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Comment by girvo | Hacker News Reader

> was it all for naught?

I accepted a long time ago that it is all for naught :)

Enjoy our time on this earth, do what we can, focus on people and it'll be alright

Ok, but then honestly, spending 40+ hours/week in an office, doing work that's neither enjoyable nor useful doesn't seem like the best way to spend that time.

It also feels like willfully abandoning the bit of agency you still have if you don't even try to understand why the world around you works like it does.

Many people's enjoyment stems from knowing they do less work for more money than the people they grew up around.

'Useful' is not even a thought that's ever entered their brain.

> doesn't seem like the best way to spend that time.

When the world starts paying people for the best use of their time, people will start prioritizing that.

>40+ hours/week in an office, doing work that's neither enjoyable nor useful doesn't seem like the best way to spend that time.

For almost everyone, working is not the best way to spend their time, it's just how they can afford the stuff they do the rest of the time. Obviously it's preferable if it's useful and/or enjoyable, but they're not necessary qualities.

>It also feels like willfully abandoning the bit of agency you still have if you don't even try to understand why the world around you works like it does.

Odd. "Agency" usually refers to the ability to exert will. Understanding would not seem to contribute towards that.

Work can be useless for society. I do useless work for example.

My clients are happy though and they pay and I receive money for tinkering with computers. It's a win-win.

I'm under no illusion this all serves some grander purpose. I don't think anything does.

Yep 90% of companies don't matter and don't affect things. Only 10% of people do. That's just the way the world works. There's no way to know before you start so just live while you can enjoy.

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