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“If what you are doing is not important, and if you don't think it is going to lead to something important, why are you working on it?” — Richard Hamming http

• dahfizz 4y ago
  Because it pays your bills...?
  • trasz 4y ago
    I.e. because of a bug in economy which makes useless or harmful jobs profitable.
    • dahfizz 4y ago
      It depends on how you define "important", I guess. Flipping burgers is not relatively important, useless, or harmful. It's not a "bug". It's just something that has to get done, so we pay people to do it.
      • trasz 4y ago
        Flipping burgers is useful work. Working in spam center is harmful. Web search is useful. Spying on users is not. And so on; I don’t think it’s hard to grasp. Economy exists because it’s beneficial to society. When it results in gratifying behaviors that harm the society, I’d say it’s a bug.
        • dahfizz 4y ago
          > Flipping burgers is useful work. We were talking about important work, thus my point about how you want to define important. Screwdrivers are useful, but none of the screwdrivers I own are important. I could lose one and not notice. I don't think it's hard to grasp.