Triton 47

Triton 47 › Money, work & society › The ChatGPT year

Why I must keep on working?

· 1248 words · 6 min read AI-assisted

Index note money/entities/ownership; workers vs money-holders; GPT reply on UBI/cooperatives; "Imagined shackles… my shackles are stronger than me, they are mine"

Mixed authorship: this post combines the author's own writing with text generated by an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok or Google AI), usually pasted in and labelled by the author.

Work feeds the self. it usually is money which can feed the soul and provide it energy to live another day, or the feeling which can satiate the being. What happens when work is gone but still supply of money and satisfaction must go on.

There must be another way to live apart from working under an organization, but also without being indebted to some entity. What a charring reality we live under. Why do we have to work under someone so we could live our lives. its like a compulsory thing that everyone is divulged towards without their awareness of what it actually is.. Why there is an entity which holds the money and why there are workers who are willing to work so they could get that money.
We can never jump to conclusions without giving an in-depth thought to it. Workers simply need money to get food, shelter, clothes, live a normal life and in essence experience the normal and exist. However, the entities which hold money, who are willing to give money, a.k.a. payment for workers time and work, what is their role, one of their role is crucial, is to provide money to the workers so they could live their life, but how it got it to that point in the first place?.

For that we must simulate a mental model of humans in our brain computer a.k.a. thought experiment from early age to current modern age so we could understand whats really happening in reality. One thing is certain, that the reality exist today has somehow came to be as it is. Universe is continuous, and beings have shaped the planet over the generations

Humans are organisms with specific need, a need to survive, otherwise they would die out. Humans necessities: includes food, air, shelter to run their bodies running, however, humans also have other necessities for their soul, the emotions, their feelings: which include thinking, social interaction, comforting feelings, and all kinds of feelings that they could or want to experience.
Even though basic necessities is what constraints humans, humans (as we all) do not want to live just to eat, sleep in a shelter and keep their bodies running and to just exist. There is at least the meaningfulness to life that a human being experiences for themselves. Although, any experience is an experience.

Another thing about humans is they typically tend to fixate their beliefs on normal that they perceive, however, humans can also be in isolating conditions which may clearly separate them from the usual global norm, than their local norm. This attribute usually can be thought of as culture of those people.

People have emotions and a need to survive, survival depends on basic necessities. Presence of other entities or people can result in people interacting/influencing/engaging with each other in very different ways. A major thing is the concept of ownership that a person is. Its the identity of the person, the person is its own being. The person thinks it owns its entire body, which is not questionable in a society, but person also thinks it owns or is associated with the the material stuff which goes beyond its body, like the place its residing in, the surroundings it is interacting with, but also other people with whom is engaging with, etc. Entities could refer to a group of people, or an created idea residing in minds of group of people, or could simply refer to an idea, or entity could also refer to a single person, etc. Eventually, entities with their need for survival and thriving, they accumulate more wealth or resources for which the other entities, the new entities are simply born into existence out of nothing, new souls are born without any previous souls so far as we know it, and eventually those new entities need to survive and flourish and would have no choice but to take it from the previous entities so that they could merely exist, or be able to live their part in this universe.

(there is yet stuff to be added and updated maybe but..)

here is the response from AI for above text:

“””

The sentiment you’ve articulated reflects a deep-seated existential and societal conundrum: the nature of work, compensation, and the pursuit of fulfillment beyond mere survival. In modern capitalist societies, work is often seen as a means to an end—the acquisition of money, which in turn enables us to meet our basic needs and desires. This system, while efficient in many ways, can also be seen as a relentless cycle that many are born into without explicit consent or awareness of its alternatives.

When work as we traditionally understand it is gone, yet the need for sustenance and satisfaction persists, individuals and societies must grapple with several fundamental questions:

Meaning and Identity: Without traditional work, how do we derive meaning and construct our identities? For many, jobs provide structure, purpose, and a sense of contribution to something larger than themselves. Finding alternative pathways for meaningful engagement—be it through art, volunteering, lifelong learning, or caretaking—becomes crucial.

Economic Models: Our current economic systems are built on the exchange of labor for money. If this paradigm shifts, perhaps through the introduction of universal basic income or other forms of social support, there must be robust systems in place to manage and distribute resources in a way that is fair and sustainable.

Cultural Shifts: The value of work and the pursuit of money are deeply ingrained in cultural norms. Shifting away from this mindset requires a reevaluation of what is valued in society. It might mean prioritizing community, creativity, or ecological stewardship over economic growth and personal accumulation.

Ownership and Resource Distribution: The question of why certain entities control vast resources while others labor for access to a fraction of those resources is complex. It involves historical patterns of power, societal structures, laws of property, and economic systems that prioritize certain forms of wealth generation. These systems are not immutable and can be restructured to promote greater equity.

Survival vs. Flourishing: The dichotomy between surviving and thriving is a central human concern. The challenge is creating a society where the focus shifts from mere survival to flourishing—where individuals are free to pursue activities that feed the soul and enrich communal life, without the constant anxiety over basic needs.

Innovation in Societal Organization: There are alternative models of societal organization that challenge the traditional employer-employee relationship. Cooperative businesses, decentralized autonomous organizations, and collaborative communities are examples of structures where power and profits are more evenly distributed.

Philosophical and Ethical Evolution: As our material conditions change, so too must our philosophies and ethical frameworks. We must continually question what constitutes a good life and how best to structure our societies to support that vision for as many people as possible.

In essence, questioning the nature of work, compensation, and societal organization invites a reimagining of how humans might live in harmony with one another and the planet, transcending the struggle for survival to craft a world where the focus is on the well-being and fulfillment of all. This endeavor is as much an individual pursuit as it is a collective one, demanding creativity, compassion, and a willingness to explore the unknown.

“””

Imagined shackles around my world, so I could break free and find a new better world, but my shackles are stronger than me, they are mine, I never broke free and I couldn’t live what world had to offer…

Original: https://triton7777.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/why-i-must-keep-on-working/