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The irony is that I think some of these "knowledge economy" jobs i.e. doctors and lawyers(and even software engineers) are easier to replace than say nurses(alt

The irony is that I think some of these "knowledge economy" jobs i.e. doctors and lawyers(and even software engineers) are easier to replace than say nurses(although there is a big conflict going on where lots of nurses actually have more experience and knowledge than doctors) and cleaners. The idea that creating robots that mimic certain mechanic function is easier than creating something that replaces a person that is essentially an overpaid human dictionary is ludicrous. But I guess lawyers have better lobbies than cleaners.

Der_Einzige 7y ago
Nurses need how many years of school? Lawyers need how many years of school? The harder to replace one is the one who spends more time in school. As much as we like to think software doesn't need an education, for the overwhelming majority, they spend at least 4 years in University before working in industry. Bootcampers/self-tahght are a small minority of workers.
ben_w 7y ago
Lawyers aren’t mere human dictionaries — they have an understanding of the system that is the law and how everything works in that context. Interacting with a legal system without that domain knowledge leads to Freemen Of The Land, or to thinking that Section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 outlaws all sexual contact with humans “because humans are a type of animal”. What senior lawyers (and senior pharmacists and senior software developers) have is the stuff people mistakenly call “common sense” — a phrase which is only ever used while complaining someone else doesn’t have it, because the knowledge is not genuinely common, rather it is a set of domain knowledge they and we have learned over a long period without consciously noticing.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  What you said is true but often when you pay for a lawyer you're paying in part for their longstanding business relationship and non-business reputation with everyone else they have to do business with. Whether they know it or not the other party's lawyer, the DA, the Judge, the clerk at the courthouse, etc are more likely to (unconsciously) give favorable treatment to a lawyer with a name they recognize who's been working in that jurisdiction for 30yr, been bankrolling the local little league team for 20 and funding local politicians campaigns for 10 than he is with someone's who's just become a partner at a law firm that's only existed for a decade and isn't held in high regard by every other important person in the jurisdiction. People generally give people they know better treatment than people they don't. This effect is important for anyone who's job involves negotiation with other people in an industry without tons of turnover.

Der_Einzige 7y ago

Nurses need how many years of school? Lawyers need how many years of school? The harder to replace one is the one who spends more time in school. As much as we like to think software doesn't need an education, for the overwhelming majority, they spend at least 4 years in University before working in industry. Bootcampers/self-tahght are a small minority of workers.

ben_w 7y ago

Lawyers aren’t mere human dictionaries — they have an understanding of the system that is the law and how everything works in that context. Interacting with a legal system without that domain knowledge leads to Freemen Of The Land, or to thinking that Section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 outlaws all sexual contact with humans “because humans are a type of animal”. What senior lawyers (and senior pharmacists and senior software developers) have is the stuff people mistakenly call “common sense” — a phrase which is only ever used while complaining someone else doesn’t have it, because the knowledge is not genuinely common, rather it is a set of domain knowledge they and we have learned over a long period without consciously noticing.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
What you said is true but often when you pay for a lawyer you're paying in part for their longstanding business relationship and non-business reputation with everyone else they have to do business with. Whether they know it or not the other party's lawyer, the DA, the Judge, the clerk at the courthouse, etc are more likely to (unconsciously) give favorable treatment to a lawyer with a name they recognize who's been working in that jurisdiction for 30yr, been bankrolling the local little league team for 20 and funding local politicians campaigns for 10 than he is with someone's who's just become a partner at a law firm that's only existed for a decade and isn't held in high regard by every other important person in the jurisdiction. People generally give people they know better treatment than people they don't. This effect is important for anyone who's job involves negotiation with other people in an industry without tons of turnover.