Everything's Amazing but Nobody's Happy
I've featured this before, but it's a classic and worth viewing again - comedian Louis C.K. on Conan O'Brien.
CARPE DIEM
Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
About Me
- Name: Mark J. Perry
- Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan. Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University near Washington, D.C. In addition, he holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. In addition to a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan-Flint, Perry is also a visiting scholar at The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
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3 Comments:
He's right, technological improvements don't cause happiness. This was figured out a long time ago when the rotary phone was invented and this guy complained about it. That's when his was the "crappiest generation of spoiled idiots". Now it's mine and soon it'll be my kids' when they complain about their communication devices.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing this. Part of the disgust that people feel, isn't just as a consumer of "amazing", it's that we all work for companies whose management and stock holders have also suspended reality, and expect staff to outperform themselves EVERY QUARTER OF FOREVER! or face worsening "performance reviews". You get hired for a job, with a description, that like technology, has no boundaries. That guy who expressed disgust at losing the Internet connection on the flight, I would guess, has a boss that expects him to get work done, with the Internet, on a flight. That's the other half of the story.
The two comments raise an interesting issue that has long been well known but we in the US repress stuff doesn't make you happy. In the US we have chosen stuff over other alternatives, because the marketing class needs to convince us to BUY BUY BUY!! or the economy goes down the tubes. For some reason relating to the performance issue, its speed speed speed. I have retired and that day I retired my watch.
It will be interesting as the millennial generation comes up to see what changes they make to the bargain of time versus stuff. I recall back in 1976 when I started work everyone arrived and left by the clock, no longer its now whatever time it takes.
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