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Work is where you provide value to the society, create something for other people and make world better, while simultaneously applying and improving your main s

Work is where you provide value to the society, create something for other people and make world better, while simultaneously applying and improving your main set of skills. Why wouldn't you want tie your identity to something like that? Just to be clear: I have a few hobbies aside from work — I make music, DJ, paint, cook, hike sometimes. I have friends, and I'm also not a productivity maniac (I actually work in a 4 day workweek startup). But do I see my main job in the way I described above, and I wouldn't want to tie my identity to any other community or hobby. In all other aspects of my life I'm mostly just enjoying life, but at my work, I'm actively improving someone else's. When I worked in gamedev, I loved interacting with players and seeing how they enjoy my work. Now I make professional software and relish in the fact that I make other professional's work easier and more enjoyable. May be people don't need other identities, but just more fulfilling jobs.

gffrd 3y ago
> Why wouldn't you want tie your identity to something like that? Because conflating _need for purpose_ and _need to pay rent_ can be tricky business: they don’t always join neatly. Happy they do for you!
- golergka 3y ago
  Need to pay for rent is quite literally need to pay back to other human beings for shelter, one of the most basic human needs. Why would it be a bad purpose in life?
  - kqr 3y ago
    If rent was only about paying other humans for shelter! It takes what -- a month of work? to house a person for a year. (Based on the assumption that about 8 % of the working population works in construction, building maintenance, and related areas.) I'm happy to pay a month of my wages for a year of shelter. My rent is way, way higher than that.
    - golergka 3y ago
      Never judge value of something by how much it costs to produce, it's not fair. Judge it by how much people are willing to pay for it. And in most major metropolitan areas you're paying premium for your rent to outbid all other renters that would be ready to live in such a lucrative place. In essence, you're paying back not only to people who work in construction, but to ask the people who made this city so desired, over many generations. It takes much more than a month of work per renter to create all the value that you get from living in New York or San Francisco. If all you need is literally just shelter regardless of location, there's plenty of places around the globe where you could rent a perfectly good apartment for $300 per month.
  - pnut 3y ago
    Because it relegates your definition of a life purpose to society's value system. If your purpose in life is caring for the infirm or teaching, or doing dance performances, society will not compensate you meaningfully in response. What if your purpose doesn't align with society's definition of talent? Are you worthless as a human being? What then, abandon your true purpose because of economics? These are rules of scarcity, not of life fulfillment.
    - golergka 3y ago
      The mere fact of paying rent doesn't. It just aligns your definition with society's to a sufficient extent to pay for essentials.
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      > What if your purpose doesn't align with society's definition of talent? Are you worthless as a human being? From the perspective of the nebulous and not clearly defined 'society', it certainly seems like it's trending in that direction. The real question is why do you believe its judgements are what's most important?
re-thc 3y ago
You imply that all companies add value to society and all jobs are meaningful. That’s simply not true. Most people also don’t and won’t have the power to fix these issues even if they wanted to. Even if the company as a whole adds value there are lots of pockets of politically charged actions e.g. for promotions. Like are we doing anything meaningful to society by building 1 of those Google projects that gets killed in a few months?
- HellDunkel 3y ago
  If you are lucky enough to work on one of those google projects chances are you have options working on more meaningful things or freedom to steer in that direction.
- golergka 3y ago
  > You imply that all companies add value to society and all jobs are meaningful. That’s simply not true. Most are. Unfortunately, people often don't recognize the immense benefit for society that some industries offer. > Like are we doing anything meaningful to society by building 1 of those Google projects that gets killed in a few months? Yes. Hindsight is 20/20, and making bets is (often, not always) worth it even if some fail in the end.

gffrd 3y ago

> Why wouldn't you want tie your identity to something like that? Because conflating _need for purpose_ and _need to pay rent_ can be tricky business: they don’t always join neatly. Happy they do for you!

golergka 3y ago
Need to pay for rent is quite literally need to pay back to other human beings for shelter, one of the most basic human needs. Why would it be a bad purpose in life?
- kqr 3y ago
  If rent was only about paying other humans for shelter! It takes what -- a month of work? to house a person for a year. (Based on the assumption that about 8 % of the working population works in construction, building maintenance, and related areas.) I'm happy to pay a month of my wages for a year of shelter. My rent is way, way higher than that.
  - golergka 3y ago
    Never judge value of something by how much it costs to produce, it's not fair. Judge it by how much people are willing to pay for it. And in most major metropolitan areas you're paying premium for your rent to outbid all other renters that would be ready to live in such a lucrative place. In essence, you're paying back not only to people who work in construction, but to ask the people who made this city so desired, over many generations. It takes much more than a month of work per renter to create all the value that you get from living in New York or San Francisco. If all you need is literally just shelter regardless of location, there's plenty of places around the globe where you could rent a perfectly good apartment for $300 per month.
- pnut 3y ago
  Because it relegates your definition of a life purpose to society's value system. If your purpose in life is caring for the infirm or teaching, or doing dance performances, society will not compensate you meaningfully in response. What if your purpose doesn't align with society's definition of talent? Are you worthless as a human being? What then, abandon your true purpose because of economics? These are rules of scarcity, not of life fulfillment.
  - golergka 3y ago
    The mere fact of paying rent doesn't. It just aligns your definition with society's to a sufficient extent to pay for essentials.
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    > What if your purpose doesn't align with society's definition of talent? Are you worthless as a human being? From the perspective of the nebulous and not clearly defined 'society', it certainly seems like it's trending in that direction. The real question is why do you believe its judgements are what's most important?

re-thc 3y ago

You imply that all companies add value to society and all jobs are meaningful. That’s simply not true. Most people also don’t and won’t have the power to fix these issues even if they wanted to. Even if the company as a whole adds value there are lots of pockets of politically charged actions e.g. for promotions. Like are we doing anything meaningful to society by building 1 of those Google projects that gets killed in a few months?

HellDunkel 3y ago
If you are lucky enough to work on one of those google projects chances are you have options working on more meaningful things or freedom to steer in that direction.
golergka 3y ago
> You imply that all companies add value to society and all jobs are meaningful. That’s simply not true. Most are. Unfortunately, people often don't recognize the immense benefit for society that some industries offer. > Like are we doing anything meaningful to society by building 1 of those Google projects that gets killed in a few months? Yes. Hindsight is 20/20, and making bets is (often, not always) worth it even if some fail in the end.