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“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

paulbutler.org

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Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#21

Post by seibelj »

originalvichy wrote: post #13
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.

I read his writing, and I also read his Debt book and found it unimpressive and unconvincing.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#22

Post by seibelj »

beaconstudios wrote: post #20
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.

What company is paying to do this?

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#23

Post by nightski »

jimbob45 wrote: post #9

My problem with these Play2Earn games is that it provides a dark motivation for kids to play them. Previously, you'd play something like Doom or Quake because you enjoyed it and you'd quit after an hour or two because it would rapidly become repetitive and boring. You knew deep down that you were wasting time on recreation and that you should probably do the things you should be doing (e.g. the dishes, reading a book…

I'd be careful telling people what they "should" and "shouldn't" be doing with their time based on your contrived opinions.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#25

Post by api »

duxup wrote: post #11
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.

Yup, and it gets worse when you consider that everyone is usually trying to make their job look important regardless of how important it actually is. It's likely that a deliberate attempt to weed out BS jobs would select for good fakers, ass kissers, and con artists and weed out a lot of heads-down productive people.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#26

Post by moneywoes »

originalvichy wrote: post #13
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.

For example?

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#29

Post by advisedwang »

mherdeg wrote: post #18

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 p…

Except that we end up spending a vast amount of human effort doing work that fundamentally doesn't need to be done. There's no actual economic output to paying people to break rocks.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#30

Post by beaconstudios »

seibelj wrote: post #22
beaconstudios wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What company is paying to do this?

I'll pay you to do it. I'll incorporate a company and then pay you through that if it feels more legit that way.
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