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>as most of them dont provide any value to anyone except themselves How do you explain software devs getting paid without providing any value?

by tyrust 6y ago

jkhaui 6y ago
C'mon, let's be real... most devs are working on features/products that will never see the light of day. Or they're restyling the company's "contact us" form for the thousandth time. The market is not efficient. A software developer being paid $100k doesn't mean they're providing the world with $100k of value. it just means they convinced management/HR to pay them $100k for turning up 250/365 days. I suggest checking out "bullshit jobs" by David Graeber :)
- marcinzm 6y ago
  And most plumbers are fixing clogs that a five year old with a rooter could fix thus providing no real value. See what I did there?
- erklik 6y ago
  > it just means they convinced management/HR to pay them $100k for turning up 250/365 days. I mean isn't value based on what you can convince someone else to pay for the service/product. Are Mac's really valued at 10 grand or whatever, but rather simply what they've convinced someone to pay for that. Also, isn't that the same for plumbers for example? Plumbers being paid around $150/hr (this is what is the going rate for a good plumber in Australia) are providing the world with $150/hr of value. It just means that they convinced the customer to pay them $150/hr for turning up to their house and taking a look at a leaky tap, one that could be fixed in about 5 mins.
- tyrust 6y ago
  Sure, people don't always ship. Companies and investors pay to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. It doesn't all stick, but if they threw nothing, nothing would. The individual may not provide 100k, but N developers probably provide (at least) 100Nk value. That or the market is very broken. As an aside, you and the parent both say "most", which I would doubt but is difficult to prove either way.
stallmanite 6y ago
I wouldn’t put most devs in the category but the existence of “bullshit jobs” that provide little to no value isn’t controversial is it? Edit: other reply beat me to it
- marcinzm 6y ago
  That applies to plumbers as well. Which means we either come up with a comprehensive philosophy on what constitutes "value" or we go with the capitalistic approach of "what someone is willing to pay."

>as most of them dont provide any value to anyone except themselves How do you explain software devs getting paid without providing any value?

by tyrust 6y ago

>as most of them dont provide any value to anyone except themselves How do you explain software devs getting paid without providing any value?

jkhaui 6y ago

C'mon, let's be real... most devs are working on features/products that will never see the light of day. Or they're restyling the company's "contact us" form for the thousandth time. The market is not efficient. A software developer being paid $100k doesn't mean they're providing the world with $100k of value. it just means they convinced management/HR to pay them $100k for turning up 250/365 days. I suggest checking out "bullshit jobs" by David Graeber :)

marcinzm 6y ago
And most plumbers are fixing clogs that a five year old with a rooter could fix thus providing no real value. See what I did there?
erklik 6y ago
> it just means they convinced management/HR to pay them $100k for turning up 250/365 days. I mean isn't value based on what you can convince someone else to pay for the service/product. Are Mac's really valued at 10 grand or whatever, but rather simply what they've convinced someone to pay for that. Also, isn't that the same for plumbers for example? Plumbers being paid around $150/hr (this is what is the going rate for a good plumber in Australia) are providing the world with $150/hr of value. It just means that they convinced the customer to pay them $150/hr for turning up to their house and taking a look at a leaky tap, one that could be fixed in about 5 mins.
tyrust 6y ago
Sure, people don't always ship. Companies and investors pay to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. It doesn't all stick, but if they threw nothing, nothing would. The individual may not provide 100k, but N developers probably provide (at least) 100Nk value. That or the market is very broken. As an aside, you and the parent both say "most", which I would doubt but is difficult to prove either way.

stallmanite 6y ago

I wouldn’t put most devs in the category but the existence of “bullshit jobs” that provide little to no value isn’t controversial is it? Edit: other reply beat me to it

marcinzm 6y ago
That applies to plumbers as well. Which means we either come up with a comprehensive philosophy on what constitutes "value" or we go with the capitalistic approach of "what someone is willing to pay."