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I'm surprised the article didn't mention anything about the time required to achieve and maintain proficiency. If knowledge and skill comes from time immersed
by panarky 12y ago
I'm surprised the article didn't mention anything about the time required to achieve and maintain proficiency.
If knowledge and skill comes from time immersed in work and study, then the knowledge worker who puts in 60 hours a week will be far more valuable than the one who only devotes 15 hours a week.
A surgeon who practices medicine only 2 hours a day will be much less capable than one who does more surgeries, spends more time learning new procedures and technologies, and keeps current with all the latest research.
If you need to design a suspension bridge, do you go with the engineer who spends 80% of her time not designing bridges, or do you choose the engineer who lives and breathes bridge design and has many more successful projects in her portfolio?
An attorney making $600 per hour might survive financially on 4 hours per week if her hourly rate stayed constant. But if she tried to do that, her knowledge would quickly atrophy, and nobody would pay that rate any more.
It's a bit of a paradox. To make enough money per hour to live well on a small number of hours, knowledge workers must acquire a very high level of knowledge and skill to make their time a scarce resource.
But to acquire and maintain that level of knowledge and skill demands a large and continuing investment of time.
Competition with other knowledge workers ensures that the highest rate per hour goes to those who spend the most time actively engaged in their field.
- collyw 12y agoI seem to be doing both, reading up in my spare time to keep up to date, yet having plenty of work to do as a result, yet my pay has not gone up in the last few years.
- dennisgorelik 12y agoHave you tried to change jobs that appreciate your skills more? Making yourself more valuable is not the only thing required in order to get paid more.
- collyw 12y agoYes, but I seem to be near the top of the pay scale in Spain, and it still isn't lots.
- dennisgorelik 12y agoYou may consider moving to the US or starting your own business.
- Chronic30 12y agoIf you are smart and capable, the US is THE best place to be. If you aren't (and enjoy government financial support) the US is not the best place. This is why Musk, Thiel, et al. moved to the US.
- pcurve 12y ago"If you are smart and capable, the US is THE best place to be." I think this is generally true if you are looking for a place that can best leverage your skill sets for maximum financial rewards, and you are willing sacrifice some quality of life in doing so. "If you aren't (and enjoy government financial support) the US is not the best place." I suppose this is the part that got you downvoted because it came across snarky. But it's also not entirely true. You can still be very average or somewhat talented in the U.S. and still hold much better paying jobs in the U.S. than you would anywhere else in the world, if you pick the right sector.
- collyw 12y agoI like the equality, free healthcare, and decent holidays that Europe offers amongst other things. I am considering starting my own business.
- snird 12y agoThere is no "free". someone is paying for this, and this someone is you through taxes, but most of it is the companies taxes in Spain. This makes small businesses lives in Spain hard, and make big corporates think twice before getting real big centers in Spain. This lack of competition is the reason you need to consider moving to US to have a good chance of a better life.
- 12y ago
- dennisgorelik 12y agoGrowth of productivity with increased working hours is a good point. Another reason for working more is that work is more fun now than ever.