"poll after poll shows that a substantial number of young people list “influencer” or “Youtuber” as their dream job."
Sorry to let these young people know, but "influencer" or "Youtuber" is not a job. It falls into the fantasy desire category like "rock star" or "actress." While a few talented and creative people make a lot of money, most make little or no money. Even those with some success are usually timed out by the inability to keep content new and fresh or the fickle public moving on to the next greatest thing.
My music channel on Youtube shows 7,882,589 total views. Many people believe I must be raking in the big bucks, because they don't know that you don't get paid for Youtube views, you get paid for ad clicks. I created my Youtube channel to share my music and get feedback, not to make money. At 77 years old I am grounded in reality, still running two corporations and working daily, while having fun with my music.
"They want to be seen, but only on their own terms."
This applies to Gen Z in a number of ways and the most troubling is in the workplace. Far too many enter the real world with the idea that they can dictate all the terms of their employment. And while there appears to be too much indulgence of this by companies (similar to university administrations) this is a disaster in the making for long term economic prosperity as they have not been raised nor educated in manner that prepares them to function well in a capitalist (what's left of it) system. The following quote from Jonathan Haidt, in the Wall Street Journal, makes this clear. He is first talking universities then goes on to the workplace:
'“Here they are in the safest, most welcoming, most inclusive, most antiracist places on the planet, but many of them were acting like they were entering some sort of dystopian, threatening, immoral world.” Once they enter the workplace, they’re less innovative, less inclined to take risks, and that may “undermine American capitalism,” Mr. Haidt says.'
Ha ha, that reminds me of the saying after 9/11 . . . "Why don't they like freedom?"
I like freedom, and I like the many benefits of capitalism which I enjoy, but yes I do have a couple little problems with American capitalism, like how it's destroying the planet, and how it inherently makes the rich richer and the poor poorer (See Piketty's formula, r > g ).
"For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, connection took precedence because small, close-knit communities depended on collaboration and mutual trust. Personal freedom in such societies was constrained by interdependent reliance on kin and friends."
This is why I am so against the working from home movement and this future prediction of AI and robots replacing every job, and it being replaced with government-issued universal basic income.
I believe the workplace has been the replacement for the hunter-gather, close-knit communities dependent on collaboration and mutual trust. As that has disappeared, there isn't a replacement.
It all comes down to tech advancement blowing a big hole into our social processes that feed our evolutionary psychology. The political turmoil seems just a byproduct of people feeling psychologically disordered due to all the change that the human animal has not had the time to evolve to.
Great observations. At 79, I am an amused observer. I wonder if some manufacturing jobs can be brought back to the USA if some aspiring influencers might want to work on an assembly line and have health insurance.
Excellent points on the pitfalls of the "influencing". Creating a "co-reality" can do some damage to the mind of the receivers as well as the mind of the "influencers". Actually, they are producing powerful socioeconomic mind viruses that affect the mind like any form of mind-control.
Like any kind of simulation, and similar to the multiple choice tests with minute-mistake answers, it offers the possibility to embrace the options that lead to psycho-pathological developments. Once the mind is affected, the actions follow, and the connection to the sustainable group is almost impossible. In the era of so much fragility of the systems we depend on, the alienation of the individuals has the potential, not for just being chastised, but even for their own demise.
Love this. Thanks for highlighting this dialectical tension between autonomy and connection which will be critical to manage if we are to resolve or even address the loneliness and family-formation crisis. Another book you recommend I’m going to buy. At this point i feel like you may need to take some boxes of offloaded ones.
"poll after poll shows that a substantial number of young people list “influencer” or “Youtuber” as their dream job."
Sorry to let these young people know, but "influencer" or "Youtuber" is not a job. It falls into the fantasy desire category like "rock star" or "actress." While a few talented and creative people make a lot of money, most make little or no money. Even those with some success are usually timed out by the inability to keep content new and fresh or the fickle public moving on to the next greatest thing.
My music channel on Youtube shows 7,882,589 total views. Many people believe I must be raking in the big bucks, because they don't know that you don't get paid for Youtube views, you get paid for ad clicks. I created my Youtube channel to share my music and get feedback, not to make money. At 77 years old I am grounded in reality, still running two corporations and working daily, while having fun with my music.
"They want to be seen, but only on their own terms."
This applies to Gen Z in a number of ways and the most troubling is in the workplace. Far too many enter the real world with the idea that they can dictate all the terms of their employment. And while there appears to be too much indulgence of this by companies (similar to university administrations) this is a disaster in the making for long term economic prosperity as they have not been raised nor educated in manner that prepares them to function well in a capitalist (what's left of it) system. The following quote from Jonathan Haidt, in the Wall Street Journal, makes this clear. He is first talking universities then goes on to the workplace:
'“Here they are in the safest, most welcoming, most inclusive, most antiracist places on the planet, but many of them were acting like they were entering some sort of dystopian, threatening, immoral world.” Once they enter the workplace, they’re less innovative, less inclined to take risks, and that may “undermine American capitalism,” Mr. Haidt says.'
"that may undermine American capitalism"
God Forbid.
Why do you not like capitalism?
Ha ha, that reminds me of the saying after 9/11 . . . "Why don't they like freedom?"
I like freedom, and I like the many benefits of capitalism which I enjoy, but yes I do have a couple little problems with American capitalism, like how it's destroying the planet, and how it inherently makes the rich richer and the poor poorer (See Piketty's formula, r > g ).
Ah, Piketty. Now I understand.
"For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, connection took precedence because small, close-knit communities depended on collaboration and mutual trust. Personal freedom in such societies was constrained by interdependent reliance on kin and friends."
This is why I am so against the working from home movement and this future prediction of AI and robots replacing every job, and it being replaced with government-issued universal basic income.
I believe the workplace has been the replacement for the hunter-gather, close-knit communities dependent on collaboration and mutual trust. As that has disappeared, there isn't a replacement.
It all comes down to tech advancement blowing a big hole into our social processes that feed our evolutionary psychology. The political turmoil seems just a byproduct of people feeling psychologically disordered due to all the change that the human animal has not had the time to evolve to.
First, they work from home as a subtle form of displacement, then the AI robots work from the office...
Good One! The Z-ers want to continue working from home. So the AI robots say, "No problem, I'll just work at your office desk, and takeover your job."
Great observations. At 79, I am an amused observer. I wonder if some manufacturing jobs can be brought back to the USA if some aspiring influencers might want to work on an assembly line and have health insurance.
Yes, and if the money will grow in the trees they will be farmers...
Excellent points on the pitfalls of the "influencing". Creating a "co-reality" can do some damage to the mind of the receivers as well as the mind of the "influencers". Actually, they are producing powerful socioeconomic mind viruses that affect the mind like any form of mind-control.
Like any kind of simulation, and similar to the multiple choice tests with minute-mistake answers, it offers the possibility to embrace the options that lead to psycho-pathological developments. Once the mind is affected, the actions follow, and the connection to the sustainable group is almost impossible. In the era of so much fragility of the systems we depend on, the alienation of the individuals has the potential, not for just being chastised, but even for their own demise.
Love this. Thanks for highlighting this dialectical tension between autonomy and connection which will be critical to manage if we are to resolve or even address the loneliness and family-formation crisis. Another book you recommend I’m going to buy. At this point i feel like you may need to take some boxes of offloaded ones.