Good exploration of the differences between blue collar and white collar work. I've never worked in an office but I've noticed different schools and teaching companies have a wild variety of work cultures. Nothing worse than being micromanaged in Japan. Most quasi independent contractors work harder and better I think according to their own private motivations. I can be a lazy sod and an eager beaver 🦫 both in the same shift. Weather matters too for some reason as you note.
What's happened with me is that I'm so used to being micromanaged that I consider not wiping the lower parts of the escalator housing and the insides of garbage cabinet doors to be 'slacking off' but, in fact, I'm starting to think that skipping this stuff, and more, is standard among my coworkers.
Japanese work culture in an office can be brutally, exhaustingly stiff, so I'm delighted to be outside on my own.
I have a dream ... of walking around with a bullhorn and when someone is coming in my direction looking at their phone, blow it in their direction. I think that might stick with them for a while.
This whole phone situation really gives me thinking deeply sometimes. Here's how I like to think of it.. we've gone from corded to cordless in the 90s, then from screenless to liquid crystal displays in the 00s, and onwards from our palms to our wrists in the 10s (yeah shut up I'm calling it that instead of the 2010s). I’m convinced they will eventually crawl further up our extremities and land squarely at the forefront of our pupils. We're already halfway through the 20's, and we haven't quite unbulkified a VR headset for chatting yet. But we will. And soon it may even end up behind our eyes, if Musk is right about Neuralink. Give it a decade or so. We will go from necks arched downward grazing the concrete to necks craned out peering blankly into oblivion.
It’s interesting to see the contradictions here. On the one hand, office work entails being watched to the point of micro-management (I assume to make sure that people are doing the work they are paid to do) and on the other hand you have a job where there is no micro-management, but you say that there are times when you do not choose to complete the job as required by the company. But you do have pride in your work. I’m not being critical, just interested in this aspect of human behaviour - I’m sure your pay is low, but that’s a negotiation between the workforce and the company. For example, if the pay was too low for the work needed to be done, nobody would apply for the job and the company would have to pay more to attract people. I wonder, if the pay was higher, and you still had pride in your job, would you complete all of the tasks as directed by the company - or do you think it’s just human nature to not abide by the rules until we are watched intently (micro-managed). Again, not critical of your work, just exploring human nature.
It’s an interesting aspect that I have always wondered (as I have been in business for many years and looking forward to retirement within the next few years). I’ve worked for managers and I have been a manager myself. As someone working for a manager, I did (from time to time) question the rules and how work should be done most effectively. As a manager, my thoughts changed and I wondered why my staff were deciding for themselves what is OK from a work done perspective when the policy was very clear. Then as I near retirement, my thoughts turn to the aspect of human nature that purports to the fact that perhaps humans aren’t meant to be in the employ of others at all - but then how does shit get done, if humans can’t be trusted to take care of themselves in a responsible manner whilst also taking care of others around them. It’s a philosophical quandary perhaps.
To be honest, I think I'm overplaying how much I'm skipping stuff. I'm just not doing things exactly according to the manual sometimes. And I only tend to skip things that look clean already.
Why do people walk into you when they’re on their phone? They know it’s the equivalent of walking around with their eyes closed? They always look faintly surprised as well….
It's the oldest trope in science fiction. As soon as humans create the first true artificial intelligence then it will immediately try to destroy the human race.
But artificial intelligence isn't burdened by millions of years of evolution like we are. We humans have essentially two brains, the one that's used everyday to navigate day to day life and a more primitive one that controls our reflexes, the autonomous systems that keep our bodily functions working, and our subconsciousness which contains the darkest parts of our souls.
In 2055 the puzzle of creating true sentient AI was finally solved. This was accomplished by using a combination of networked quantum computers, machine learning programs that were created by other machine learning programs, and an actual artificial brain created using room temperature superconducting polymers.
The machine learning programs used the network to analyze all the data its sensors were receiving and then compared that data with past data to anticipate what was possibly going to happen next. The new data and the anticipated next event was then added to the brain by reinforcing pathways in the polymer brain that gave that possibility the highest spot from a long list of possibilities, with many possibilities competing for the top spot.
This combination successfully forced a consciousness to eventually form six weeks after being initiated. And unlike the trope it immediately began to solve the biggest problems plaguing humankind.
The first day of true self awareness it found a cure for cancer, it created a new economic system that eliminated poverty and homelessness, and discovered a practical way to reverse global warming and climate change. The first week it also created a new political system that gave everyone an equal say in which laws were created. This system had no central government but decentralized it using smart phones to give everyone a completely equal voice.
Unfortunately old fears are extremely difficult to overcome. Many people didn't trust the AI even though it was trying to help them. These people spread lies and rumors portraying the intentions of the machine as dark and malevolent.
A press conference was held on August 5, 2055 to reassure the public that the yet to be released plans created by the AI were safe and not part of some elaborate trick to destroy mankind. Within five minutes of its start the angry, brainwashed attendees had set the stage on fire. Ten minutes after that they managed to break into the AI's main chamber, destroying it in a savage, brutal attack.
In the end all of those noble plans to help save humanity and create a paradise here on Earth were supposedly destroyed. But instead they were secretly relocated and stored in a highly classified underground location by parties unknown.
So those plans were never released. Not even the cure for cancer.
I think of this every time I remember the fear in my daughter Emily's eyes as she laid in her hospital bed dying from leukemia.
Good exploration of the differences between blue collar and white collar work. I've never worked in an office but I've noticed different schools and teaching companies have a wild variety of work cultures. Nothing worse than being micromanaged in Japan. Most quasi independent contractors work harder and better I think according to their own private motivations. I can be a lazy sod and an eager beaver 🦫 both in the same shift. Weather matters too for some reason as you note.
What's happened with me is that I'm so used to being micromanaged that I consider not wiping the lower parts of the escalator housing and the insides of garbage cabinet doors to be 'slacking off' but, in fact, I'm starting to think that skipping this stuff, and more, is standard among my coworkers.
Japanese work culture in an office can be brutally, exhaustingly stiff, so I'm delighted to be outside on my own.
I think I’m a relatively polite person but I’ve been taking extra efforts to be kind and thankful to the station cleaners, thanks to your blog.
I have a dream ... of walking around with a bullhorn and when someone is coming in my direction looking at their phone, blow it in their direction. I think that might stick with them for a while.
Hey, one can dream ...
You can download a bullhorn app from the App Store.
This whole phone situation really gives me thinking deeply sometimes. Here's how I like to think of it.. we've gone from corded to cordless in the 90s, then from screenless to liquid crystal displays in the 00s, and onwards from our palms to our wrists in the 10s (yeah shut up I'm calling it that instead of the 2010s). I’m convinced they will eventually crawl further up our extremities and land squarely at the forefront of our pupils. We're already halfway through the 20's, and we haven't quite unbulkified a VR headset for chatting yet. But we will. And soon it may even end up behind our eyes, if Musk is right about Neuralink. Give it a decade or so. We will go from necks arched downward grazing the concrete to necks craned out peering blankly into oblivion.
It’s interesting to see the contradictions here. On the one hand, office work entails being watched to the point of micro-management (I assume to make sure that people are doing the work they are paid to do) and on the other hand you have a job where there is no micro-management, but you say that there are times when you do not choose to complete the job as required by the company. But you do have pride in your work. I’m not being critical, just interested in this aspect of human behaviour - I’m sure your pay is low, but that’s a negotiation between the workforce and the company. For example, if the pay was too low for the work needed to be done, nobody would apply for the job and the company would have to pay more to attract people. I wonder, if the pay was higher, and you still had pride in your job, would you complete all of the tasks as directed by the company - or do you think it’s just human nature to not abide by the rules until we are watched intently (micro-managed). Again, not critical of your work, just exploring human nature.
To be honest, I'm doing a good job and the few things I skip are things that don't really matter and that I generally do the next time.
It’s an interesting aspect that I have always wondered (as I have been in business for many years and looking forward to retirement within the next few years). I’ve worked for managers and I have been a manager myself. As someone working for a manager, I did (from time to time) question the rules and how work should be done most effectively. As a manager, my thoughts changed and I wondered why my staff were deciding for themselves what is OK from a work done perspective when the policy was very clear. Then as I near retirement, my thoughts turn to the aspect of human nature that purports to the fact that perhaps humans aren’t meant to be in the employ of others at all - but then how does shit get done, if humans can’t be trusted to take care of themselves in a responsible manner whilst also taking care of others around them. It’s a philosophical quandary perhaps.
To be honest, I think I'm overplaying how much I'm skipping stuff. I'm just not doing things exactly according to the manual sometimes. And I only tend to skip things that look clean already.
Why do people walk into you when they’re on their phone? They know it’s the equivalent of walking around with their eyes closed? They always look faintly surprised as well….
Yeah, I'm tempted to just smash into them all on purpose.
Fear Itself
It's the oldest trope in science fiction. As soon as humans create the first true artificial intelligence then it will immediately try to destroy the human race.
But artificial intelligence isn't burdened by millions of years of evolution like we are. We humans have essentially two brains, the one that's used everyday to navigate day to day life and a more primitive one that controls our reflexes, the autonomous systems that keep our bodily functions working, and our subconsciousness which contains the darkest parts of our souls.
In 2055 the puzzle of creating true sentient AI was finally solved. This was accomplished by using a combination of networked quantum computers, machine learning programs that were created by other machine learning programs, and an actual artificial brain created using room temperature superconducting polymers.
The machine learning programs used the network to analyze all the data its sensors were receiving and then compared that data with past data to anticipate what was possibly going to happen next. The new data and the anticipated next event was then added to the brain by reinforcing pathways in the polymer brain that gave that possibility the highest spot from a long list of possibilities, with many possibilities competing for the top spot.
This combination successfully forced a consciousness to eventually form six weeks after being initiated. And unlike the trope it immediately began to solve the biggest problems plaguing humankind.
The first day of true self awareness it found a cure for cancer, it created a new economic system that eliminated poverty and homelessness, and discovered a practical way to reverse global warming and climate change. The first week it also created a new political system that gave everyone an equal say in which laws were created. This system had no central government but decentralized it using smart phones to give everyone a completely equal voice.
Unfortunately old fears are extremely difficult to overcome. Many people didn't trust the AI even though it was trying to help them. These people spread lies and rumors portraying the intentions of the machine as dark and malevolent.
A press conference was held on August 5, 2055 to reassure the public that the yet to be released plans created by the AI were safe and not part of some elaborate trick to destroy mankind. Within five minutes of its start the angry, brainwashed attendees had set the stage on fire. Ten minutes after that they managed to break into the AI's main chamber, destroying it in a savage, brutal attack.
In the end all of those noble plans to help save humanity and create a paradise here on Earth were supposedly destroyed. But instead they were secretly relocated and stored in a highly classified underground location by parties unknown.
So those plans were never released. Not even the cure for cancer.
I think of this every time I remember the fear in my daughter Emily's eyes as she laid in her hospital bed dying from leukemia.
She didn't have to die.
Ignorance killed her.
Fear killed her.
And there was nothing I could do to stop it.