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Probably worth noting that Wittgenstein and Weil both came from relative affluence. Wittgenstein's father was one of the wealthiest men in Europe. Famous compo
by daviddaviddavid 4y ago
Probably worth noting that Wittgenstein and Weil both came from relative affluence. Wittgenstein's father was one of the wealthiest men in Europe. Famous composers such as Brahms would perform at their house. While not close to Wittgenstein, Weil's father was a medical doctor.
- patcon 4y agoKinda makes sense to me that the wealthy might be the astronauts of this thinking. My experience being voluntarily without home (and living in parks) tells me that erecting a barrier between your work and your material needs, that allows you to more objectively assess the personal value of the work. You need to run experiments of sorts, and imho it's hard to have that liberty to truly A/B test unless the requirements of normal work are relieved (whether through wealth or minimized needs). In some ways, I felt more kinship with the wealthy and retired when I was being a hobo of sorts.
- fezfight 4y agoAgreed. Without the pressure of 'do this or die', these wealthy men can enjoy work. Because at any time, they can simply leave. Kinda like Mike Rowe waxing on about Dirty Jobs and work ethic. It lacks the full weight of the cost of failure.
- colechristensen 4y agoBut it is also subtle life advice. Set yourself up so you can leave and you’ll have a much better time at work.
- fezfight 4y agoYeah, but it's only speaking to a small subset of the lucky folks who can do that.
- swatcoder 4y agoSure, but the Venn diagram of those "lucky folks" and the people on this site has unusually high overlap. It doesn't hurt to remind some of the stressed out and overworked among us that living below one's tech-industry means can pay off in work satisfaction, even if it means foregoing some more immediate pleasures.
- fezfight 4y agoAh, I see. If it helps you, that's great. Apologies if my comment hindered that for you. Unfortunately it just makes me indignant/kinda depressed.
- throwaway22032 4y agoBasically everyone can do it, they just don't.
- RonaldRaygun 4y agoDo you honestly believe that everyone is born with the same inherent abilities and talents? Or that lacking the ability to achieve at a high level is some sort of choice or moral failing?
- em-bee 4y agoit's not a question of abilities and talent, but one of attitude and willpower. why did so many people refuse to continue working as before the pandemic? the only thing that changed really, is their attitude towards work.
- throwaway22032 4y agoI believe that basically everyone is capable enough to support themselves. Some people are infirm, they're a small minority and we should as a society take care of them.
- colechristensen 4y ago
- y42 4y agoNot sure if this is ironic or serious.
- Xeronate 4y agoIt is good advice. My job is way better knowing I can leave whenever I want and don't feel pressure from unreasonable demands.
- colechristensen 4y agoSerious.
- bongobingo1 4y ago> Kinda like Mike Rowe waxing on about Dirty Jobs and work ethic. It lacks the full weight of the cost of failure. Or every "CEO mans the grill for a day" garbage. Easy to find service work satisfying when you're not stuck doing it.
- hospitalJail 4y ago> Wittgenstein and Weil both came from relative affluence. I've seen this come up many times in Philosophical discussion. The words to live by are those of privilege, who have rarely experienced the lifelong hardships of slaves. However, plenty of people have read the words of (stoic) philosophers and have adapted them to extreme environments like torture. They say it worked and got them through. Do we need a modern day slave to independently come up with the same philosophical conclusions to call them a universal nature? Or can we derive them from logic and possibly data?