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I didn't mean to contrast coerced or mandatory labor against working for the love of it. Far from it. I wanted to highlight the fact that certain things that w

I didn't mean to contrast coerced or mandatory labor against working for the love of it. Far from it. I wanted to highlight the fact that certain things that we do require a certain level of skill acquired over time via practice and persistence. These have value (for others) and will be traded (in return for value) and that's what comes to be known as work. Replace sherpa with doctor if you may and Mt. Everest with heart surgery. Yeah, I could possibly find some talented medical practitioners who study the human body for the love of it (that's how the field of medicine was born to begin with). However, if I needed a heart surgery, what would be (a) my motive to go with one specific individual among them and (b) their motive to operate on me ? Yeah, open source exists. So does indie music, underground/unpublished books/comics, art, etc etc but the argument I was making is that the product of all of these (ie: knowledge of medicine, software, music, art..etc etc) also holds 'value' to those who are not skilled at these and this value will be traded and that does become work -- 'the doing what you love doing and getting paid for it' type of work. At the end of the day, I will differentiate between 2 cooks who indulge in cooking for the love of it and offer some sort of 'trade-in' so that the better one prepares food for me, in return for something that I love doing (although maybe, possibly, not as well as a peer). You see what I am getting at ? Work is a consequence of acquiring something (a.k.a skill) not the reason behind acquisition of something (money/relaxation/lifestyle...blah blah).

cafeoh 11y ago
Barring the fact that heart surgeries and cooking can be automated (because it's speculative and doesn't add much to the discussion), I see what you mean. I don't think 1 to 1 value exchange necessarily has it's place though. Does it matter that it's the person you helped that helps you? Does it even matter that get as much value as the amount you're giving out? I believe that offering value has value in itself if you know what I mean. I'm sure a friend of yours (or yourself) has once spent hours carefully making you understand something they knew well to the maximum of their ability, and loved it. People like to share, especially knowledge. Anyway, wouldn't a medical surgeon actually like to perform surgery? If anything else wouldn't he go looking for people? Everyone likes to hone their skills, and it seems more likely that heart surgeons go looking for patients to help and gladly accept to perform surgery on them (you let me work on you, and I'll fix you up) rather than go shoot a couple animals in the wood to patch them up afterward. I think there will be a completely new notion to service and favors anyway, without scarcity and ego.

cafeoh 11y ago

Barring the fact that heart surgeries and cooking can be automated (because it's speculative and doesn't add much to the discussion), I see what you mean. I don't think 1 to 1 value exchange necessarily has it's place though. Does it matter that it's the person you helped that helps you? Does it even matter that get as much value as the amount you're giving out? I believe that offering value has value in itself if you know what I mean. I'm sure a friend of yours (or yourself) has once spent hours carefully making you understand something they knew well to the maximum of their ability, and loved it. People like to share, especially knowledge. Anyway, wouldn't a medical surgeon actually like to perform surgery? If anything else wouldn't he go looking for people? Everyone likes to hone their skills, and it seems more likely that heart surgeons go looking for patients to help and gladly accept to perform surgery on them (you let me work on you, and I'll fix you up) rather than go shoot a couple animals in the wood to patch them up afterward. I think there will be a completely new notion to service and favors anyway, without scarcity and ego.