BenjaminTood, thank you for this guide. It definitively paints a picture where society is heading.
Naturally comes the question: Where does the guide
guide you to? To what person does it guide you?
Everything about this reminded me of the movie The Ticket, where the previously truly blind main character becomes blinded by the superficial in his pursuit of "The Successful Life".
What world is this, in which every human interaction happens in background of some kind of utility function?
In the end we all want to be happy, right? Numerous studies find, that 'the most salient characteristics shared by students who were very happy and showed the fewest signs of depression were "their strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them." ("The New Science of Happiness," Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, Jan. 09, 2005).' [1]
I'm very sorry to say this: sadly enough, it's not how good you perform, but where you are born, what has the biggest impact on your career. [2]
From the About page of 80000hours:
Our aim is to help as many people as possible lead
high-impact careers.
We do this by providing career advice for talented
young people who want to have a social impact.
Over a third of young graduates want to make a
difference with their careers,1 but they have
little idea what to do
Maybe that's the main problem here? "[Having] little idea what to do". Being raised as sheep doesn't really teach you, how to stand for your own ideals.
[2]: In Germany 85% of all chairmen are emerging from the upper 3.5% (income-wise) families [3]. This is especially remarkable as it's only a very thin slice, which makes up basically everybody in these positions. These upper 3.5% want you to become as high-performing as possible. Guess, why?
What world is this, in which every human interaction happens in background of some kind of utility function?
In the end we all want to be happy, right? Numerous studies find, that 'the most salient characteristics shared by students who were very happy and showed the fewest signs of depression were "their strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them." ("The New Science of Happiness," Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, Jan. 09, 2005).' [1]
I'm very sorry to say this: sadly enough, it's not how good you perform, but where you are born, what has the biggest impact on your career. [2]
From the About page of 80000hours:
Maybe that's the main problem here? "[Having] little idea what to do". Being raised as sheep doesn't really teach you, how to stand for your own ideals.And that's why I'm proud of HN. Because we are!
Sources:
[1]: http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of-happiness/com...
[2]: In Germany 85% of all chairmen are emerging from the upper 3.5% (income-wise) families [3]. This is especially remarkable as it's only a very thin slice, which makes up basically everybody in these positions. These upper 3.5% want you to become as high-performing as possible. Guess, why?
[3]: https://www.amazon.de/Gestatten-Elite-Spuren-M%C3%A4chtigen-...