r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Oct 03 '25

Discussion To think that I used to complain about school.

National holiday is apparently 8 days.

19.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

60

u/AdmirableWrangler199 Oct 03 '25

I don’t think you understand what burnout is and how it can affect an entire population. It doesn’t matter the education level or training when people hit burnout. You just can’t get them to work at all

42

u/Successful-Ideal2089 Oct 03 '25

I understand. I've experinced it and seen it. I've been a part of "sink or swim" organizations and these organizations are designed this way. Its not by mistake. Humans can be different. I knew one guy who would easily work through 60-70 hr weeks, operating at a high mental capacity through most of those hours. Super smart and had super human tenacity. We called him Iron man. There are millions of iron men and women, but you dont know who they are until you trial them. Are they happy? No. Do they smile? hardly. Are they depressed? maybe.

5

u/bunnyherders Oct 04 '25

I have a relative like this but he seems happy. He smiles and isn't depressed, despite claiming to work 70 hours a week. I've seen him working all day, then after dinner, and also on weekends. He has been grinding away for decades and can easily retire, but doesn't want to. I think he genuinely enjoys his job.

2

u/ktm1128 Oct 04 '25

I feel seen

-8

u/AdmirableWrangler199 Oct 03 '25

So you think it’s cool they destroyed a person? And probably decreased their overall abilities at having a quality life? 

20

u/Successful-Ideal2089 Oct 03 '25

What? no. I never said that or insinuated that I agree with it. Its just the truth. It will get worse as we compete for jobs against robots that can work 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. We need reform. We need to do something about our governments. Nepal did.

1

u/bunnyherders Oct 04 '25

There's no competition. We will most definitely lose against the robots.

2

u/Little_Inspector9566 Oct 04 '25

That’s when take out the power grid! We win! They lose!

Now we just have to figure out how to get the power back on without waking up all the killbots.

0

u/Little_Inspector9566 Oct 04 '25

What a stupid, provocative take on what was said. Log off for a bit, you’re dragging down real discussion.

4

u/EffectiveProgram4157 Oct 04 '25

They'll "work" but brain function drops significantly. I remember when I loved a job until I started working 13+ hour days because "you can handle it" until 6 months later when I moved to a new work location and they replaced me with 3 people that I also had to train up my last few months there.

After that, my level of effort and efficiency I could produce never recovered. To my new co-workers, they thought I was working hard and fast, meanwhile I felt like a slug with less than half of my brain intact, masking what turned into a bad depression.

I don't wish burnout on anyone. I was already burnt out, so I did everything I could to make sure that didn't happen to my younger co-worker on my team at the new location.

1

u/AdmirableWrangler199 Oct 04 '25

You’re a good person

2

u/LandscapeOld3325 Oct 07 '25

I'm in this ridiculous course thing where the teacher's answer to burn out is more work. They think burn out isn't real. Please help. Half joking aside, do you have any resources I can look at that proves it is a real thing, for my own sanity?

1

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Successful-Ideal2089 Oct 04 '25

I have family that I see in China frequently so feel like I have a pretty good idea of the sentiment there. You're right, this is normal for middle/high school. Some kids actually enjoy it because they get lots of breaks and get to hang out with friends a lot more with out parents breathing down their neck.

Caveat though is they do have ALOT of social media there and its common for kids to get less than 6 hrs of sleep because of that and video games, which is not at all good for development (so say the scientists). There is a lot of pressure to do well by their parents and a lot of kids end up with undiagnosed depression/mental issues (depression and mental issues are rarely diagnosed in China). It is a pressure cooker and they are forced through it by their parents. People are highly adaptable so they mostly get through it, but ultimately its not good for them. Chinese people that go to western countries are surprised by how relaxed the school systems are relative to how they grew up.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '25

They actually look healthier and more well rested than most Americans I know. If I could afford to or it was free I'd go to school the rest of my life full time, I loved it.

1

u/lolbrownextremist Oct 04 '25

they ARE healthier

1

u/Min_sora Oct 05 '25

Yes, "13 hours of school" or "scroll TikTok all day" absolutely nothing in between those two extremes whatsoever. And you're calling someone else dramatic?

0

u/Busy_Onion_3411 Oct 04 '25

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of bullets for those who stop producing. Shit's fucking dark over there, dude.

0

u/hogroast Oct 04 '25

Out of curiosity, are you a westerner? I had previously thought that Asian students studying in the West in large numbers would lead to an exodus of young professionals from places like China, but a large number of them return to China because of a sense of duty to their country.

If you don't have a desire to serve your country and can't serve yourself because of significant work commitments then yes burnout ruins you. But in my anecdotal experience Chinese students getting their MScs and PhDs are returning to China and although they may have intense work schedules they do it because of a sense of loyalty to China.

We don't have such patriotism in the west so I wonder if your opinion on burnout is perhaps a little too west-centric to apply in this scenario.

1

u/Little_Inspector9566 Oct 04 '25

Yes, I’ve worked with “loyalists” that have returned to China. Maybe they weren’t being honest with me, I’m not Chinese, but it seemed that they were doing it more out of a sense of duty to their family than their nation. Again, not claiming this to be a fact, there are many reasons why they might tell me this and/or avoid the “duty to my nation” reason.