This is extremely sad and I'm sorry for Suchir's family and friends.
As someone who has struggled with suicidal ideation while working in the tech industry for over a decade, I do wonder if the insane culture of Bay Area tech has a part to play.
Besides the extreme hustle culture mindset, there's also a kind of naive techno-optimism that can make you feel insane. You're surrounded by people who think breaking the law is OK and that they're changing the world by selling smart kitchen appliances, even while they're exploiting workers in developing countries for cheap tech support and stepping over OD victims outside their condo.
This mindset is so pervasive you really start to wonder if you're crazy for having empathy or any sense of justice.
I have no special insight except to guess that going from being an obviously brilliant student at Berkeley to a cut-throat startup like OpenAI would be a jarring experience. You've achieved everything you worked your whole life for, and you find you're doing work that is completely out of whack with your morals and values.
Further piling on potential stress for any whistleblower in a highly specialized field, once you're publicly critical of that field, you're basically unemployable there. And that's without any active retribution from the offending employer. Any retribution, such as blacklisting among peer HR departments would bring an even dimmer outlook.
Mental health challenges in the bay area tech industry are real for a wide variety of reasons. There's a bigger push in silicon valley for work life balance and mental health care than anywhere else I've been, but more people with serious issues there than anywhere else I've been as well.
Imposter syndrome is high among engineers of all levels of experience and ability. Engineering has it's own set of pressures. Then you add in all the other reasons people can feel stressed or pressured and all of the bay area specific reasons those things are amplified. It adds up.
You would be surprised how many brilliant and highly capable people have broken down. For anyone out there feeling like they are all alone - don't. Even if all the people around you seem happy and confident, I guarantee that a larger portion of them than you realize are struggling.
Well put. Almost all of the SF startups I worked for were run by sociopaths willing to break any rule I eventually learned. One is now being charged by the FTC for massive violations. I hated the immoral mindset of winning at the cost of everything from employee comfort to flagrantly illegal activities with customers.
As someone who has struggled with suicidal ideation while working in the tech industry for over a decade, I do wonder if the insane culture of Bay Area tech has a part to play.
Besides the extreme hustle culture mindset, there's also a kind of naive techno-optimism that can make you feel insane. You're surrounded by people who think breaking the law is OK and that they're changing the world by selling smart kitchen appliances, even while they're exploiting workers in developing countries for cheap tech support and stepping over OD victims outside their condo.
This mindset is so pervasive you really start to wonder if you're crazy for having empathy or any sense of justice.
I have no special insight except to guess that going from being an obviously brilliant student at Berkeley to a cut-throat startup like OpenAI would be a jarring experience. You've achieved everything you worked your whole life for, and you find you're doing work that is completely out of whack with your morals and values.