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Is that a valuable goal? It’s like asking how can we keep from ever being sick? Or how can we keep from being sore? Damage is a necessary part of life. Sufferin

Is that a valuable goal? It’s like asking how can we keep from ever being sick? Or how can we keep from being sore? Damage is a necessary part of life. Suffering will drive innovations within work or drive you out of a job. Both are decent ends.

UncleOxidant 4y ago
Two people can be in the same job environment which one finds damaging and the other finds enriching (or at least not damaging) . I want to find out how the one who is not damaged figured out how to do that - that seems like a worthy goal. Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" is sort of a plan for surviving the worst case scenario. Why not also use some of those insights to survive work?
- em-bee 4y ago
  for me it is the ability to put the work in a greater context. not just the work itself, but also in what it enables you to do. for some, the fact that their work provides for their family can be enough. others need a more direct relationship between the work and its impact. answering the question of the purpose of life itself, can be a factor here. for me the purpose is to contribute to an ever advancing civilization. so for me, work has to contribute something to that. but at one point i had a job that decidedly did not contribute anything positive, but it enabled me to make a positive contribution outside of work, that i would not have been able to do otherwise at that time. i didn't last in that job because it wasn't motivating enough, but it did help me to get the foot into a door, where i could find a more meaningful occupation afterwards. had i rejected that job my life would have turned out completely different.
Bakary 4y ago
It's precisely because work-related damage is only semi-necessary that it is so traumatic. Everywhere you look, there are people who have essentially avoided surrendering decades of their lives by being lucky and/or successful in business. Even 30 decisive seconds during a job interview can lead to enormous differences in salary for a job lasting multiple years. A few minutes spent on a crypto forum in 2009 can mean 100x more than a decade of hard work and education. By contrast, illness and soreness are humming background noises that you can get used to.
wildrhythms 4y ago
B.S. jobs and the damage they inflict are certainly not 'a necessary part of life'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_job https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_job

UncleOxidant 4y ago

Two people can be in the same job environment which one finds damaging and the other finds enriching (or at least not damaging) . I want to find out how the one who is not damaged figured out how to do that - that seems like a worthy goal. Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" is sort of a plan for surviving the worst case scenario. Why not also use some of those insights to survive work?

em-bee 4y ago
for me it is the ability to put the work in a greater context. not just the work itself, but also in what it enables you to do. for some, the fact that their work provides for their family can be enough. others need a more direct relationship between the work and its impact. answering the question of the purpose of life itself, can be a factor here. for me the purpose is to contribute to an ever advancing civilization. so for me, work has to contribute something to that. but at one point i had a job that decidedly did not contribute anything positive, but it enabled me to make a positive contribution outside of work, that i would not have been able to do otherwise at that time. i didn't last in that job because it wasn't motivating enough, but it did help me to get the foot into a door, where i could find a more meaningful occupation afterwards. had i rejected that job my life would have turned out completely different.

Bakary 4y ago

It's precisely because work-related damage is only semi-necessary that it is so traumatic. Everywhere you look, there are people who have essentially avoided surrendering decades of their lives by being lucky and/or successful in business. Even 30 decisive seconds during a job interview can lead to enormous differences in salary for a job lasting multiple years. A few minutes spent on a crypto forum in 2009 can mean 100x more than a decade of hard work and education. By contrast, illness and soreness are humming background noises that you can get used to.

wildrhythms 4y ago

B.S. jobs and the damage they inflict are certainly not 'a necessary part of life'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_job https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_job