This is exactly correct. The more one overworks, the worse his impulse control becomes. After a long enough stretch of overwork (months, years) one can be transformed into something else entirely. Fat, drinking too much, angry at the internet. He could see it happening every day, and every day lose the fight to stress and easy relief.
It kind of changes your character. Some people cope by drinking or eating, others whatever means. The insidious thing is: the change happens so gradually that it is, IMHO almost impossible to recognize while it is happening. You do recognize when the circumstances change, by which point it might be too late. A solid social network of friends and family helps, but is also one of the first things to loose with this lifestyle.
I can’t think of any of the big founders that were fat alcoholics - bill gates, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, bezos? Pretty sure they all work all the time, as in no weekends, get emails at 11 pm every day, at least when they worked.
Sure, but I think most “workaholics” are attempting to work towards a position like that, if not the founder then a major shareholder of a startup that will make it big, portfolio manager of a big fund, partner at a m&a firm or bank, etc.
I think arguing that it’s insane to work 80 hour weeks as a dead end test engineer at a large stagnant company is a straw man. Most people have a tenable goal in mind.
And at the end of it I don’t see the majority of them being fat alcoholics.
I don't think there's a chain of valid reasoning that can start with a few very exceptional people (that is to say these people are an exception, whether it be by talent, effort, or luck) and end with any conclusions about what is normative for the burned-out developer.
