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You are not your job

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Re: You are not your job

#271

Post by bigDinosaur »

tock wrote: post #211
Tor3 wrote: post #176

The focus on "what you do" is very US-centric (or possibly North American). When you meet someone then one of the very first things asked is "what do you do" or something to that extent. What your job is. But it's not like that at all elsewhere in the world. It varies a lot. I myself never ask that question, unless it's for a very specific reason. And _never_ as part of an introduction. I've known people for decades…

Not surprised because most people in the world only have time to work/commute/sleep. Stuff like hobbies, sabbaticals, vacations, etc are quite rare. I've only seen the contrary when I met Europeans.

Domestic tourism is massive even in countries with terrible work culture like China, so your claim is not particularly strong. Either way, hobbies and holidays are certainly not unique to NA and Europe.

Re: You are not your job

#272

Post by VoodooJuJu »

abcde666777 wrote: post #122

Being able to see ourselves as something beyond our job (our means of survival) is a luxury. If a person can't provide for themselves the rest goes out the window fast. The only way to ease the anxiety in people isn't with fluff about their 'human worth', but rather to help them envision other tangible and plausible ways in which they can provide for themselves. The cold reality, in my opinion, is that the things we…

[dead]

Re: You are not your job

#273

Post by francisofascii »

serial_dev wrote: post #206
helloplanets wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We are in fact very disposable and replaceable. To your friends and family as well? Or just your employer? You're describing things that may well be true for a lot of employers, but fall apart outside of that context.

For some rare once-in-a-lifetime friendships, you are not disposable, and if anything were to happen to you, you would be missed. I can count those on one hand. For most casual acquaintances (that some people incorrectly label as friends), it's certainly true. On the family's side: only parents, siblings, children, maybe some aunt or grandparent. Second distant cousin you saw 3 times in life?

There still is value with the casual acquaintances. Just because a person is replaceable doesn't mean they are not valuable when present. My neighbor who I barely talk to has helped me out when I am in a bind. Even if a new neighbor moves in and replaces him, the original neighbor was valuable and gave me a sense of security, peace, and community while he was present.

Re: You are not your job

#274

Post by yurii_l »

There are no irreplaceable people.

No matter how irreplaceable you are, If you get sick or die, you will be replaced in 1-2 weeks. In 2-3 months, you will be forgotten...

Re: You are not your job

#275

Post by idiotsecant »

titanomachy wrote: post #204
abcde666777 wrote: post #122

Being able to see ourselves as something beyond our job (our means of survival) is a luxury. If a person can't provide for themselves the rest goes out the window fast. The only way to ease the anxiety in people isn't with fluff about their 'human worth', but rather to help them envision other tangible and plausible ways in which they can provide for themselves. The cold reality, in my opinion, is that the things we…

Our society used to have religious beliefs that put special value on human lives / souls / whatever. Now for many people, capitalism and materialism is the only religion, and in this religion humans are reduced to their dollar value. But you should recognize that this is not a neutral choice: you have in fact chosen one of many possible value systems, and others may choose differently. Much of human behavior is not e…

And exactly none of that is sourced from religion. Nobody is born religious, and when they aren't they behave the same. They might not do the same special genuflections and drink the same special holy tea or whatever, but they're similarly human.

Religion has varied continuously throughout human existence. Its not the foundational requirement here.

Re: You are not your job

#276

Post by SkyeCA »

For all intents and purposes I am my job and I'm tired of people trying to pretend like this isn't true. As a human I am worth exactly what I'm able to earn, not a cent more and I am judged by others first and foremost based on my job title. I am not inherently valuable.

I wish it wasn't like this, but this is the world we've built and all I can do is cope with it as those in power work on replacing me.

Re: You are not your job

#277

Post by bevelwork »

SkyeCA wrote: post #276

For all intents and purposes I am my job and I'm tired of people trying to pretend like this isn't true. As a human I am worth exactly what I'm able to earn, not a cent more and I am judged by others first and foremost based on my job title. I am not inherently valuable. I wish it wasn't like this, but this is the world we've built and all I can do is cope with it as those in power work on replacing me.

I think you as a person have intrinsic value, and I hope your opinion changes in the future.

Re: You are not your job

#278

Post by namelessone »

SkyeCA wrote: post #276

For all intents and purposes I am my job and I'm tired of people trying to pretend like this isn't true. As a human I am worth exactly what I'm able to earn, not a cent more and I am judged by others first and foremost based on my job title. I am not inherently valuable. I wish it wasn't like this, but this is the world we've built and all I can do is cope with it as those in power work on replacing me.

That depends a lot on your social circles, no? I’ve met plenty of people who never cared about or knew my job title or salary, and whose job titles and salaries I never cared about or knew.

Re: You are not your job

#279

Post by Gareth321 »

jaapz wrote: post #268
abcde666777 wrote: post #122

Being able to see ourselves as something beyond our job (our means of survival) is a luxury. If a person can't provide for themselves the rest goes out the window fast. The only way to ease the anxiety in people isn't with fluff about their 'human worth', but rather to help them envision other tangible and plausible ways in which they can provide for themselves. The cold reality, in my opinion, is that the things we…

> The cold reality, in my opinion, is that the things we value about ourselves are generally not that valuable to others. I love my own personality and humanity, my soul if you will, but nobody's paying me for it, and so I have to value it accordingly. This is only true if by "value" you mean monetary value. Your personality and humanity may not be valuable to the person paying you to do your job, it still has value…

There is an intractable problem is economics which is how to assign value to a thing. It's probably more of a philosophical debate. One arm of the debate is something called marginal utility. That is, a think is worth a different amount to different people. I value a particular guitar more than my neighbour does. I think it's worth $100. He thinks it's worth $50. Who is right? Authoritarian nations use top-down economic methods to dictate the value. In this case, they would make the guitar worth $1 (so "everyone can afford a guitar now"). Under capitalism, we allow individual to negotiate, and the highest bidder determines the price.

Apologies for the long-winded context, but I think it's important to address your point. You're alluding to some kind of intrinsic, self-evident value, and I would like to challenge you on that. Prove to me that this value exists. Prove to me it can be measured. To pre-empt your reply, I don't think you can. You might value a person in a certain way, but you can't ensure everyone else does. In fact you even accept this in your last sentence. A small group of people known to that individual would value them more than the other 8 billion people on the planet. Which is more or less what the person you replied to was explaining.

Re: You are not your job

#280

Post by slaye »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #155
abcde666777 wrote: post #122

Being able to see ourselves as something beyond our job (our means of survival) is a luxury. If a person can't provide for themselves the rest goes out the window fast. The only way to ease the anxiety in people isn't with fluff about their 'human worth', but rather to help them envision other tangible and plausible ways in which they can provide for themselves. The cold reality, in my opinion, is that the things we…

Reminds me of a very old essay on Cracked that says something very similar: https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-y...

Thanks for sharing that article!
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