[lulzury]

So you are recommending they let their soul potentially die with advice like, "'creatively expressing yourself' would be foolish" in exchange for "a huge pile of cash"? Do you consider that when they're done climbing the corporate ladder--whenever that might be, if ever--the version of them that "loves learning new things and taking on hard problems" might not be a fraction of what it once was, or might altogether be gone?

Also, I highly disagree that FAANG jobs are "easy, low-stress" jobs, but maybe your experience is significantly different.

[mathgladiator]

Your soul doesn't die, but there is moral injury and it can heal. I spent a decade in big tech letting my soul languish with a few spurts of expression, and it took a solid six months and ketamine for my soul to flourish.

At this point, I can't even express how grateful I am and full of joy since my life is just so great. Yes, I suffered, but it is was so worth it.

Here is the core problem in my life: I hired a private chef which tilts the retirement math out of whack, but I have three decades to solve this problem. It's a fantastic problem to have, and if I had taken opportunities to be happy then I couldn't be here maximizing my own personal creativity.

Right now, I'm building my own platform to mess around and have fun: https://www.adama-platform.com/ and I'm exploring the nature of what I like to make and embracing myself for random detours.