Recently I have been taking a lot of time thinking about what it means to feel useful. Not even in the sense of working or earning money, but in a more significant way
For example, feeling needed, feeling like you have something to contribute, something that really matters. For me, this issue is presenting itself more frequently as technology continues to race forward. I see this anecdotally in younger people when they express frustration like, what is the point in learning this when I can have AI do it better, or similar thoughts. I understand the feeling. The thought doesn't seem to be a momentary annoyance, it stays with you.
It used to be people found meaning in doing things that keep the world going. Things like teaching, building, helping other people and so forth. Having simply a job, any job, can create a rhythm for someone. You wake up, you accomplish something and it gives shape to the day and it's not as though the day just passes through you. I see that more and more of this is becoming automated.
Sadly the space where people feel useful is shrinking. Not out of laziness or indifference, but because the world rearranges around them especially because of technology.
There’s this sort of vague idea that when machines do everything, we’ll all be free. Maybe you're right. But I have seen what it’s like when people have too much free time. It can be something different from the freedom you expected. People get stuck. They forget what they’re good at. They wonder if they are needed at all. That part is difficult to talk about. It’s not just having a job, it’s being part of something. When that goes away, it doesn’t just wipe the slate clean. It leaves silence.
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