> [...] the more general idea, quite consistently expressed, that the startup life is better than the corporate life. By itself, this is neither true nor false [...]
Can't one way of living be better than another?
If not, how can I tell whether my life is better now than it was a year ago?
And if I can't discern even that, then why should I try to improve my life?
Indeed, but the mere subjectivity of a statement doesn't deprive it of the possibility of truth or falsehood for any given person or group of people.
For example, take the statement "bread is a better food than dung." In my own context, and yours, and probably all of humanity's, that subjective statement is more-than-subjectively true.
For a fly or a dung beetle, that statement is false.
Given the right context and constraints, even subjective statements can be "objectivized" and tested scientifically.
For instance, if you can decide on various goals or constraints, you could find out objectively whether the startup life or the corporate life tends to be better in terms of more money, less stress, quality of life (once you've carefully stated metrics for that), etc.
So, in the strictest sense, the original poster is right, in that by itself, neither the startup life nor the corporate life is better, just as in the strictest sense, the statement "bread is a better food than dung" is neither true nor false. But stopping there can deprive you of valuable information, which might prevent you from eating dung. ;)
Can't one way of living be better than another?
If not, how can I tell whether my life is better now than it was a year ago?
And if I can't discern even that, then why should I try to improve my life?
Or, indeed, how could I?