Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks • Hacker News Board

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#281

Post by Lalabadie » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #161

devilsdata wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason people go from work to nothing on retirement is because work fills up the nearly all of the productive hours of a person's life. If it were to take, let's say 4 days, or six hours a day, people would be so bored, they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering. And then on retirement, people would still have their hobbies and passion projects they had been working on their entire life. Th…

> they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering This is not what actually happens in practice. There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. If this was going to occur there would be mountains of empirical evidence for it by now because this situation isn't rare. I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their f…

No, statistically it's exactly what happens. People have more initiative and produce meaningful outcomes when they own part of their time. You do need to account for what isn't measured in capital. Off the top of my head:

- Caretaking

- Community and organization

- Art ventures

- Political involvement

All of which are meaningful parts of as functioning society, but almost invisible to the capitalistic eye. Some of these (caretaking for example) are obstacles to one industry being maximally profitable, so sometimes they're structurally pushed out by the simple act of prioritizing company interest over decades.

You'll notice they were also kind of stereotypically married women's activities when women used to be homemakers in majority, and that went away when women of working age joined the workforce, i.e. lost control over how they distributed their working day.

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#282

Post by wongarsu » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC

spartanatreyu wrote: post #178

jandrewrogers wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering This is not what actually happens in practice. There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. If this was going to occur there would be mountains of empirical evidence for it by now because this situation isn't rare. I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their f…

> There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. I can't recall which studies they were, but I was under the impression that with a sudden expansion of free time, the earliest productivity gains don't occur until months later at the earliest. I think the effect came up in long-term UBI trial participants, and those that acquired sudden wealth from inheritance / lottery / stocks…

Anecdotes obviously aren't data, but from my own experience going some time jobless after my last startup I was basically useless for the first three months. By month four I started looking for some things to do and excuses to regularly leave the house. By month 9 I had a bunch of side projects and hobbies going on. Some productive, some artistic, some just screwing around.

Then I got a job I liked, and while some of the hobbies were still quite active for the first two months or so they've all come to rest now. Still trying to figure out how to get a better work-life balance again, because I quite liked those hobbies

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#283

Post by wiseowise » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:33 AM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #246

fendy3002 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, the statement is so bad with a pattern of "because most won't, then all won't", which commonly used during birth rate issues too. It's either ignorant or malicious with hidden agenda behind. Giving employees 1 week of free time? That's nothing, and nothing will change too as a result. Give them a whole month of free time? I bet they will make some small, short term projects, even doing hobbies like gaming, fishi…

> Giving employees 1 week of free time? That's nothing, and nothing will change too as a result. Give them a whole month of free time? I bet they will make some small, short term projects, even doing hobbies like gaming, fishing, cooking or golfing where it wasn't available before. *confused in European, again* Hey, if only there was an entire continent of hundreds of millions of people who typically have 5 weeks of…

5 weeks is nothing over a year.

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#284

Post by bregma » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC

wiseowise wrote: post #270

jandrewrogers wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering This is not what actually happens in practice. There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. If this was going to occur there would be mountains of empirical evidence for it by now because this situation isn't rare. I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their f…

> I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their free time in almost exactly the same way they spent their free time when they had less of it. Binging on social media, television, or games? Now they just do more of it for longer. The people that volunteer more were already doing it, and they are in the small minority. You lock people for decades in the madhouse which lea…

> Did I just described rich kids?

You just described Lord Of The Flies.

Be mindful of fundamental human nature and how it shapes everything we do, including all our social constructs. Few people are, which make mindlessness the dominant modus operandi.

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#285

Post by wiseowise » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:42 AM UTC

somenameforme wrote: post #261

globalnode wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think people trying to argue that we would be more productive is a symptom of the productivity disease. where all we value is productivity and thats the only way we can justify more non-work time. i personally just think we should all have more time to do what we want, whether that is being productive on personal projects, talking to people, playing games, or doing nothing. happier people right? why should 10% of t…

I was all with you right up until the class conflict stuff. Nobody's enslaving anybody. Well that's not true, we're mostly enslaving ourselves. There are endless easy opportunities in life. For instance go teach English in Saudi Arabia and you'll earn around $60k a year which doesn't sound like much until you account for the fact you pay 0% in taxes and have a cost of living well under $1k a month. Just live frugally…

> There are endless easy opportunities in life. For instance go teach English in Saudi Arabia and you'll earn around $60k a year which doesn't sound like much until you account for the fact you pay 0% in taxes and have a cost of living well under $1k a month.

Just be born a single male with knowledge of Saudi, English and ability to teach and then lock yourself away for 10 years in Arab world living like a second class citizen. What the fuck am I even reading? Let me guess, for women it’s “just open an OnlyFans account”? I swear to God, the shit I read on this forum when it comes to things outside of tech.

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#286

Post by Gooblebrai » Tue, May 05, 2026, 10:46 AM UTC

wiseowise wrote: post #270

jandrewrogers wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering This is not what actually happens in practice. There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. If this was going to occur there would be mountains of empirical evidence for it by now because this situation isn't rare. I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their f…

> I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their free time in almost exactly the same way they spent their free time when they had less of it. Binging on social media, television, or games? Now they just do more of it for longer. The people that volunteer more were already doing it, and they are in the small minority. You lock people for decades in the madhouse which lea…

> You lock people for decades in the madhouse which leaves only escapism as a coping mechanism and then act surprised when they continue to escape.

This is so good I feel the need of framing it!

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#287

Post by KptMarchewa » Tue, May 05, 2026, 11:02 AM UTC

Lalabadie wrote: post #281

jandrewrogers wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they would be making projects, business ventures, or volunteering This is not what actually happens in practice. There is no sudden outbreak of productive activity because people have more free time. If this was going to occur there would be mountains of empirical evidence for it by now because this situation isn't rare. I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their f…

No, statistically it's exactly what happens. People have more initiative and produce meaningful outcomes when they own part of their time. You do need to account for what isn't measured in capital. Off the top of my head: - Caretaking - Community and organization - Art ventures - Political involvement All of which are meaningful parts of as functioning society, but almost invisible to the capitalistic eye. Some of th…

That's just what you claim.

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#288

Post by dqv » Tue, May 05, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

bregma wrote: post #284

wiseowise wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their free time in almost exactly the same way they spent their free time when they had less of it. Binging on social media, television, or games? Now they just do more of it for longer. The people that volunteer more were already doing it, and they are in the small minority. You lock people for decades in the madhouse which lea…

> Did I just described rich kids? You just described Lord Of The Flies. Be mindful of fundamental human nature and how it shapes everything we do, including all our social constructs. Few people are, which make mindlessness the dominant modus operandi.

I'm not understanding how you're extrapolating Lord of the Flies from what they're saying. A key part of "raised to be empowered by creation and creativity" would involve parents and other adults to do that. I haven't read the book in a while, were they stranded on the island with their parents?

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#289

Post by wiseowise » Tue, May 05, 2026, 11:08 AM UTC

bregma wrote: post #284

wiseowise wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know many people with a lot of free time. In the vast majority of cases, people spend their free time in almost exactly the same way they spent their free time when they had less of it. Binging on social media, television, or games? Now they just do more of it for longer. The people that volunteer more were already doing it, and they are in the small minority. You lock people for decades in the madhouse which lea…

> Did I just described rich kids? You just described Lord Of The Flies. Be mindful of fundamental human nature and how it shapes everything we do, including all our social constructs. Few people are, which make mindlessness the dominant modus operandi.

> Be mindful of fundamental human nature and how it shapes everything we do, including all our social constructs. Few people are, which make mindlessness the dominant modus operandi.

What is the fundamental human nature in your opinion?

Re: Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks

#290

Post by xedrac » Tue, May 05, 2026, 11:08 AM UTC

chownie wrote: post #276

henrikschroder wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Giving employees 1 week of free time? That's nothing, and nothing will change too as a result. Give them a whole month of free time? I bet they will make some small, short term projects, even doing hobbies like gaming, fishing, cooking or golfing where it wasn't available before. *confused in European, again* Hey, if only there was an entire continent of hundreds of millions of people who typically have 5 weeks of…

You have confused 5 weeks (across a year) for 5 weeks (contiguous), this isn't speciality european confusion it's the regular garden variety.

5 weeks, even contiguous is not enough to unwind from decades of job induced stress. I took some time off between jobs, and it was a solid 3 months before I noticed major improvements.