Programming is literally the hardest thing

A conversation on the twitter really got me thinking, both about
programming as a profession, the human obsession with winning at everything (Up
to and including failing at life), and much though it kills me to say this,
privilege.

The blog post that started it all is interesting- it begins by
saying that the authors friends who have a more physical job than he does, and
he goes on to explain why programming is so awful.

It’s not that I don’t see the point of his post. Programming really is awful.
These past few weeks have been among the most harrowing and demoralising that I
can remember, both in terms of invested effort and in losing faith in the tools
that we trust day to day. I enjoy ranting about what a hilarious shitshow
software is well above the mean for people who do what I do.

That said though- it’s worth maintaining some modicum of perspective. Ignoring
everything else, programming is innately safe. No job is without its risks,
but comparing the outcome of RSI to the average workplace injury on a
construction site I would wager skews way in favour of the construction site
for both frequency and severity. (As an aside, where the hell would I find
stats for this?).

Michael raised a valid point about mental health, but I totally fail to see how
this relates to computer science. If you’re in a workplace that’s causing you
mental or emotional harm you should seek help, immediately. My intuition
suggests that you stand much better chances of actually receiving it if you’re
in the typically privileged shoes of your average software engineer.

My intent with this post isn’t to victim blame or to tell anyone miserable in
their job (or just needing a space online to vent) to ‘harden up’. I do really
stop to wonder though, when I read about the number of studies showing that
using a male name improves chances of success in the
workplace and academia whether taking to a privileged soapbox to complain how
hard it is after you get there without a handicap might be missing the bigger
picture.