Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Normal life expectancy is 80y. If you start work at 20y, you can expect to live another 60 years. Cut that in half to 30, and you die at age 50.

> at least think it through first

Back to you.



The life expectancy of people with similar living conditions to Amazon's high-paid employees is higher than average. The correct comparison is with people who have similar living conditions, except significantly lower stress levels, which is higher still.

Which is besides the point. Who works for Amazon for 30 years? Amazon hasn't been around for 30 years, and their turnover is high enough that I expect it'll be a while before they have any 30-year employees, excluding the owners. So Amazon workers probably wouldn't have a life expectancy as low as 50, regardless, even if working there did make your body degrade twice as fast.


Do you have any evidence at all that Amazon workers have any reduction in lifespan, let alone 30 years?

Amazon has been around 25 years now. If their workers had their life expectancy cut in half, the vanguard would be dropping like flies today.


I have no evidence that the hyperbolic figure of speech is literal truth, no. I do have evidence that people in high-stress environments have health complications.


Is it really that high stress?

My dad flew 30 some missions over Germany. The cohort he went over with had an 80% casualty rate. Some missons had a 10% death rate. He could do the math, and assumed he was going to die.

(Obviously, he did not die, since I exist, but he came literally within a couple inches.)

When he arrived back in the US, he was bemused by all the stuff back home people worried about. He thought "what the heck are you worried about, you're going to live another day!"


Stress is a physiological reaction to certain stimulus. You can stab people with blood monitors and conclude that yes, it is a high-stress environment.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: