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Ah, so we simply need to match people with work "suitable" for them? Socrates also wondered about how best divide labor. He couldn't come up with a good argume

by joeyo 17y ago

Ah, so we simply need to match people with work "suitable" for them? Socrates also wondered about how best divide labor. He couldn't come up with a good argument, so he proposed to invent a lie: Citizens, we shall say to them in our tale, you are our brothers, yet God has framed you differently. Some of you have the power of command, and in the composition of these he has mingled gold, wherefore also they have the greatest honor; others he has made of silver, to be auxiliaries; others again who are to be husbandmen and craftsmen he has composed of brass and iron; and the species will generally be preserved in the children. . . . But as all are of the same original stock, a golden parent will sometimes have a silver son, or a silver parent a golden son. . . . if the son of a golden or silver parent has an admixture of brass and iron, then nature orders a transposition of ranks, and the eye of the ruler must not be pitiful towards the child because he has to descend in the scale and become a husbandman or artisan, just as there may be sons of artisans who having an admixture of gold or silver in them are raised to honour, and become guardians or auxiliaries. For an oracle says that when a man of brass or iron guards the state, it will be destroyed. Such is the tale; is there any possibility of making our citizens believe in it? From: The Republic, Book III.

pyre 17y ago
I think you should just ignore his 'IQ' comments and treat it as people having skills. She has skills/training/knowledge that she gained in university and on the job before being forced to work other jobs that exercise none of her skills. We don't necessarily need to 'match people with their skills' in Futurama-esque "job-chip" type way, but isn't it a waste of resources to have her spend time and money gaining skills/knowledge that will never be put to use?
- SamAtt 17y ago
  But can you decide that the skills/knowledge she's gained as a house cleaner were worthless? In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. As this article shows that perspective was changed, likely for the better, from the fact that she was forced to clean houses for a while. You can't plan out people's lives and make everything fair and even-keel. There are going to be bumps in the road like recessions and there's no way you can tell what impact that will have on people and that's exactly why you shouldn't try. I'm all for society making sure people don't starve to death or go homeless but beyond that you have to let nature run it's course
  - anamax 17y ago
    > In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. Probably? What fraction of folks with that degree ever sell anything that they've written, let alone make a living writing?
  - pw0ncakes 17y ago
    In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. A lot of industries claim that they value well-roundedness, but the fact remains that her experience cleaning is going to be valued at zero in determining the jobs and assignments that she gets.

by joeyo 17y ago

pyre 17y ago

I think you should just ignore his 'IQ' comments and treat it as people having skills. She has skills/training/knowledge that she gained in university and on the job before being forced to work other jobs that exercise none of her skills. We don't necessarily need to 'match people with their skills' in Futurama-esque "job-chip" type way, but isn't it a waste of resources to have her spend time and money gaining skills/knowledge that will never be put to use?

SamAtt 17y ago
But can you decide that the skills/knowledge she's gained as a house cleaner were worthless? In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. As this article shows that perspective was changed, likely for the better, from the fact that she was forced to clean houses for a while. You can't plan out people's lives and make everything fair and even-keel. There are going to be bumps in the road like recessions and there's no way you can tell what impact that will have on people and that's exactly why you shouldn't try. I'm all for society making sure people don't starve to death or go homeless but beyond that you have to let nature run it's course
- anamax 17y ago
  > In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. Probably? What fraction of folks with that degree ever sell anything that they've written, let alone make a living writing?
- pw0ncakes 17y ago
  In the real world this person is probably going to get a writing job eventually and when she does her perspective on life is going to be her most valuable asset. A lot of industries claim that they value well-roundedness, but the fact remains that her experience cleaning is going to be valued at zero in determining the jobs and assignments that she gets.