Group bargaining, or government mandated prices (two face of the same beast, really) is great, IMO. It has nothing to do with "insurance" - other than the fact that insurers are big enough to wield some power at the negotiating table. Ultimately, government (by the people) has more control than insurers, but letting government fix prices is evil Communism, or something.
I think a lot of it has to do with company size. In big companies you can choose to work hard, but to an extent, you can take the Wally (from Dilbert) approach, too. In small companies, Wally just doesn't cut it because the small companies are literally fighting for their lives too much of the time.
I'm the opposite. Coding is easy and I can just keep cracking on for 12-14 hours before realising it's dark and cold.
Talking to people? That takes effort.
There are many kinds of meetings - one on one can be easy or hard, depending on how seriously you are taking it. The many people in the room meeting is an opportunity to focus on the speaker, get a sense of them, gauge other people in the room's reaction, and then when you've "got the picture" there's plenty of time to 70% zone out, contemplate and organize your own thoughts, mentally rehearse your 30 seconds for when it's your turn, and then... I generally make paperclip art. If you're going to do this, or doodle, or whatever is your meeting table pass time, do be sure not to become so engrossed in the distraction that you lose the thread of what's being said - that's terribly disrespectful.
If it's really hard to talk to people, you can usually improve that situation with non-threatening practice. The more you do it, and the more relaxed you are while doing it, the easier it gets. Kind of like coding.
So, the DeBeers marketing schtick since artificial diamonds reached price parity is something to the effect of: "the amount you sacrifice to this token signifies the depth of your commitment, at DeBeers we suggest 2 months' salary." Yeah, I gave them 2 weeks. My wife doesn't like big and flashy, if she did, I would have gotten a CZ at the time. I guess artificial diamond has dropped in price since then.
I've worked with a couple of these office dwellers, post divorce, messy situation with the kids, works 70 hours a week and still can't seem to do what people need them to do.
Employment at will: "you may be terminated at any time for any reason or no reason at all."
I was absolutely shocked the first time I accepted such a job (2003 - hadn't signed an employment contract since 1991 at the time), but I needed the job, so I took it. Seems like it's the norm now, that clause has been with me at every job since.
Insurance is, by definition, not worth the price. Anytime insurance is "a good deal", the insurance company loses money. The last company you want to buy insurance from is an insolvent one.
Insurance is all about removing uncertainty, there's a premium for that, and people, especially people with little money, are often willing to pay the premium.
Not free, but, contractually, the price can't be jacked up on you later - reduces uncertainty for buyers, should transition some potential buyers from "maybe, in the future" to "yes, today."
_Most_ people rich enough to afford a Tesla are also in the last 50% of their lifespan, probably the last 25% of their motoring lifespan. Now, how often they give their shiny bauble to the kids to play with is another problem.
Sadly, if these people have been working 60+ hours a week for years, work is their life - send them home and they'll get depressed, fight with their families, and otherwise have to find some meaning to their life outside the company.
I don't disagree BUT: Depression is treatable and, if it's a result of a lifestyle change, temporary. Fights with family are typically resolved and are part of forming family bonds. As for finding meaning to life outside the company, I'm not sure any exists but the opportunity to quest for it should be available to everyone on the planet.
I agree on all points, but simply point out that these kinds of transitions will bring their own tragedies, suicides, etc. All in all, people who are permitted opportunity to quest for meaning in their own ways do seem to form more attractive societies (I'm thinking of East vs West Germany in 1990 now, but the pattern repeats in many different places and times.)
Depends not only on the person, but also the task. Implementing complex algorithms efficiently in code tends to require more attention and focus than sitting in hours long meetings listening for the occasional cue to speak for 30 seconds.
Sick thing it, it's not so much whip cracking as it is peer pressure and coopetition - sure, we're all on the same team, but see how hard I'm pulling - no, I can pull harder I will get that next promotion instead of you, etc.
I think it's more like Panasonic arithmetic... "Do not work beyond 8pm" if you comply with this directive, you will not be working more than 55 hours a week (unless you come in on Saturday or Sunday, ignore the directive, etc.) If you do manage to work more than 55 hours a week, you will not be paid overtime beyond 80 hours a month.
Just because overtime won't be paid beyond 80 hours a month doesn't mean that people won't work it for social standing.
The ban on work beyond 8pm might be somewhat more effective, and less self-serving at the corporate financial level.
Sadly, if these people have been working 60+ hours a week for years, work is their life - send them home and they'll get depressed, fight with their families, and otherwise have to find some meaning to their life outside the company.
The paper said that aerodynamics are unable to explain how bumblebees fly.
What paper said that? The Weekly World News?
They weren't the original source, but I bet they picked up the story 10 or 15 years after it was first published.
The Weekly World News probably had proof that bumblebees came from a planet orbiting a small star in Andromeda, and that was the reason they could fly. I'm sure there were also stories over the year about them abducting and impregnating women who gave birth to half human/half Andromeda bee offspring too.
You know that Men In Black was actually a documentary?
Slashdot Mirror
Never made sense to me: fired because of your race? How did you get hired in the first place, then?
Group bargaining, or government mandated prices (two face of the same beast, really) is great, IMO. It has nothing to do with "insurance" - other than the fact that insurers are big enough to wield some power at the negotiating table. Ultimately, government (by the people) has more control than insurers, but letting government fix prices is evil Communism, or something.
I think a lot of it has to do with company size. In big companies you can choose to work hard, but to an extent, you can take the Wally (from Dilbert) approach, too. In small companies, Wally just doesn't cut it because the small companies are literally fighting for their lives too much of the time.
I'm the opposite. Coding is easy and I can just keep cracking on for 12-14 hours before realising it's dark and cold.
Talking to people? That takes effort.
There are many kinds of meetings - one on one can be easy or hard, depending on how seriously you are taking it. The many people in the room meeting is an opportunity to focus on the speaker, get a sense of them, gauge other people in the room's reaction, and then when you've "got the picture" there's plenty of time to 70% zone out, contemplate and organize your own thoughts, mentally rehearse your 30 seconds for when it's your turn, and then... I generally make paperclip art. If you're going to do this, or doodle, or whatever is your meeting table pass time, do be sure not to become so engrossed in the distraction that you lose the thread of what's being said - that's terribly disrespectful.
If it's really hard to talk to people, you can usually improve that situation with non-threatening practice. The more you do it, and the more relaxed you are while doing it, the easier it gets. Kind of like coding.
You know that Men In Black was actually a documentary?
That's what I heard about Jurassic Park and The Hobbit.
Don't forget The Martian... lots of people believe that, while questioning whether or not Armstrong really got to the moon in 69.
If you've got reasonably good cats, the key to cat wrangling is to let the work be their own ideas, their own plans, implemented as they think best.
So, when you say artificial, are we talking Cubic Zirconia, or is there something new on the market?
I thought CZ had a marginally lower refractive index. A difference in electrical conductivity is a pretty huge thing for a clear rock.
So, the DeBeers marketing schtick since artificial diamonds reached price parity is something to the effect of: "the amount you sacrifice to this token signifies the depth of your commitment, at DeBeers we suggest 2 months' salary." Yeah, I gave them 2 weeks. My wife doesn't like big and flashy, if she did, I would have gotten a CZ at the time. I guess artificial diamond has dropped in price since then.
I've worked with a couple of these office dwellers, post divorce, messy situation with the kids, works 70 hours a week and still can't seem to do what people need them to do.
Employment at will: "you may be terminated at any time for any reason or no reason at all."
I was absolutely shocked the first time I accepted such a job (2003 - hadn't signed an employment contract since 1991 at the time), but I needed the job, so I took it. Seems like it's the norm now, that clause has been with me at every job since.
Insurance is, by definition, not worth the price. Anytime insurance is "a good deal", the insurance company loses money. The last company you want to buy insurance from is an insolvent one.
Insurance is all about removing uncertainty, there's a premium for that, and people, especially people with little money, are often willing to pay the premium.
Like being born in Finland?
Not free, but, contractually, the price can't be jacked up on you later - reduces uncertainty for buyers, should transition some potential buyers from "maybe, in the future" to "yes, today."
_Most_ people rich enough to afford a Tesla are also in the last 50% of their lifespan, probably the last 25% of their motoring lifespan. Now, how often they give their shiny bauble to the kids to play with is another problem.
Sadly, if these people have been working 60+ hours a week for years, work is their life - send them home and they'll get depressed, fight with their families, and otherwise have to find some meaning to their life outside the company.
I don't disagree BUT:
Depression is treatable and, if it's a result of a lifestyle change, temporary.
Fights with family are typically resolved and are part of forming family bonds.
As for finding meaning to life outside the company, I'm not sure any exists but the opportunity to quest for it should be available to everyone on the planet.
I agree on all points, but simply point out that these kinds of transitions will bring their own tragedies, suicides, etc. All in all, people who are permitted opportunity to quest for meaning in their own ways do seem to form more attractive societies (I'm thinking of East vs West Germany in 1990 now, but the pattern repeats in many different places and times.)
Depends not only on the person, but also the task. Implementing complex algorithms efficiently in code tends to require more attention and focus than sitting in hours long meetings listening for the occasional cue to speak for 30 seconds.
Sick thing it, it's not so much whip cracking as it is peer pressure and coopetition - sure, we're all on the same team, but see how hard I'm pulling - no, I can pull harder I will get that next promotion instead of you, etc.
I think it's more like Panasonic arithmetic... "Do not work beyond 8pm" if you comply with this directive, you will not be working more than 55 hours a week (unless you come in on Saturday or Sunday, ignore the directive, etc.) If you do manage to work more than 55 hours a week, you will not be paid overtime beyond 80 hours a month.
Just because overtime won't be paid beyond 80 hours a month doesn't mean that people won't work it for social standing.
The ban on work beyond 8pm might be somewhat more effective, and less self-serving at the corporate financial level.
Sadly, if these people have been working 60+ hours a week for years, work is their life - send them home and they'll get depressed, fight with their families, and otherwise have to find some meaning to their life outside the company.
Go ahead and google it yourself.
I'm sorry, but I stopped doing other peoples' homework when I graduated high school.
If you want the reference, 'tis your own homework.
A clear, mostly flawless, and importantly: clean, diamond will sparkle in the sunlight with rainbow colors - more brilliant than other gemstones.
Yeah, that's about it. Oh, and they're really crazy hard, incase you want to cut glass or something.
The paper said that aerodynamics are unable to explain how bumblebees fly.
What paper said that? The Weekly World News?
They weren't the original source, but I bet they picked up the story 10 or 15 years after it was first published.
The Weekly World News probably had proof that bumblebees came from a planet orbiting a small star in Andromeda, and that was the reason they could fly. I'm sure there were also stories over the year about them abducting and impregnating women who gave birth to half human/half Andromeda bee offspring too.
You know that Men In Black was actually a documentary?
The paper said that aerodynamics are unable to explain how bumblebees fly.
What paper said that? The Weekly World News?
They weren't the original source, but I bet they picked up the story 10 or 15 years after it was first published.
Ordinary, or rather: average, people don't seem to try to tell the difference, or care.
Fake News started the Spanish American War... at least according to the history books when I was in school.