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Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

economist.com

101–110 of 154 posts

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#101
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm terrified of letting people into my life, and the biggest reason is I'm afraid they'll cut into my work time. Now, sure, there's probably a bunch of Freudian damage that's gone into this. But however I got this way, I am this way, and I don't mind.

May I ask what you do for work? And how fulfilled you are by it?

Game programmer. 8/10 fulfillment and climbing.

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#102

I recommend people watch Japan A story of love and hate ( http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x56bwzc ) which, aside from being a great look at Japan, epitomizes the absurdity of exchanging our time for a salary that increasingly fails to cover the cost to live and leaves us without free time. 30,000 Japanese kill themselves each year due to work related stress. Great quote from the doc: Naoki:"You (the West) game me th…

I have worked all kinds of jobs. Office work is cake.

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#104
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this author has children. I couldn’t read because of paywall. My life came to a slow and boredom was setting in slowly until I had a child. Living through his life makes me feel excited again, not for myself but knowing everything he’ll go experience. If anyone reading this has a choice in having kids but hadn’t yet, I’d highly recommend it. Yes it’s hard and strange at first but worth every moment. Just…

I feel like the idea of “living through” one’s kids has a lot of negative connotations——pushing them to spend hours a day on something they hate, etc. But there is absolutely something to be said for being able to see the world through your kid’s eyes. They get so excited about things that are totally mundane to adults. (My one year old yesterday had to stop and examine each little hole in the sidewalk as we walked.)…

There’s beauty in seeing the world through a child’s eyes, even as an adult. Where life is wonder. Nature is really great at infecting one with wonder as well.

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#105
post #102

I recommend people watch Japan A story of love and hate ( http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x56bwzc ) which, aside from being a great look at Japan, epitomizes the absurdity of exchanging our time for a salary that increasingly fails to cover the cost to live and leaves us without free time. 30,000 Japanese kill themselves each year due to work related stress. Great quote from the doc: Naoki:"You (the West) game me th…

I have worked all kinds of jobs. Office work is cake.

Sounds like your life has been gracious to give you many different experiences. I think the distaste is mostly from people who've worked their lives in an office job. Yeah it's cake, but are you gonna do it for 40 years and die happy?

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#106
post #53

I'm of the opinion that the root of the problem is inflation (but I'm open to correction). My thinking is that we're constantly being pushed to work harder because no business today can reach a successful steady-state -- it must keep growing. The reason businesses must keep growing is that investors demand it. Investors demand it because they believe that wealth sitting around not making more wealth is a waste. Infla…

There's a [1] hypothesis that economic growth is mostly the result of 1) population growth, 2) energy consumption, and 3) interest rates. Current projections estimate that population will peak at 8.7 billion in 2055. Nearly all of that growth will occur in "developing" countries. Yuval Harari makes the case in Homo Deus that the world is quickly reaching a point where the less developed areas of the world will be mos…

Labor, technology, and capital (not sure I completely agree with #3). But these are the ways you grow economies in real terms (based on my econ studies).

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#109
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Game programmer. 8/10 fulfillment and climbing.

How is your relationship with your coworkers?

I mostly work alone, as of the past few years. Occasionally take consulting work or contracts. When I do have coworkers, my relationship with them is typically good to very good.

Re: Why is everyone so busy? (2014)

#110
post #80

(this is only a very quick and dirty exposition.) Humans, like every other organism on this Earth, have been shaped by evolution, which has instilled a set of adaptations into them. Like most other species, there is a competition for mates, reproduction opportunities and resources within the sexes. So, along the ages, humans have acquired a set of adaptations that "maximize" wealth, status, (whether they still work i…

what other ways can we use to measure worker's output quality and quantity other than the easily quantifiable factor of "time"?
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