Sensible Development

This idea has been phrased in many ways - but I want to emphasize the contrast between sanity and insanity.

When I was working in Silicon Valley, back in the Nineties - it was definitely insane. But there was so much money there, no one could resist it. People (like me) flocked in from everywhere to get all those jobs - and get away from areas that had none.

We did not know we were part of a bubble that was going to burst. We just knew that, for the time being, a boom was on, and we were going to cash in on it. No one asked "Does all this make any sense?"

This was the right question, but no one was asking it. And it still remains the right question.

In the Valley, I was part of a men's group, led by a psychologist, and everyone in the group had the same problem - how to cope with all the craziness that was going on. But none of us (including our leader) could formulate this question. For the simplest of reasons - we were not supposed to.

Our leader had a business helping companies solving the psychological problems that were rampant in the Valley. He was making money off of them. And didn't want a permanent solution to them.

All we have to ask, in situations like these (no matter how widespread they are) "Is this crazy?" All we have to do, is consult our gut feelings - no thinking has to be done. If they are telling us "This is crazy!" Get out of there.

I realize this advice. is not advice most people can follow. They cannot trust their feelings, they cannot judge their situation, and they cannot get out. They only know what they are supposed to do - and they do that. Whether it is good for them, or not.