[randysalami]

To your penultimate part, I remember when I was younger, I always wanted to be a software engineer. Those obsessive, dissociative traits I cultivated because they seemed so welcome at the places which young me wanted to work (Google, Facebook mainly). And those places seemed so right (and paid so well). As I got older, I realized there was way more nuance. What I once thought were strictly virtues to be lauded… had more gray than I imagined. I don’t think a lot of people in our field have or will have that wake-up.

And I think this is a big part of the problem. Being a shell of a human does not lend yourself well to empathy and solidifies your ego and that you are “worth” more than others, reinforced with a lucrative salary, praise, and those perks you mention.