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When I see someone mention human nature in some blog, I stop reading... Human nature is our species ability to transform nature. A cat, for example, is only do
by throwaway-m3232 4y ago
When I see someone mention human nature in some blog, I stop reading...
Human nature is our species ability to transform nature. A cat, for example, is only doing hunting for immediate consumption. A pet cat is even more limited, just a furrring biological shell, he does not hunt.
So when a human is limited in all his potentials, thinking, planning, building, etc to something like a tool on the market, optimized for some task, when human relations limited to objects of consumption... this will reduce human to just one sided being.
May be this optimization was once necessary some time ago, since labor productivity was low and this high division of labor allowed optimized production, to feed everyone.
At the moment, the labor productivity is so high, that only 10-20% working on something necessary for living. But all work is still done as this optimized instrumental labor, as life depends on it. This is not required anymore.
The solution is obvious.. build more not as an optimized one sided "worker", but as an universal human being, as a free time activity.
Which politically means that the work day should be reduced.. and this is not easy to implement. But if you really want a social change, this is the way to go.
- headsoup 4y agoDoes that mean when I read 'human nature is' as the very next words you write I should stop reading your comment? Or are you saying you already understand it better than anyone else writing about it?
- samtimalsina 4y agoI stopped reading as soon as I read ‘I stopped reading’ because generally that means that person has a strong opinion. Oh wait..
- JackFr 4y agoI stopped.
- lettergram 4y agoInteresting perspective. Mines a bit different.. I agree specialization has allowed the expansion to other fields. Fields like microcontrollers, biological development, energy research, etc. This is why we see an exponential growth in development of new products and new science. If those same people were required to work in the fields to eat, we wouldn’t see the expansion. ... now ... how does this work In practice? How do we get these efficiency gains in agriculture and other necessary parts of life? Cheap and transportable energy. Fuel, gas, etc. if we want to reduce the work week we need exponentially cheaper energy OR research into new forms of energy production. The later is currently happening and needs to continue to happen. In the mean time, we also need cheap and transportable energy. For reference, I own a farm. I code professionally and as a hobby raise cattle and food. I can do that only because I have the fuel to run a tractor and the wireless internet provided from the satellites. To your point, in a 50-60 hour work week I can produce enough food for 20-30 families for the year AND be a highly skilled tech worker AND raise a family. All because of fuel. Now to my point, in my opinion, specialization has less to do with it. Cheap energy is what allows it. Anyone could raise cattle or grow food with minimal training. But without fuel you can’t produce food for more than a few families per year.
- refurb 4y agoYou can reduce work right now if you'd like. Live like the 1920's. No access to modern medicine, no automobile, no internet, no antibiotics. Grow your own food.
- beaconstudios 4y agoA small percentage of today's work goes towards these things (except the Internet, which is an endless sinkhole of mostly pointless labour).
- refurb 4y agoThe OECD average GDP spent on healthcare is 9.9% (US spends 17%). That mean 1 out of every 10 dollars of economic activity go to healthcare alone. So you could your 40 hour work week back to 4 hours, that would just pay for healthcare, and healthcare only.
- MomoXenosaga 4y agoConsidering health is quite literally the most important thing in your life (can't spend it when you're dead anyway unlike the Egyptian pharaohs) I do not understand why so many complain about the cost of healthcare.
- brimble 4y agoIf healthcare cost 80% of GDP, would you still not understand?
- AniseAbyss 4y agoIf that 80% kept you alive? No. But when you are twenty I suppose one sees health differently. When you are 60 and take a bunch of pills to keep yourself from dying it suddenly all makes sense...
- 4y ago
- somewhereoutth 4y agoIndeed. A rather curious difference between the Anglo-Saxon and Latin work ethic (and of course I'm painting a picture here, this blunt generalisation is meant only to propose an argument), is that: For the former, your job is who you are - the second question out of anyone's mouth in the UK is 'what do you do?'. Whereas, for the latter, who you are in society determines your job. Hopefully we can reach beyond both these erroneous socialisations.