| Some work is also less valuable than people - especially hackers - realise. Hackers have an addiction to tractable problems that require effort and some skill, but have a well-defined solution. They don't require true originality or cleverness. Barrelling through them with adequate but not outstanding skills is more than enough. Hacker systems like Linux, Vim, and Emacs, offer exactly this. You can tinker with them to solve consecutive microproblems in a satisfying way. Likewise other standard projects like working with vintage hardware or repurposing a consumer product to do something interesting. This kind of work generates dopamine, where spending four days trying to track down an incredibly subtle bug in a giant stack owned by a few tens of people generates frustration. So it's not that employees don't care, it's because some work really is hard and frustrating, and solving tractable problems is far easier and more satisfying. But is it productive? Even educationally? Not necessarily. |