Seems illogical. Why did he buy a super-mansion in LA and go partying in Ibiza? Did he really want those things?
If I got billions I would set up an enclave to withstand future societal collapse, like somewhere in Siberia.
He could give the money away. It's not really hard. The tragedy is that as much as these billions are making him miserable, he just can't let the money go.
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I don't judge. I would probably be the same in his situation.
Trivializing the fact that dude feels bad about having too much cash in his bank account? Are you off your rocker mate?!
Every time the rich look for empathy because the life is so so fucking hard and depressingly hard for them they should take a trip to a third world country and not spend millions on yachts, houses or cars.
Poor fucking me! WTF! He's in a unique situation where the money that he has will last him for generations....go and use it for changing other people's lives, not buying crap just so you can.
I got the impression from the article that Markus is looking to the money and saying "money, are you making me happy?". He is spending it partying and dancing and doing gods knows what in Ibiza. He appears to not find happiness in that either.
For me I find happiness in having a small number of true friends, trying to have the best family relationships I can, trying to be as fit as I can be, being a good father, doing computer programming which I love, and pursuing my other interests like kickboxing and going to movies. It's not a billionaire lifestyle, and I'm very, very far from rich. Even if I had money though I wouldn't pursue much else for happiness except maybe some travel too.
I wonder if Markus might find happiness not in billions and the associated lifestyle but by finding happiness in the very ordinary.
Someone wise once said to me "You'll only become happy when you truly accept your mediocrity.". I think that's especially true for people who think they are not mediocre for some reason.
When he is not happy, he appears to blame the money.
A common refrain of the rich, and especially the newly rich, is difficulty in cultivating such "true friendships". This is especially true when it comes to romantic relationships. The impossible to know if someone like you for who you are or for the money you have.
He was happy programming right? Why not do more live programming sessions making games? And as you suggested, picking up a genuine hobby is a start. Look at James Cameron, he is a marine biologist at heart, his day job is making movies.
From all the stuff I've read about and from Persson, it looks like he has an inclination to depression. Billions of dollars are not a known effective anti-depressant.
I vow that when I do become a billionaire I won't do that.
Happiness is relative, yes I understand that logically, but you just won't be able to illicit empathy from others for the pain of having too much money.
His last tweet has it right, the guilt will pass, just relax, go somewhere no one knows you and disconnect for a while. Hell, you're in the billionaire club, go ask Musk how he handled it. He handles it by taking on larger problems I imagine.
Yes, but my goals are more modest for the near term. I have a better chance of pulling of a "life style business" in the 6-8 digit yearly revenue which is what I'm working on now. Small team, unsexy and reliable market.
The billions come into play after that, when I start investing into infrastructure and community services. I figure I could hit that mark in 30 years, well probably a lot less considering inflation, but then we'll all want to be trillionaires.
Your comment seems little different to me then telling someone who is depressed that they just need to "get over it." I don't think it is at all that simple.
Until he figures out what he wants, the money is going to be a distraction rather than helpful. If I had that much money, and was finding life tricky, I'd start with a call to Tony Robbins...
Notch makes a bunch of early-morning tweets, these get dissected in the press with sentences ending in ", no really" and explanations of how much the toilets in his new mansion cost. And now the comments (even in here) mock him.
He has a history of mood issues and blogged about how his father killed himself due to depression. [0]
He is in emotional distress and anyone who wants to be helpful should suggest he not turn to Twitter for support. Anywhere but Twitter in fact. There are specializations psychologists go into helping people deal with the problems he is facing.
One of the things Notch has consistently stated that he disliked about his fame was the tendency for media outlets to make his life and opinions into news stories.
He's having a rough time at the moment, I really hope the media over-analysis doesn't make things worse.
At least he's not deluding himself that he's not still a regular human being. I prefer a super rich guy trying to identify as a regular person, even if cringey, than a rich guy who's suddenly convinced himself that he's special and gets to live in a different world just because he made money.
The Schadenfreude in many of the comments is vicious. Those of you posting those ought to reflect on why you do that.
Beyond that, it's wrong for us to be conducting message board threads about the happiness and mental health of a human being. It's off-topic for HN in any case, because it's garden-variety celebrity gossip. But it's also wrong, and I wish I'd realized this earlier.
It's time this stopped. Since more of these threads are sure to be posted, please flag them if you see them before we do.
31 comments
[ 133 ms ] story [ 2757 ms ] threadhttps://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html
Was that so hard?
//
I don't judge. I would probably be the same in his situation.
Every time the rich look for empathy because the life is so so fucking hard and depressingly hard for them they should take a trip to a third world country and not spend millions on yachts, houses or cars.
Poor fucking me! WTF! He's in a unique situation where the money that he has will last him for generations....go and use it for changing other people's lives, not buying crap just so you can.
For me I find happiness in having a small number of true friends, trying to have the best family relationships I can, trying to be as fit as I can be, being a good father, doing computer programming which I love, and pursuing my other interests like kickboxing and going to movies. It's not a billionaire lifestyle, and I'm very, very far from rich. Even if I had money though I wouldn't pursue much else for happiness except maybe some travel too.
I wonder if Markus might find happiness not in billions and the associated lifestyle but by finding happiness in the very ordinary.
Someone wise once said to me "You'll only become happy when you truly accept your mediocrity.". I think that's especially true for people who think they are not mediocre for some reason.
When he is not happy, he appears to blame the money.
Happiness is relative, yes I understand that logically, but you just won't be able to illicit empathy from others for the pain of having too much money.
His last tweet has it right, the guilt will pass, just relax, go somewhere no one knows you and disconnect for a while. Hell, you're in the billionaire club, go ask Musk how he handled it. He handles it by taking on larger problems I imagine.
I like your confidence! Are you actually doing anything to make that happen?
The billions come into play after that, when I start investing into infrastructure and community services. I figure I could hit that mark in 30 years, well probably a lot less considering inflation, but then we'll all want to be trillionaires.
He just needs to do it.
Create.
He has a history of mood issues and blogged about how his father killed himself due to depression. [0]
He is a human being in trouble.
You can do better, HN.
[0] http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/13/3763968/notch-father-minec...
He's having a rough time at the moment, I really hope the media over-analysis doesn't make things worse.
The Schadenfreude in many of the comments is vicious. Those of you posting those ought to reflect on why you do that.
Beyond that, it's wrong for us to be conducting message board threads about the happiness and mental health of a human being. It's off-topic for HN in any case, because it's garden-variety celebrity gossip. But it's also wrong, and I wish I'd realized this earlier.
It's time this stopped. Since more of these threads are sure to be posted, please flag them if you see them before we do.