4 ms·

Yeah I think I agree on the meaninglessness of work these days. And I don't mean that the individual task isn't perceptible as some part of a larger goal but I

Yeah I think I agree on the meaninglessness of work these days. And I don't mean that the individual task isn't perceptible as some part of a larger goal but I mean that much of the work I've done was utterly worthless or outright scrapped after the business decided it wanted to go the opposite direction. Not only is this frustrating from a personal point of view but it's also wasteful professionally. I'd rather have unpaid time off while the business finally figured out their strategy or goals for me before stepping into the office. At least then I would have time to do something else (paid or otherwise). Plus, it wouldn't be a waste of other resources such as purchasing licenses for third party software we'll never use in part or in whole or wages that could've been part of another budget for a viable product. All in all, it's this kind of wasteful nature that means the meaninglessness more painful to me since I can't point to a product or service with my fingerprints on it. I can't say "I helped make that possible" or "I helped that company add value to their client's experience."

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
>Yeah I think I agree on the meaninglessness of work these days. These days? In all of human history your likelihood of being a slave was pretty high. Talk about real meaningless. If anything we live in a rare break from slavery which is an outlier. Not to mention back-breaking farm work. Or working in a mine. Or being gang pressed on a ship or into warfare. How's that for meaning? I think punching out some code and rebooting the occasional server and leaving at 5 is slightly better than the above. I think people need to learn some real expectations of what work means and perhaps to read Studs Turkel's Working before they get to complain about their cush white collar jobs being these horrible things. I'm not trying to trivialize work stress, but phrases like 'these days' are highly loaded and non-historic. If anything, we have it easier than all of our ancestors and by a wide margin.
- norea-armozel 10y ago
  >These days? In all of human history your likelihood of being a slave was pretty high. Talk about real meaningless. If anything we live in a rare break from slavery which is an outlier. Slavery and drudgery are not what make work meaningful or meaningless. >I think people need to learn some real expectations of what work means and perhaps to read Studs Turkel's Working before they get to complain about their cush white collar jobs being these horrible things. As someone who's work in factories, grain elevators, grocery, retail, and currently work in software development I can tell you the meaningless of modern work is the same regardless of the drudgery involved. The fact you equate drudgery with meaningless work shows you have no clue as to how the working classes operate (being that I come from the working class I have some insights to impart here so I'll try to be patient with you). What makes work meaningless for the vast majority of humans is the total lack of control or the inability to perceive the end goal (ex. a factory assembler who'll never see the final product or that they have no say what the product should be or even if it's worthwhile to produce it). The lack of goals or any kind of connection to our work is what drives many people to quit or change jobs regardless of whether it's in an office or in a kitchen or on a factory line. Churn happens because people are intentionally left to be nothing more than trained animal in their task. Punch in, make quota, punch out. And repeat, forever. So, I'm not exactly sure what part of the physical comfort matters when the psychological deprivation weighs as hard as a herniated disk does on a laborer (I know both have similar impact thanks to my mother). And I can say that both physical and psychological pains and deprivations are hell from my own experiences. It's not to say that gilded cages aren't pretty but they're still cages.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  No. Just no. Seriously, what is your intention with that take? Huh? "Hmm, other people had it worse at one point, so I should stop trying to better my position." Seriously, who does that benefit? Absolutely no one.
amyjess 10y ago
> I'd rather have unpaid time off while the business finally figured out their strategy or goals for me before stepping into the office. Sorry, but I wouldn't. I work for one reason and one reason only: to afford food and shelter. I couldn't care less what my employer does with my work as long as I'm getting paid for it. About 20 years ago, there was a Dilbert strip [0] where Phil says to Dilbert "You can choose eternal high pay, but all of your work will be burned in front of you at the end of each day... or you can choose eternal poverty, but your work will be useful and appreciated". I'd choose the former in a heartbeat -- just as long as I get paid for my work, I don't care if it gets burned in front of me. Hell, I don't even need to get paid a lot -- as long as it can sustain my current lifestyle, I'll be happy. [0] http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-06-02 http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-06-02

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

>Yeah I think I agree on the meaninglessness of work these days. These days? In all of human history your likelihood of being a slave was pretty high. Talk about real meaningless. If anything we live in a rare break from slavery which is an outlier. Not to mention back-breaking farm work. Or working in a mine. Or being gang pressed on a ship or into warfare. How's that for meaning? I think punching out some code and rebooting the occasional server and leaving at 5 is slightly better than the above. I think people need to learn some real expectations of what work means and perhaps to read Studs Turkel's Working before they get to complain about their cush white collar jobs being these horrible things. I'm not trying to trivialize work stress, but phrases like 'these days' are highly loaded and non-historic. If anything, we have it easier than all of our ancestors and by a wide margin.

norea-armozel 10y ago
>These days? In all of human history your likelihood of being a slave was pretty high. Talk about real meaningless. If anything we live in a rare break from slavery which is an outlier. Slavery and drudgery are not what make work meaningful or meaningless. >I think people need to learn some real expectations of what work means and perhaps to read Studs Turkel's Working before they get to complain about their cush white collar jobs being these horrible things. As someone who's work in factories, grain elevators, grocery, retail, and currently work in software development I can tell you the meaningless of modern work is the same regardless of the drudgery involved. The fact you equate drudgery with meaningless work shows you have no clue as to how the working classes operate (being that I come from the working class I have some insights to impart here so I'll try to be patient with you). What makes work meaningless for the vast majority of humans is the total lack of control or the inability to perceive the end goal (ex. a factory assembler who'll never see the final product or that they have no say what the product should be or even if it's worthwhile to produce it). The lack of goals or any kind of connection to our work is what drives many people to quit or change jobs regardless of whether it's in an office or in a kitchen or on a factory line. Churn happens because people are intentionally left to be nothing more than trained animal in their task. Punch in, make quota, punch out. And repeat, forever. So, I'm not exactly sure what part of the physical comfort matters when the psychological deprivation weighs as hard as a herniated disk does on a laborer (I know both have similar impact thanks to my mother). And I can say that both physical and psychological pains and deprivations are hell from my own experiences. It's not to say that gilded cages aren't pretty but they're still cages.
st3v3r 10y ago
No. Just no. Seriously, what is your intention with that take? Huh? "Hmm, other people had it worse at one point, so I should stop trying to better my position." Seriously, who does that benefit? Absolutely no one.

amyjess 10y ago

> I'd rather have unpaid time off while the business finally figured out their strategy or goals for me before stepping into the office. Sorry, but I wouldn't. I work for one reason and one reason only: to afford food and shelter. I couldn't care less what my employer does with my work as long as I'm getting paid for it. About 20 years ago, there was a Dilbert strip [0] where Phil says to Dilbert "You can choose eternal high pay, but all of your work will be burned in front of you at the end of each day... or you can choose eternal poverty, but your work will be useful and appreciated". I'd choose the former in a heartbeat -- just as long as I get paid for my work, I don't care if it gets burned in front of me. Hell, I don't even need to get paid a lot -- as long as it can sustain my current lifestyle, I'll be happy. [0] http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-06-02 http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-06-02