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The Protestant/Calvinist work-ethic is definitely a factor especially, IMHO, in technology work. It stretches over to Asian non-Christian cultures too, but I su

The Protestant/Calvinist work-ethic is definitely a factor especially, IMHO, in technology work. It stretches over to Asian non-Christian cultures too, but I suspect that's because it's an export which they've accepted as their own because it happens to jive with the strict authoritarian hierarchies which are common in Asian countries. You can see it in Stackoverflow as well. The gamification encourages people to prove they are "worthy" of even deigning to ask a question by showing they've done "the work". Those who haven't are subject to humiliation and dismissal, regardless of need or authenticity.

halflings 5y ago
> You can see it in Stackoverflow as well. The gamification encourages people to prove they are "worthy" of even deigning to ask a question by showing they've done "the work". Those who haven't are subject to humiliation and dismissal, regardless of need or authenticity. I don't see how stackexchange's policy is related to the article, or "Protestant/Calvinist work-ethic". They are banning low-effort questions (e.g "File couldn't be opened" when the person just has a typo in a file path) because they devalue the platform, waste time that could have instead been spent on useful questions. > I suspect that's because it's an export which they've accepted as their own because it happens to jive with the strict authoritarian hierarchies which are common in Asian countries. Or they independently developed a glorification of hard-work from other sources. It's nothing new. All the Abrahamic religions do, and the same is true for secular ideologies such as communism.
zepto 5y ago
You can see the ultimate expression of Calvinism/Protestantism in Bitcoin too, where authority over what counts as money is granted to machines that can prove that they have done ‘work’. This proof is not judged by a human, but rather by the laws of mathematics and physics - I.e. the creations of God, thus Bitcoin is a money whose purity is sanctified by an offering of work done for its own sake.
- ihsw 5y ago
  It is self-evident that BTC was invented specifically in rejection of and in opposition to being judged by humans. One could easily compare this to the importance of purity in religious contexts but it would be foolish to assume there is any connection.
  - zepto 5y ago
    > it would be foolish to assume there is any connection. Given the history of human ideas, it would be equally foolish to assume there was not. Atheists do a lot of things religious people do because they are still part of a tradition even if they don’t ‘believe’.
- judge2020 5y ago
  That view implies and required the acceptance of a God, though - it's like saying that gravity itself is the ultimate expression of protestantism (not sure if your post is supposed to be a /s).
  - jonnyone 5y ago
    No, not necessarily. You can be psychologically influenced by a society imbued with religious moral undertones to the point where you unwittingly want to "prove yourself" to "some omnipotent other." I think it's fairly common, actually.
  - zepto 5y ago
    It only presupposes that ‘God’ is a symbol for an enforcer of laws that are above human laws. This is self-evidently a pre-requisite for Bitcoin.
yeetman21 5y ago
people want others to show that they at least tried to put effort into something before calling for help, this is not a bad thing
kortilla 5y ago
Are suggesting Japan’s salaryman was an import from Christians?
unishark 5y ago
I've always viewed the Calvinism theory as a kind of anti-American theory that violates Ockham's razor. The desire to prove one's self by overworking strikes me as an innate adolescent approach to competition. Whether it's to impress your peers at a casual sport or at your job. If some cultures achieve progress in a more healthy way, then that's the interesting and unnatural situation which needs investigating.

halflings 5y ago

> You can see it in Stackoverflow as well. The gamification encourages people to prove they are "worthy" of even deigning to ask a question by showing they've done "the work". Those who haven't are subject to humiliation and dismissal, regardless of need or authenticity. I don't see how stackexchange's policy is related to the article, or "Protestant/Calvinist work-ethic". They are banning low-effort questions (e.g "File couldn't be opened" when the person just has a typo in a file path) because they devalue the platform, waste time that could have instead been spent on useful questions. > I suspect that's because it's an export which they've accepted as their own because it happens to jive with the strict authoritarian hierarchies which are common in Asian countries. Or they independently developed a glorification of hard-work from other sources. It's nothing new. All the Abrahamic religions do, and the same is true for secular ideologies such as communism.

zepto 5y ago

You can see the ultimate expression of Calvinism/Protestantism in Bitcoin too, where authority over what counts as money is granted to machines that can prove that they have done ‘work’. This proof is not judged by a human, but rather by the laws of mathematics and physics - I.e. the creations of God, thus Bitcoin is a money whose purity is sanctified by an offering of work done for its own sake.

ihsw 5y ago
It is self-evident that BTC was invented specifically in rejection of and in opposition to being judged by humans. One could easily compare this to the importance of purity in religious contexts but it would be foolish to assume there is any connection.
- zepto 5y ago
  > it would be foolish to assume there is any connection. Given the history of human ideas, it would be equally foolish to assume there was not. Atheists do a lot of things religious people do because they are still part of a tradition even if they don’t ‘believe’.
judge2020 5y ago
That view implies and required the acceptance of a God, though - it's like saying that gravity itself is the ultimate expression of protestantism (not sure if your post is supposed to be a /s).
- jonnyone 5y ago
  No, not necessarily. You can be psychologically influenced by a society imbued with religious moral undertones to the point where you unwittingly want to "prove yourself" to "some omnipotent other." I think it's fairly common, actually.
- zepto 5y ago
  It only presupposes that ‘God’ is a symbol for an enforcer of laws that are above human laws. This is self-evidently a pre-requisite for Bitcoin.

yeetman21 5y ago

people want others to show that they at least tried to put effort into something before calling for help, this is not a bad thing

kortilla 5y ago

Are suggesting Japan’s salaryman was an import from Christians?

unishark 5y ago

I've always viewed the Calvinism theory as a kind of anti-American theory that violates Ockham's razor. The desire to prove one's self by overworking strikes me as an innate adolescent approach to competition. Whether it's to impress your peers at a casual sport or at your job. If some cultures achieve progress in a more healthy way, then that's the interesting and unnatural situation which needs investigating.