Interesting article but it fails to answer the basic question, "why do anything at all?" The obvious answer is that one must do something to stay alive, such a

Interesting article but it fails to answer the basic question, "why do anything at all?" The obvious answer is that one must do something to stay alive, such as gather food. It's how animals, or more accurately, heterotrophs, live. They find things to eat and try to eat them. Humans lived like this for a long, long, time. But then people specialized in things, some learned to grow plants and domesticate animals, others built structures, some specialized in warfare, and so on. Specialization, which allowed people to become more proficient at a smaller set of activities, came with a price - peole now had to work together because they were no longer self-sufficient. This meant either banding together consciously, for example a tribe, where duties could be allocated somewhat equally, or trading one's specialties for those of another's. Barter was a worthy first stab at trade, but eventually people found using a proxy - a medium of exchange - much easier. A purse full of coins was much handier than dragging around one's flock of sheep. Then came things such as contracts, courts, and all the other baggage of a money-oriented society. This is not to say I agree with the conflation of one's job with one's identity - and maybe in a society that doesn't need everyone to hold a job such questions may become passé or perhaps even become categorized as "too personal", as we consider questions about one's politics or religion. But back to my original question - the writer didn't seem to consider the trivial case of those who choose to do nothing beneficial for others or themselves. Again, maybe in a world where work is optional that might be moot - but I know several people who would do nothing but eat, drink, sleep, play video games, and breed like rabbits. It's hard to imagine any society being able to produce enough food to keep a rapidly multiplying cohort of parasites fed. And then what?