It seems to me that whpearson’s reasoning is an instance of the “ends don’t justify means” heuristic, which is especially reasonable in this case since the ends are fuzzy and the means are clear.
If we grant that businesses that feed into status games (and other counterproductive activities) are likely to be much more profitable than businesses more aligned with rationalist/altruistic/”nerd” values, then arguing that one should go into the latter kind of business undermines the argument that ends do justify means here. And if the ends don’t justify going into business despite a lack of intrinsic motivation, what does?
How plausible is it to believe that the businesses which feed into counterproductive activities are likely to be much more profitable?
If we go with the very pretty Austrian theory that profits tend to be equal across all parts of the economy (unusually high profits draw capital in, unusually low profits drive it out), then the conspicuous profits in fashion-driven industry are counterbalanced by lower odds of making those profits.
I don’t know how good the empirical evidence for the Austrian theory is.
It seems to me that whpearson’s reasoning is an instance of the “ends don’t justify means” heuristic, which is especially reasonable in this case since the ends are fuzzy and the means are clear.
If we grant that businesses that feed into status games (and other counterproductive activities) are likely to be much more profitable than businesses more aligned with rationalist/altruistic/”nerd” values, then arguing that one should go into the latter kind of business undermines the argument that ends do justify means here. And if the ends don’t justify going into business despite a lack of intrinsic motivation, what does?
How plausible is it to believe that the businesses which feed into counterproductive activities are likely to be much more profitable?
If we go with the very pretty Austrian theory that profits tend to be equal across all parts of the economy (unusually high profits draw capital in, unusually low profits drive it out), then the conspicuous profits in fashion-driven industry are counterbalanced by lower odds of making those profits.
I don’t know how good the empirical evidence for the Austrian theory is.