When I read this piece from Paul Graham, I wondered if he had an assistant (I mean a flesh and bones personal assistant). Is that that assistant are too expensi

When I read this piece from Paul Graham, I wondered if he had an assistant (I mean a flesh and bones personal assistant). Is that that assistant are too expensive nowadays in the West? If I were a powerful influencer with enough money, I'd consider hiring an assistant to help me filter these mails. He or she will probably be easier to train than a Bayesian filter... Automatisation is not the last word for every human activities. Many people are struggling to find a job. Many could do this kind of task efficiently, and even enjoy it. Maybe I have a different point of view because I live in China, where labor is cheaper, but for instance here if you have a kid and don't wish to change 100% of his diapers, you can just pay someone to do so, it is cheap enough and many people are happy to do this for you (it is often better paid and always safer than working in iPad factories). "Externalizing" some tasks to other people also means you have a life with more and deeper human contacts. Surely, these human being must be handled much more carefully than a "web service", you have to smile to them and consider their problems. Sometime you have to do compromise and accept a less than perfect outcome. Sometime you have to manage these people that work for you. But this is life.