
IMHO this is what drove American superiority in software engineering for several decades. The people who self selected into software engineering really loved the field.
I suspect we'll see a continuous slow decrease in all aspects of quality of software as those who have a genuine love and passion for the field are replaced by those in it just for the money.
IMO it was funding that made the difference. People outside of USA did not have any less passion towards the field.
Sure. I feel good about being kind to other people, whereas the author's specifically chasing some sort of highs. I don't know where this expectation could have come from, considering managers are almost universally considered to have "more responsibility". More responsibility means more stress and less fun. You'd expect an adult to understand this before moving into management, but alas.
> Second, this requirement doesn't preclude you from thinking of others. Just like a parent doesn't have to hate themselves to love their kids.
To continue your comparison, a parent is expected to think of their kids first. We call that responsibility.
> third, if you expect your managers to never take care of their emotional needs you are only pushing them to burn out.
Nobody said that. But if your emotional need is to get constant highs and you didn't have enough foresight to realise you won't get that in management, I simply don't want you as my manager.
Like I said in my original comment, this blog post is a signal. I could be wrong, but I've seen so many bad managers that my intuition tells me something's off.
Yeah, poor poor lonely managers. They hold a lot of power over other people ("responsibility") and yet we're supposed to be sorry for them. Their burden is so great that they cry on the internet that they're not getting their endorphins.
As a person who's had only bad managers (with one exception), this is a signal that I wouldn't want this person to be my manager.
Being a manager shouldn't be about yourself, your focus should be outwards.
I get it, not everyone can be the kind-hearted Samaritan who always thinks of others. But even if you're one of the self-centred majority who thinks the universe revolves around them, keeping your subjects happy is still a requirement if you want them to be productive and motivated over a long period of time. Don't they teach that in Management 101?