What do you value? What do any of us value? What does it mean to "add value?" What constitutes a "good value?"
"Value" is a strange and often nebulous thing, and yet it is deeply interwoven into everything we do. Value lies at the heart of how we perceive things to be "rewarding," or not.
Lately, I have been part of a number of discussions concerning the future of work; what we will end up "doing", in the face of encroaching automation.
Pink rhododendrons in our garden, Spring 2018
Most people seem to believe the somewhat "Utopian" model in which everyone becomes an artist, musician, philosopher and the like is basically Pie in the Sky. Whereas these are nice, they are not perceived to add value.
So, somehow, we need to be able to add value to the experience of living, if we are to find some kind of gainful employment. Or, at least, a "gig" we can hope to get compensated for.
But I find myself wondering, though: Is this merely the old paradigm speaking; the paradigm that got us here, in the first place? The paradigm that insists that our value is directly correlated by what we produce, rather than who we are?
Value... in the Online World
The "value" discussion would occasionally show up here on Steemit, during early debates over where people felt the community was going, and should go.
In a sense, "value" was an alternative to the more rigid idea of "quality content," which I never was quite on board with. After all, Steemit was never an "Online Magazine," it was/is a Social Content Site. Again, quality content is nice but it isn't necessarily what the majority of social media users are interested in. Some find value in photos of kittens, or playing dice... not just in lengthy pieces of speculative philosophical prose. But regardless, people are — in general — interested in content that adds value to their web browsing experience.
But once again, I come back to "value" being a strange and often nebulous thing.
The veins of an autumn leaf
It's funny, isn't it? We can't quite pinpoint what "value" IS, but we are able to determine that it is important. And we need it, in order to thrive and be successful.
Will this post add value to your Steemit experience? Well, if it gets you thinking for even five minutes, I'd submit that it adds some form of value.
Value... Added Through Work
As I touched on up top, work and "value" is an increasingly interesting beast.
We have these very human and labor intensive things like art and philosophy but we don't really value them (at least not enough to afford anyone a living), while we value things like bed sheets, shoes and smartphones... which — ironically — are far more likely to be machine generated than the former.
Rowanberry blooms
If we must have occupations, what is valued? Again, value is a strange and often nebulous thing. No sooner will I get through telling you that people don't value intangible contributions like art and poetry than someone points out that celebrities and professional sports figures are valued to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, even though they don't actually produce anything we can touch and hold.
But do they really — by themselves — produce any value, or is their "value" basically in their ability to make sharp-minded and often greedy managers and media moguls rich?
But it's very individual. For example, celebrities and professional sports figures hold pretty much ZERO value to me. Similarly, ostensibly "valuable" status products hold ZERO value, to me. Even if I had a vault filled with $100 bills, Rolex watches or fancy cars would be of pretty much NO value to me. The ability to sit and watch the sunsets, exercise my brain and eat great food would.
And so I end this... being really not much closer to identifying value than when I started.
But hopefully, I at least made some of you think about it!
Thanks for reading!
How about YOU? What do you think "value" is? How would you characterize whether something is "of value" to you? What is NOT of value? What is a "valuable" occupation, and what is not? In a more automated future, what will humanity do, to create value? What will that "value" look like? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190218 23:55 PST
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