Why Is Sillicon Valley So Damn Sad (And Suicidal)?
When 16-hour days and sleepless nights are revered as markers for “making it” in life, things tend to go off the railings. Fast.
There’s a heavy amount of posturing in Silicon Valley. You don’t have to travel too far in either direction down El Camino Real to sense that uncomfortable, overarching shadow. Every tech startup (and venture capitalist firm) is fluffing their plumage for the next one to see — on physical billboards, Facebook-pushed ads, on the outer skin of BART buses. It’s a cultural cohort that, without question, has decided that the work-life balance is, apparently, a 100:1 factor.
They’re clocking eighty-plus-hour weeks, fasting to save precious from eating that can otherwise be supplanted for coding and “not being evil,” acquiring little to no sleep, taking nootropics (smart drugs) drugs by the bucket load. People here — in The Valley — are drinking untreated stream water, the same ones that tout sane sciences and daily mindfulness habits, because they both may provide the keys to “figuring it out,” whatever out may be.
But why are so many self-pillaging? It’s simple, really: Silicon Valley toutes unattainable innovation and prestige as a hallmarks of a life well lived. Everyone seems hellbent on building…
