A job for one week was to move plastic roof boards from an automated saw on a pallet. They would save lots of money if they‘d place a robot there. In fact, the hole factory could have been automated.
The rise of the pointless job
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Re: The rise of the pointless job
#22A rewrite of this classic essay which has been discussed on HN many times: https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
This rewrite seems to be advertising his new book on the topic. Good summer reading.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#23A rewrite of this classic essay which has been discussed on HN many times: https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
Yes, and he has expanded it into a full book. It comes out later this month.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then just ignore the comment! We don’t need any more HN comment policing. And academics don’t have a monopoly on making criticism.
Asking someone to be constructive isn’t policing. Why should poor behavior not illicit a comment? Keep HN high signal to noise! Edit: The crowd is free to use downvotes judiciously if calling out the disingenuous is frowned upon. That’s what they’re there for.
Because 1) he made a valid point. 2) It’s noise to whom? You? Not me per se. 3) You’re claiming authority over what is acceptable on HN.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#25Edwardian-era mansions employed whole teams of butlers whose sole job was replacing candles. Not everyone is in a position to make a discernible impact on society. 20% of society will always drive 80% of progress. Think hard how you want the remaining 80% to support their families.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro has a vivid portrayal of this. The people doing it took it very seriously indeed.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#26A job for one week was to move plastic roof boards from an automated saw on a pallet. They would save lots of money if they‘d place a robot there. In fact, the hole factory could have been automated.
I would think carefully about this. Elon Musk thought the same thing with Model 3 production, and then said “humans are underrated” and that they bought into automation too much, leading to production delays.
https://gizmodo.com/overrated-human-elon-musk-says-humans-ar...
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#27Keynes was a little more direct: "The government should pay people to dig holes in the ground and then fill them up."
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’ve employed some sort of inverse ad hominem here. Credentials don’t mean we should take someone seriously. Their words should stand for themselves.
> Credentials don’t mean we should take someone seriously. This is a level of cognitive dissonance I’m not prepared to commit to arguing against. I’m not capable of issuing the bar to every lawyer I require the services of, nor the board to every presumed doctor, nor a thesis defense to every academic. Credentials aren’t perfect, but they are superior to the time required for everyone to judge everything on their own…
This makes sense for hiring a human. It doesn’t make sense for evaluating what they say in a general context. Credentials are fairly useless next to consensus for evaluating a given statement.
Credenials have use; just not in conversation.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#29This is another argument in favor of universal income. Bullshit jobs is one of consequences of progress, low cost goods, food and comfort. With increasing automation it’s going to be get incrementally harder to find bullshit jobs for people. until society understands that not everyone can and have to be employed.
Re: The rise of the pointless job
#30The goon category is interesting in a future world where AI has replaced most jobs, because it can employ an unlimited number of people. (Goon jobs exist to counterbalance other goon jobs. Militaries are the canonical example.) Most jobs -- teachers, auto workers, plumbers, farmers -- have a natural ceiling on employment related to demand, but goon jobs don't because when one side hires more goons, the other side has…
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