I think a part of the problem is caused by ubiquitious caffeine consumption.
On caffeine, I'm driven, and want to code more, and start new projects, and meet people, and never stop thinking, and hustle towards the future. I also never stop to question whether my goals are worthwhile, or at least good for me. I just "love the chase" on caffeine.
Off caffeine, I'm considerate, more withdrawn, and enjoy life as it is, being in the moment. Life is more "real". I take breaks, talk to family on the phone, cook myself a meal, smell the flowers.
Our generation runs on coffee. 64% of people over 18 in the US drink at least a cup every day [1], with rising tendency. "Programmers are machines which turn coffee into code", and other similar memes aplenty. I believe that a side effect of taking in caffeine is to be driven and motivated during the day, and of weak willpower at night, leading to excessive social media usage. It makes the hustle itself a means to an end.
But it seems like you have an ethos among some portion of 20-somethings of being so driven you can do work, go to school, and party freely. You have it all, except for sleep and that hits people hard after a while.
But it seems like a mindset that caffeine, harder drugs, or just the attitude of one's peers may reinforce. I personally drink lots of coffee and get lots of sleep so I don't caffeine by itself does it. But the broad approach is here, very destructive and not restricted to coders at all (you can find it a lot in service workers for example).
Well you can have instant coffee, or an air-press, or ... addicts get a bigger hit when they establish a religious experience through ritualising their consumption. One of the difficult things about giving up cigarettes is giving up the paraphernalia, the sense of occasion, the ritualised actions that start the happy hormones as Pavlov's bell initiates salivation. Your hands themselves are almost separately addicted to the actions, unwrapping a packet, sliding out a cigarette, tamping the tobacco, wheeling the flint on the lighter; each action a stepping up of the anticipation of drug-satiation.
Now, with coffee one can do the same: the steam and coffee-incense rise like the smoke from a thurible; beans clink, machines whirr, chrome shines in the bright halogen light of the kitchen. All subtle sensory inputs hailing the ever-closer hit of caffeine.
On caffeine, I'm driven, and want to code more, and start new projects, and meet people, and never stop thinking, and hustle towards the future. I also never stop to question whether my goals are worthwhile, or at least good for me. I just "love the chase" on caffeine.
Off caffeine, I'm considerate, more withdrawn, and enjoy life as it is, being in the moment. Life is more "real". I take breaks, talk to family on the phone, cook myself a meal, smell the flowers.
Our generation runs on coffee. 64% of people over 18 in the US drink at least a cup every day [1], with rising tendency. "Programmers are machines which turn coffee into code", and other similar memes aplenty. I believe that a side effect of taking in caffeine is to be driven and motivated during the day, and of weak willpower at night, leading to excessive social media usage. It makes the hustle itself a means to an end.
1: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-coffee-conference-survey/...