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Comment by killjoywashere | Hacker News Reader

> It's a lot better than homelessness though.

Yeah, I feel like more people in the developed world should go spend quality time with the least among us, the homeless, and folks in the developing world. A lot of people with burnout will find themselves skipping to work. Because at least you're not living in trees with insects and hollowing out a log to sail to another island to get your special needs kid to a doctor on another island 600 miles away. (one of infinite specific stories I'm familiar with).

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I have spent extended periods of time living and traveling on really small 15-17ft sailboats with no electricity or modern tech together with a young kid, and never miss anything about modern life. I feel so much healthier and happier using my body and being outdoors vs in my usual desk job. To be fair I have a job, home, and health care waiting for me if anything goes wrong. But I am certain this isn’t just simple romanticism- living simply outdoors drastically improves my mental health, it is giving me something I need that modern life lacks- possibly the combo of natural light, constant exercise, and no chronic stress. It is physically demanding and often very uncomfortable- and I don’t mind because I feel so much more alive and engaged. If I did not have a family to support, and a career that I feel is important, I am certain I would be happier just living simply and mostly outdoors.

I think that it's possible that isn't true. Perhaps the areas where people in the developed world are worse off (micromanagement, family, home ownership, etc.) are more important to avoiding burnout than the "comfort" that the developed world generally excels at providing.

Stated another way, it is possible that burnout isn't determined by some overall sense of "how difficult is life" but is instead caused by life being difficult in specific ways.

People seem to confuse physical comfort with happiness and good mental health when they aren't the same at all. Extreme physical discomfort, or lack of food/water/shelter are awful, but they don't specifically cause burnout. And people don't start "skipping to work" just because they know someone else is less comfortable, when they are worn down from years of chronic stress.

I’ve been homeless. I’ve also been burned out. Being homeless did not magically prevent me from becoming burned out in another stage of my life.

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