From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Tue Jul 29 2003 - 12:50:09 MDT
From: "Kalkor" <kalkor@kalkor.com>
To: <virus@lucifer.com>
Subject: RE: virus: Re:Jobs and Human History
Date sent: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:38:56 -0700
Send reply to: virus@lucifer.com
> <Joe>
> No, because, if the fields were rendered compensatorally impecunious,
> enough people would not be drawn to invest huge chunks of their lives
> studying to be doctors or dentists or engineers to meet the public's
> need for them.
>
> <Kalkor>
> So your assertion here, as in the last few emails in this thread, is
> that people will not spend large amounts of time or energy to learn a
> skill they will not be paid for? Or is it that the primary motivation
> that drives people to get an education is public need?
>
> This sits contrary to what I observe everyday. I know dozens of people
> who play musical instruments, and have been learning to play them for
> decades, without any hope of ever being compensated financially (since
> the discussion originated on music).
>
> No one goes to medical school because they want to help people? They
> do it solely because they are getting paid? Have you ever heard a
> child say "I want to be a fireman" or "I want to be a marine
> biologist"? This happens long before they have an understanding of the
> social and financial construct they live in. What if they did? Would
> they still want to do these things later in life, knowing they will
> not be compensated financially? How many artists do you know that make
> a living pouring coffee and living just below the poverty level so
> they can practice their art?
>
> And don't get me started on hobbyists. How much skill does it require
> to climb a mountain? Assemble a ship in a bottle? Hike 3000 miles in 6
> months?
>
> The observable data does not fit in with the framework you outline.
> Try again.
>
Exceptions do not PROVE the rule (this is a misquoting of Aristotle);
they PROBE the rule, that is, they delineate the rule's scope and
parameters by their status as exceptions. Sure there are some
exceptional people who would (and do) do as you suggest, but not
enough would bankrupt themselves in nonlucrative but time-and-effort-
intensive (to train for and to do) medical and engineering fields to
capably service a global community.
>
> Kalkor
>
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