This is why I don't rely on workplace being the place where friendships happen. Whenever I feel like there's friendship growing, I add that person on some app, and then we meet outside of work. In that way even if we part ways professionally, we can still be friends privately. I spam people with game screenshots, pics of food, and racist rants. I invite them to gatherings and outings.
Would've been even nicer without glorifying substance abuse, but, well.
That is textbook abuse, because you're deluding yourself into believing that you're achieving something, when in reality, the only thing you do achieve is addiction. Or so the worst-case outcome anyway.
Abuse of course sounds like you're hurting someone else, but in this case, you're just hurting yourself. But you do that quite hard.
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Ego death is hard, but achievable without cheating like that. And - not to be snarky - when laid off, you have a lot of time for the introspection to pull that off without such crutches.
The author decided otherwise - and it's their right to do that - but it's still textbook substance abuse, which is objectively bad.
Hence my comment to correct that.
It shall be read as directed as the reader getting wrong ideas. Not at the guy clearly struggling and just finding something that works for them.
If you take a look at the rest of the comment section, you will see why this is ethically necessary.
FWIW, it's not the author's fault that this ended up in this place, but it still ended up in this place, and with that, it is harmful, because HN does not comprehend the idea of context.
Edit: I was wrong, see skylurk’s comment.
You just asked your AI God of choice about this, perhaps?