[kubb]

Incredible how deep people can go into something so mundane as a post stamp.

The other day I was discussing with a friend what would happen if there wasn't any need to work at jobs anymore, and whether people would be able to find fulfilment in their lives.

I think there would be so many new areas of knowledge being explored that we can't even imagine it. In my opinion, people don't find meaning, they create it, and they have an endless capacity for it.

[V__]

There is a reason why a lot of science in the past happened to be done by clergymen or pastors. They had a lot of time on their hand and a secure income. I am certain science, art and the community in general would profit immensely if the modern workload would be reduced.

I think covid was a good example of this. So many people took up a new hobby or tried something new.

[khy]

I get the sense that a lot of science in the 19th century was done by the idle rich.

[teachrdan]

Charles Darwin was independently wealthy and largely funded his own research into evolution.

[vessenes]

Postage stamps are a surprisingly deep topic, overlapping with money, collectibility and bank notes. I’m not a postage stamp enthusiast myself, but it’s one of those “the universe is surprisingly detailed” type topics.

Your optimism on humans is appreciated, although arguably not backed up by history: it seems to me like most places times and economic systems turn out a similar percentage of knowledge explorers: ask yourself what percentage of the landed gentry in the UK did this, for instance, and what percent just leisured away. I propose with no data the numbers are largely invariant; what a society or economic systems does change is the ability of the x% to make progress and impact/implement.

[kubb]

I feel like 98% were fox hunting, gambling and whatnot, but the 2% gave us William Wilberforce, Charles Darwin and Lord Byron. If the number of idlers increases so will the number of productive ones.

[vessenes]

Yeah that’s my rough ratio too. Think Athens long ago: probably like max 5% in an ideal (well for male non slaves) society.

[kubb]

It’s kinda like startup math. Most will fail but the few successes will offset the failures.