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“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

paulbutler.org

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Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#11

Post by duxup »

api wrote: post #4

The problem with the bullshit jobs thesis is similar to this common saying in advertising: "I know I'm wasting 80% of my ad spend. I just don't know which 80%." The same principle likely applies to wages across the economy. I think it's rather obvious that a huge fraction of employment is worthless. The problem is determining which fraction that is. It's not obvious. Many jobs that look and feel like bullshit may hav…

It’s also very “easy” to identify a BS job, especially when you don’t know much about it.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#13

Post by originalvichy »

seibelj wrote: post #2

I disagree entirely with the thesis of "bullshit jobs". Unless it's a government job or mandated by regulations, someone is paying for a task to be done voluntarily. Therefore it isn't bullshit to the payer, even if it might seem like bullshit to the worker. I have never stumbled on a single job that wasn't government-required labor that had no purpose whatsoever, and furthermore the laborer wasn't able to quit.

Read excerpts of his book or his essays on the topic. You might be suprised.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#15

Post by lordnacho »

> I was skeptical that any mechanism to create bullshit jobs could arise from a system as inherently Darwinian as capitalism

But if we take Darwinian evolution as our analogy, there are plenty of strategies that essentially piggy back on other organisms. Cuckoo birds, intestinal worms, a whole coterie of sexual behaviors.

It's also the everyday experience of just about everyone that they perceive certain others to not be contributing anything at all. The surprise is that some people are willing to admit they are one of those people as well. It's not hard to think of how this would work, either. Convince someone to hire you, and then don't contribute, while taking a salary. If it's hard or expensive to detect the non-contributor, there will be NCs in the organization.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#17

Post by k__ »

A bit like social media points, right?

Followers, likes, karma, all aren't directly worth anything. But it takes work to get them.

I know a bunch of prominent internet people who don't make much money with this status, because it's not easy to monetize it without compromise yourself.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#18

Post by mherdeg »

Is this different from the phenomenon described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_farming?

Honestly it seems like a pretty great career -- you get to spend your time indoors, probably somewhere climate controlled with electricity and restrooms. This is way better than the workhouse.

Whoever is buying these things as a collector is basically donating their wealth to others, like a kind of privatized welfare. If people are buying these things as a speculative investment, they're participating in a private lottery. That all seems … fine?

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#19

Post by TeeMassive »

> David Graeber makes the case that a sizable chunk of the labour economy is essentially people performing useless work, as a sort of subconscious self-preservation instinct of the economic status quo.

Isn't it unavoidable in a world with food surplus and automation?

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#20

Post by beaconstudios »

seibelj wrote: post #2

I disagree entirely with the thesis of "bullshit jobs". Unless it's a government job or mandated by regulations, someone is paying for a task to be done voluntarily. Therefore it isn't bullshit to the payer, even if it might seem like bullshit to the worker. I have never stumbled on a single job that wasn't government-required labor that had no purpose whatsoever, and furthermore the laborer wasn't able to quit.

So if I paid you a salary to dig a hole and fill it up again, ad infinitum, that job would have inherent value just because I'm paying you to do it?

If so, welcome aboard.

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