Bullshit Jobs and the Labourisation of Work • Hacker News Board

Re: Bullshit Jobs and the Labourisation of Work

#71

Post by danmaz74 » Wed, Jan 02, 2019, 11:04 AM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #43

yowlingcat wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who pissed in your coffee today? Perhaps it's my bias living in NYC, but the average denizen here (myself included) finds someone asking proper, honest questions to be the absolute bare minimum to taking that person seriously, not to mention the absolute bare minimum to a whole host of basic human interactions and endeavors: working together, dating, making and sustaining friendships, making art, building a company.…

Ironically, asking someone "where are you from?" is now considered a micro-aggression! https://othersociologist.com/2017/07/15/where-are-you-from-r...

As an Italian living in London, with very light skin and blue eyes, I still get this question asked often enough - just because of my accent. Mostly, it's a way to start a conversation. Personally, I also ask the same questions to most English-sounding and looking people - to learn if they're from London or from somewhere else.

Re: Bullshit Jobs and the Labourisation of Work

#72

Post by toss1 » Wed, Jan 02, 2019, 4:09 PM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #31

lordnacho wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, one of the reasons I still use LinkedIn is that their algo isn't that great. It keeps throwing up the occasional article that I actually want to read, often because some random person I'm mysteriously connected to liked it. If the algo gets "too good" I find it gets too samey. Also there's some humour to be found when every other person is a "thought leader" but graduated less than 10 years ago. The self-pu…

> You can imagine how deflated the person would feel if you met them IRL and started asking proper questions. You could make anyone unhappy by "asking the proper questions," irrespective of what they have in their LinkedIn profile. Doing that is called "being mean."

Actually, whether is "mean" or good depends on the competence of the person of whom the questions are asked.

For a competent person, a few proper questions present an opportunity to better explain their proposition, thesis, or thinking, and an opening to a potentially great conversation.

For an incompetent answerer, a few proper questions merely reveal the shallowness of their thesis and thinking. if they're smart, it'll be an indication that they should go back to the drawing board. If not, it'll just be an embarrassment, but informative to the questioner (as in, this person's ideas aren't worth more time).

If your only goal is maintaining superficial social connections, then proper questions should be left out (and there are times where this is indeed the goal and so appropriate). If the goals are more broad, then ask away...

Re: Bullshit Jobs and the Labourisation of Work

#73

Post by perfunctory » Wed, Jan 02, 2019, 6:36 PM UTC

"Arendt’s notion is that labor—the realm of metabolism, maintenance, and consumption—has colonized and supplanted work—the realm of craft, fabrication, and use. "

Could somebody explain what this sentence means?

Re: Bullshit Jobs and the Labourisation of Work

#74

Post by sowbug » Thu, Jan 03, 2019, 5:59 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #68

sowbug wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My earlier comment assumes that value is measured in dollars. Denominating value in subjective units like "useful on the societal scale" would lead to different conclusions for anyone but the most die-hard capitalist.

Note that TFA is about "meaningless jobs" not "profitless" ones.

True, but the comment from danielvf that you replied to narrowed the discussion to economic value.