I've started using typst in a recent side project. An online article to PDF converter for e-Readers (reMarkable in my case): https://klartext.press/. It works like a charm. Blazing fast, beautifully typeset documents.
I'll try to summarize my process:
I've been working as a freelance full stack dev for around 12 years now. 2 years ago I hit a point where I couldn't work anymore. I just had such a strong aversion to the job, it almost felt like pain to sit down and just look at code. It was really bad for around a month where I barely worked and really struggled with clients and earning money. I then had a mushroom trip where i completely broke down. The idea that I've built my whole life around this career that just deals with "virtual stuff" and doesn't really add any value to peoples lifes made me panic. I had no plan B. Somehow I managed to really go into these feelings of despair and had a strong emotional release. I woke up the next day with a new strength to change things. Since then I've simplified my job a lot and had many very fortunate opportunities. I'm running my own very minimal one-guy saas business now that came out of an old project. I work maybe 2 hours per day and get by well. Everything seemed to just magically come together as a result of this psilocybin experience (and a couple more after that). Not recommending this approach, but it worked for me.
I wouldn't say I've rediscovered my love for coding, but I have periods where I do enjoy it again (if I limit the time I spend in front of the screen and balance it with other activities). Also what was important was to really focus on simplfiying my own life and also achieving that through my work/product for others. You could say the crisis helped me to shift my intention regarding my purpose and to really appreciate simplicity.
Do you mean the exponentially successful increase in happiness, life expectancy, creativity, exploration, science and much more that the human race has accomplished?
I don't even think I contributed anything yet but I'm proud and wish for it to continue. Feel free to have a negative outlook on the achievements and impact of your species, but please, realize that it's simply your own opinion. Not everything is perfect! Climate change is a horrible byproduct of our presence and action. But wow, look how far we've arrived! How far we'll still go!
But how far? And by what measure? If we had awe-inspiring technological progress, but only increased the suffering of sentient beings, is that a win? Or is somehow scientific understanding, in and of itself, a worthwhile pursuit, and damn the consequences?
As it stands, we don't really have an accurate hedonic utilitarian measure we can use to decide if sentient beings are better off, even for humans. Though a cursory search leads me to the 'Gross National Well-being' measure, but such self-surveys aren't known to be reliable.
The irony is that many people who really believe in the potential of humanity to create huge futures full of happiness and bliss are the ones who are most concerned about our survival. There are obviously different opinions on the degree of our survival chances but reasonable people have put it as low as 1/6. That means a f*cking dice roll could put a stop to all the progress you have been lauding about. Don’t get me wrong... I am an optimist, I want to creat a great future and lift the potential that is there. I would wager I probably see more potential than most. BUT we will have to radically transform how our societies operate, how we care about each other (including non-human animals), how we care about our planet, and what role we see ourselves having in the future.
