[tasha0663]

I'm really confused by it. It's almost like some strange species of humblebrag. "Look at my _____, isn't it horrible?"

I can't understand why the writer seems so bitter about spending so much time on something they clearly love... I mean, what else is there to do? Lots of boring obligatory stuff!

[ModernMech]

I totally get where the author is coming from and it's definitely not a humblebrag. The best way I can describe it is that the author feels like the character Cypher from the Matrix, who regrets taking the red pill and waking up to reality, and wished he was warned ahead of time not to do it. That's the spirit in which the author writes this.

The character gained something, which is knowledge, but lost something, which is the ability to be satisfied ever again.

Maybe another good analogy is vampirism. Yes you gain amazing powers like the ability to live forever, shapeshifting, and super strength/healing, who could complain about that? But at what cost? You can't even go outside in the sun anymore or eat garlic knots, so maybe it's not that great.

[tasha0663]

> another good analogy is vampirism

No, that's a great analogy. I can neither condone nor dispute it on rhetorical grounds, but aesthetically it is rad.

[redbar0n]

> You can't even go outside in the sun anymore

Perfectly describes the hero programmer stuck in the rabbit hole.

[ModernMech]

Haha it does, but I think the analogy falls apart at the garlic knots. Aint going to stop a programmer from eating those.

[b3morales]

I felt the same. I was waiting for the punchline, the twist, or at least an "All that said it's totally worth it" at the end.