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Yeah, but it is a really inefficient way to run a society. Time I waste figuring out why my corporate overlord's choice of email client isn't working with the s

Yeah, but it is a really inefficient way to run a society. Time I waste figuring out why my corporate overlord's choice of email client isn't working with the server when I have little knowledge of the backend infrastructure is time wasted for the company.

Vivtek 13y ago
I suppose if you want to be a cog in a machine instead of a human being, this is a reasonable position to take. Time you "waste" is time the overworked IT department doesn't have to, in a company that's not too big to function. Your knowing more is never a waste.
- arkades 13y ago
  Another Russian expression: "You will never carry knowledge [as a burden] on your back." Can you tell I was raised by intellectuals? Heh.
  - Vivtek 13y ago
    This reminds me of Masha the Bear, in Misha i Masha (my own transliteration, can you tell?). That image of the old guy who lives out in the woods and can fix anything seems really Russian (also very American, actually). I want to be that guy when I grow up.
    - BWStearns 13y ago
      >> also very American, actually Given recent (~100yr) history, one of the most ironic things I noticed when I was studying Russian was the odd characteristics that could be equally applied to either culture (another odd one is some kind of fetish for acronyms).
- altcognito 13y ago
  Time you spend in one place may have been better spent elsewhere. The time you take to learn one thing may have been spent elsewhere. Some knowledge is busywork as well. All knowledge is not created equal.
  - Vivtek 13y ago
    You remind me of the guys I knew at Eli Lilly. Those unfortunate enough to end up in technically oriented departments are warned not to learn too much - it will limit their career to learn about things instead of making relationships. I was happy to have the door hit me on the way out. I learned a lot there. I wish you all the luck in the world.
arkades 13y ago
It's not about how to run a society, or a corporation. It's about how to live your life. All snark aside, I'm really, really sad that there's someone on the other end of this communication that immediately thinks only of how to optimize how well they fit into someone's machine.
- altcognito 13y ago
  The choices we make about the ability to trust another person to fix something ethically says something about a society? You don't think dashcams on every car in a country says something about trust in a country? Time I spend learning to fix my car is time I don't get to spend deepening my knowledge in one area. You are trading some amount of specialization for generalization somewhere else. The world is become more specialized, not less.

Vivtek 13y ago

I suppose if you want to be a cog in a machine instead of a human being, this is a reasonable position to take. Time you "waste" is time the overworked IT department doesn't have to, in a company that's not too big to function. Your knowing more is never a waste.

arkades 13y ago
Another Russian expression: "You will never carry knowledge [as a burden] on your back." Can you tell I was raised by intellectuals? Heh.
- Vivtek 13y ago
  This reminds me of Masha the Bear, in Misha i Masha (my own transliteration, can you tell?). That image of the old guy who lives out in the woods and can fix anything seems really Russian (also very American, actually). I want to be that guy when I grow up.
  - BWStearns 13y ago
    >> also very American, actually Given recent (~100yr) history, one of the most ironic things I noticed when I was studying Russian was the odd characteristics that could be equally applied to either culture (another odd one is some kind of fetish for acronyms).
altcognito 13y ago
Time you spend in one place may have been better spent elsewhere. The time you take to learn one thing may have been spent elsewhere. Some knowledge is busywork as well. All knowledge is not created equal.
- Vivtek 13y ago
  You remind me of the guys I knew at Eli Lilly. Those unfortunate enough to end up in technically oriented departments are warned not to learn too much - it will limit their career to learn about things instead of making relationships. I was happy to have the door hit me on the way out. I learned a lot there. I wish you all the luck in the world.

arkades 13y ago

It's not about how to run a society, or a corporation. It's about how to live your life. All snark aside, I'm really, really sad that there's someone on the other end of this communication that immediately thinks only of how to optimize how well they fit into someone's machine.

altcognito 13y ago
The choices we make about the ability to trust another person to fix something ethically says something about a society? You don't think dashcams on every car in a country says something about trust in a country? Time I spend learning to fix my car is time I don't get to spend deepening my knowledge in one area. You are trading some amount of specialization for generalization somewhere else. The world is become more specialized, not less.