6 ms·

Yeah like, wtf is the point of technological innovation if we're still working like crazy?

by yelloweyes 6y ago

boogies 6y ago
To double life expectancy so we can retire?
- aahhahahaaa 6y ago
  Ouch, that's kind of like the lottery. Sorry you worked your ass off waiting for retirement, here's some cancer.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    From that perspective, everything is a lottery. Sorry, you worked your ass off doing good things for your fellow humans, here's a tree branch falling on your head. The standard of living has improved massively. I agree wholeheartedly that there are issues (e.g. people are giving more free time, but they don't know what to do with it and engage in unhealthy habits to kill the free time they've been given), but generally, it's not even close.
- prawn 6y ago
  Amazes me that American Presidential candidates are in their 70s and people and parties just go with it. I was shocked reading the news that Wilbur Ross was hospitalised - he has a major work role and is 82 years old. Age of retirement in Australia for that age group is 65. I understand some people just don't know how to stop or what else to do with their time, but I feel like pinning too much hope on retirement is misguided. Far better surely to be doing more living while in your prime. More likely to be physically able to enjoy it, for one thing.
Negitivefrags 6y ago
Hopefully you would agree that even if we are working just as hard as we were 1000 years ago, that our lives are still improved from that time.
alexmingoia 6y ago
You don’t need to work like crazy if you do skilled work and spend your money wisely. When I was a software engineer I took months off between jobs. I worked less than 40 hours when freelancing. However, most of my colleagues used their income to buy trappings like a mortgage, clothes, eating out, video games, drugs, new gadgets and toys, cars, their own apartment, etc. Most people choose to spend their money increasing their standard of living instead of buying time at a low standard of living. As Picasso said, “I’d like to live as a poor man with a rich man’s money.”
- ATsch 6y ago
  > You don’t need to work like crazy if [list of privileges] Nobody should have to work like crazy
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - alexmingoia 6y ago
    If working for what I have is privileged, then that privilege is available to anyone. I didn’t graduate high school, my dad waited on tables to raise me. Get out of here with your privilege crap.
    - Afton 6y ago
      You're responding to an aggregate statistic with an anecdote. I too did not graduate high school, but now have an advanced degree and a high paying job. Claiming that that invalidates the notion of privilege is silly.
      - rcar 6y ago
        Still, he literally said "do skilled work and spend your money wisely", the former implying that he focused on developing his skills, and the latter implying that he didn't live beyond his means. Hard to characterize either as some sort of undue "privilege".
refurb 6y ago
Higher standard of living. There is nothing stopping you from working 10 hours a week and living like a person in the 1920’s. Local doctor who will put a $1 poultice on your skin cancer, no AC, no car, 10 to a house.
- aahhahahaaa 6y ago
  I'll say it again because apparently no one's listening. We're working more and getting paid less for that work. This isn't because of the standard of living. Standard of living can still increase while pay tracks productivity, and it does in other developed countries. This is the most frustrating HN discussion I've seen in a while. People are coming here to peddle this "quality of life" argument with zero evidence. You're not even stopping for a second to consider that the US isn't the only country in the world. If you compare the American GDP to other countries, the average individual is getting very little bang for their buck as far as quality of life goes.
  - refurb 6y ago
    But we aren’t getting paid less, we’re getting paid more, if you measure by total compensation (salary + benefits), not just cash compensation.
tornato7 6y ago
So we can shoot aliens in VR with our friends a thousand miles away
- aahhahahaaa 6y ago
  This is not true. You're completely pulling this out of your ass. Your job isn't paying less and outputting more because video games exist. When cars were introduced pay didn't suddenly stop tracking productivity.
brippalcharrid 6y ago
Our desire to have awesome stuff and amazing experiences expands to fit the space available. People compete for social status, and they don't want to miss out on whatever's new and exciting. There's an unlimited amount of resources that we could spend on medical research (curing every medical condition, including shortness, cognitive impairments and ageing, plus enhancements/transhumanism), climate engineering/geoengineering/megastructures, space exploration/tourism/real estate and other areas of scientific research, and most of this is going to happen as a result of private-sector employees exercising their consumer purchasing power. We're curious and productive creatures; I don't think a large proportion of us are ever going to just stop and make do with whatever the state of the art was at the time.

Yeah like, wtf is the point of technological innovation if we're still working like crazy?

boogies 6y ago

To double life expectancy so we can retire?

aahhahahaaa 6y ago
Ouch, that's kind of like the lottery. Sorry you worked your ass off waiting for retirement, here's some cancer.
- luckylion 6y ago
  From that perspective, everything is a lottery. Sorry, you worked your ass off doing good things for your fellow humans, here's a tree branch falling on your head. The standard of living has improved massively. I agree wholeheartedly that there are issues (e.g. people are giving more free time, but they don't know what to do with it and engage in unhealthy habits to kill the free time they've been given), but generally, it's not even close.
prawn 6y ago
Amazes me that American Presidential candidates are in their 70s and people and parties just go with it. I was shocked reading the news that Wilbur Ross was hospitalised - he has a major work role and is 82 years old. Age of retirement in Australia for that age group is 65. I understand some people just don't know how to stop or what else to do with their time, but I feel like pinning too much hope on retirement is misguided. Far better surely to be doing more living while in your prime. More likely to be physically able to enjoy it, for one thing.

Negitivefrags 6y ago

Hopefully you would agree that even if we are working just as hard as we were 1000 years ago, that our lives are still improved from that time.

alexmingoia 6y ago

You don’t need to work like crazy if you do skilled work and spend your money wisely. When I was a software engineer I took months off between jobs. I worked less than 40 hours when freelancing. However, most of my colleagues used their income to buy trappings like a mortgage, clothes, eating out, video games, drugs, new gadgets and toys, cars, their own apartment, etc. Most people choose to spend their money increasing their standard of living instead of buying time at a low standard of living. As Picasso said, “I’d like to live as a poor man with a rich man’s money.”

ATsch 6y ago
> You don’t need to work like crazy if [list of privileges] Nobody should have to work like crazy
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- alexmingoia 6y ago
  If working for what I have is privileged, then that privilege is available to anyone. I didn’t graduate high school, my dad waited on tables to raise me. Get out of here with your privilege crap.
  - Afton 6y ago
    You're responding to an aggregate statistic with an anecdote. I too did not graduate high school, but now have an advanced degree and a high paying job. Claiming that that invalidates the notion of privilege is silly.
    - rcar 6y ago
      Still, he literally said "do skilled work and spend your money wisely", the former implying that he focused on developing his skills, and the latter implying that he didn't live beyond his means. Hard to characterize either as some sort of undue "privilege".

refurb 6y ago

Higher standard of living. There is nothing stopping you from working 10 hours a week and living like a person in the 1920’s. Local doctor who will put a $1 poultice on your skin cancer, no AC, no car, 10 to a house.

aahhahahaaa 6y ago
I'll say it again because apparently no one's listening. We're working more and getting paid less for that work. This isn't because of the standard of living. Standard of living can still increase while pay tracks productivity, and it does in other developed countries. This is the most frustrating HN discussion I've seen in a while. People are coming here to peddle this "quality of life" argument with zero evidence. You're not even stopping for a second to consider that the US isn't the only country in the world. If you compare the American GDP to other countries, the average individual is getting very little bang for their buck as far as quality of life goes.
- refurb 6y ago
  But we aren’t getting paid less, we’re getting paid more, if you measure by total compensation (salary + benefits), not just cash compensation.

tornato7 6y ago

So we can shoot aliens in VR with our friends a thousand miles away

aahhahahaaa 6y ago
This is not true. You're completely pulling this out of your ass. Your job isn't paying less and outputting more because video games exist. When cars were introduced pay didn't suddenly stop tracking productivity.

brippalcharrid 6y ago

Our desire to have awesome stuff and amazing experiences expands to fit the space available. People compete for social status, and they don't want to miss out on whatever's new and exciting. There's an unlimited amount of resources that we could spend on medical research (curing every medical condition, including shortness, cognitive impairments and ageing, plus enhancements/transhumanism), climate engineering/geoengineering/megastructures, space exploration/tourism/real estate and other areas of scientific research, and most of this is going to happen as a result of private-sector employees exercising their consumer purchasing power. We're curious and productive creatures; I don't think a large proportion of us are ever going to just stop and make do with whatever the state of the art was at the time.