[truth_be_told]

The answer is simple; if you do NOT need the money from working as a SE in the Tech Industry, don't go in. You will burnout. It will affect your brain and health in ways whose consequences we do not yet fully understand because the effect is cumulative over time. Even if you don't dramatically break down one day, you will be worn down in ways which you may find hard to reconcile with your past self.

Now Tech itself is interesting and enticing. The problem is that the "Tech Development Industry" has made the environment around it poisonous. Everything is judged according to its monetary value, insane competitive pace and work schedule, no planned time for rest, recuperation and recharge, constantly shifting landscapes, herculean demands on your brain as regards coping with complexity and finally, quite complex human interaction dynamics. For some reason the industry completely ignores the psychological aspects involved though it has been studied from the beginning (see the works of Gerald Weinberg) and we now know more about the human brain and how it works. I have come to the conclusion that working in the tech industry is "death by a thousand cuts" where the cuts are in your psyche/brain draining the "joy of life" out slowly.

Very few people are able to come to some sort of understanding between their work and passion such that the downward decline is arrested and settle down to a comfortable plateau.

[badpun]

> ou will burnout. It will affect your brain and health in ways whose consequences we do not yet fully understand because the effect is cumulative over time. Even if you don't dramatically break down one day, you will be worn down in ways which you may find hard to reconcile with your past self.

This can be said about a lot of other jobs as well. Work in its current 40 hours per week form is generally not good for us in my opinion.

[truth_be_told]

True to a certain extent. However it is not just a matter of labour. The nature of Software Development is so very different from other jobs that we need to study it from first principles. The main issue is the tremendous cognitive effort demanded of Software Engineers (Dijkstra's paper "The Humble Programmer" is relevant here) which exceeds the plasticity/adaptive capacity of the Human Organism. Couple it with the complete lack of physical activity due to our modern sedentary lifestyle and you have a recipe for maladaptation. "Ego Depletion", "Decision Fatigue" are all real disorders.

I have a feeling that as we advance our study of the Science of "Epigenetics" we will understand better the consequences of our current "Tech Industry Lifestyle".

[ScottFree]

Anecdotal evidence incoming: I once needed to tow a motorcycle and the guy who showed up used to manage data centers for Amazon. He didn't miss it. The "brain drain" he felt at the end of the day was especially painful for him. Altogether, he was much happier towing motorcycles for a living and tinkering with tech during his off hours. He also made more money towing motorcycles, so it was a win-win for him. Although, he quit before the salaries for engineers skyrocketed.

[badpun]

Well, I imagine Amazon is pretty bad with regards of risk of burning out. Meanwhile, you can cozy up at any of the megacorps (large banks etc.) and, with some luck, consistently don't do too much work.