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And then the math geniuses that could be the next Einstein are slaving away in cubicles writing algorithms for the stock market. So much potential lost in the p
by ngold 7y ago
And then the math geniuses that could be the next Einstein are slaving away in cubicles writing algorithms for the stock market. So much potential lost in the pursuit of increasing someone else's wallet.
- solitus 7y agoAnd their own. These people are writing algorithms for the stock market because it pays incredibly well. Same for the engineers at FAANG selling ads online. Our society values money/material above all else and it's making us miserable. Money is your score at the game of life.
- onion2k 7y agoMoney is your score at the game of life. Maybe the answer is to stop treating life as a game..
- reshie 7y agoi think he was just giving a saying. that said it is a game when there are points and competitive at that. as far as life not a game indeed but it is still a game where the stakes are just higher.
- solitus 7y agoYes, perhaps what I should have said is that somehow money gamifies life and that is pervert. That being said, I cannot really think of a better system than money at our current scale.
- QuadmasterXLII 7y agoMoney is an alternative to violence, given that in a large population instrumental convergence converges to something
- ionised 7y ago> Money is your score at the game of life. In the saddest and emptiest of lives, sure. Living only to increase the number on your bank balance seems like a terrible waste of life to me.
- briandear 7y agoWho funds that “potential?” Markets have a purpose. Increasing one’s wallet drives innovation. Patriotism and superpower competition led to the space race, however the same people that claim to hate profits also condemn patriotism/nationalism that has led to innovations like manned space flight. The Soviets didn’t care about space because they saw a benefit to humankind, it was to beat the US in propaganda. Tesla couldn’t build cars without investment. Bell Labs wasn’t a benevolent non-profit. Henry Ford didn’t make an assembly line ought of altruism. Capital and profits drives innovation, like it or not. Even universities reward innovation with the “profit” of tenure or increased project funding. So yes, we need smart people “slaving away writing algorithms.” Some of those algorithms help with the efficient allocation of capital — capital necessary to build stuff you care about.
- ardy42 7y ago> Capital and profits drives innovation Not always, even when it does, it's only up to a point.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- geowwy 7y agoThe stock market geniuses probably enjoy their work. I imagine it's exciting and pays well. Can't say the same about academic work.
- tjpnz 7y agoI would extend that to those working in tech.