Hi, I’m a software developer in my 40s worked ~18 years of my life in the corporate grind. That ended in the fall of 2014.
At that point I felt the need to step away and do something different so I quit my good-paying job and created my own software company with a buddy. I work full time on the gig while he’s still playing the full-time corporate game for now.
In the early goings it was pretty tough but things are moving along quite well now. Even if it wasn’t, it would be hard to go back to the standard 9-5. Not having a “boss” is priceless. I’ve learned more about myself in a year than the previous 20 working for someone else and become happier along the way.
What’s Up with Modern Life?
While sitting in my fortress of solitude plugging away at computer code, I started to get a new perspective on both corporate life and the modern world in general. Specifically, how ‘unnatural’ and foreign our current lives are compared to our distant ancestors.
As we continue on this mindless technological push forward and steer humans to be more and more like machines, we experience an ever-growing list of societal problems – simply because humans aren’t machines and never will be (at least until cyborg implants are adopted en masse, but that’s a discussion for another day.)
In the meantime, I’m writing this blog for myself and my fellow humans – how we can better adjust to modern life by learning from our ancestors. I think they can teach us a lot about what it means to be human.
There have been a lot of lessons long forgotton but I think those lessons are deep within us if we would only slow down, step away from the fucking TV, Facebook and other mindless nonsense and listen and reflect.
The Best of Both Worlds
By using lessons from the past I firmly believe we can end up having the best of both worlds – a solid foundation for life with the fun and convenience of the modern world.
Bob Riley
Twitter: @bobriley99