[lordnacho]

Isn't this whole debate a repeat of the old talking point about what is value? Labour theory of value, that kind of thing?

This is simply never going to end if carried on along the lines of this article, or along the lines of most of the comments here.

There's no way to objectively and reasonably put a value on something.

All we have is a theory of subjective value, which does a bit of handwaving about utility and works out some ways where we can come to a price, regardless of the fact that the values in peoples' heads are subjective.

Thus the distinction between knowledge work and "tangible work" like bricklaying is actually a moot point. Yes, you can measure "productivity" of bricklaying in metres per day, but ultimately you care about value, not amounts of wall.

The arguments about one guy definitely being more productive than another are similar. One person values speed, another values maintenance costs downstream. It is subjective what ought to be more important.