> I would not want to spend the majority of my precious time on earth with something I do not like to do. And of course I think other people shouldn't either.

The world does not exist to provide you with enjoyment. If you can make a living doing what you love to do, like many of us here, that's a fantastic added bonus but realize -- it isn't the nature of life to be able to do what you enjoy 24/7 (or 8/5). This is why we have hobbies and relationships and recreation.

The expectation that life will be working 9-5 at a job you love then coming home to a dream version of your domicile of choice and a wonderful spouse/partner/dog/cat and spending your evenings drinking tea/coffee/wine/beer/whiskey debating politics/technology/art/music/literature while gazing over a picturesque sunset/oceanscape/bikini model/forest and sighing gently over how great everything turned out -- that expectation destroys happiness. Life plays out roughly according to the choices you make and is colored by luck. You can change your level of fulfillment by adjusting your expectations or working harder/differently or both. This might sound a little eastern, but what I think we need is a dose of gratitude. You're (probably) alive, (possibly) healthy, (presumably) not living on the street, (hypothetically) employed, (likely) have one or more people in your life who love you... be grateful. I expect this point to be misunderstood, but note for the record this is not the "things could be worse!" argument. It's exactly the opposite argument: "look how good things already are!".

So you work a job that isn't exhilarating? So what. Your job isn't your life, your life is your life.

> The world does not exist to provide you with enjoyment.

Why not?

Why does the world exist in your opinion? In my opinion there is no reason, at least none of which we are able to understand.

So why not make the best out of our time here?

An enjoyable working place is especially important, because this is where we spend most of our time.

> If you can make a living doing what you love to do, like many of us here, that's a fantastic added bonus but realize -- it isn't the nature of life to be able to do what you enjoy 24/7 (or 8/5).

Demanding this from others is one thing, doing this yourself is another one.

There were multiple stages in my life where I had to do work that I did not see a sense in and they always made me depressed and I didn't really do a good job at them even though I tried really hard.

Now I do what I love and I am really good at it. That this is computer science (something that is considered valuable at this specific place in time) is a complete coincidence.

@Domenic_S , This. Well said.

The degree of is/ought fallacy and outright naivete in your statements is truly astonishing.

> "Why do people have to adjust to the economy? Shouldn't it be the other way around in an ideal world?"

As Darwin said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." This has been and still is a basic truth of the world. Creatures that expect (much less demand) their environment or others to adapt to them always suffer. That's not to say that all suffering has its root here, but the economy was never "created" to do anything, especially make life easier for everybody. Economic forces emerge naturally from basic human interactions, and there is no single authority who can tweak the knobs on "the system" to change it for the betterment of everyone.

> "I would not want to spend the majority of my precious time on earth with something I do not like to do. And of course I think other people shouldn't either."

This is precisely the attitude that most older generations complain about when they belittle milennials. Many of these people worked in boring, sometimes pointless jobs to be able to pay their bills. They understood that work is called work because it is not necessarily fun. Fun is what you do when you get home from work, on your own time.

We are fortunate to live in an era where many people can find jobs that are inherently satisfying. We live in an economy that has many opportunities for creative minds and challenging problems for analytical minds. Most of these problems can be solved indoors, in an air conditioned room, without having to physically exert yourself or put yourself in any danger.

The economy will not adjust to you. The economy cares about what you have to offer it, and what you can purchase from it. It does not care what you demand from it without offering anything in return.

> Why has the economy been created in the first place? As an end in itself? Or was it to make life easier for everybody?

Economies are not created in any traditional sense (though ours is highly managed, for better or for worse).

They come into being as a natural part of human behavior.

For instance, we all place value on our time. If you ask me to do something, I will most likely ask for some form of reciprocation. Now maybe if I really like you, feeling good about helping you is payment enough itself, but there is a finite limit to that.

Even favors have an economic component to them. If you help a friend move, you reasonably expect him to help you move at some point in the future. Quid pro quo.

Our system of currency is a highly abstracted away formalization of those basic ideas.

Call providing some positive good or service "value".

You get reciprocated for providing value to others.

We use currency as a medium of exchange to represent this.

At times, it is easy to see this exchange. If you go watch a local band, you pay for a ticket, a portion of that ticket goes to the venue for providing you with a quality place to watch a performance, and part of the ticket price goes to the band for providing you with entertainment that you derived personal value from experiencing.

Other times, well, things are a bit more abstracted way. :) (And at some point it becomes arguable if value is provided at all, but that is a separate discussion!)

> It's easy to say people should not acquire worthless Film & TV degrees, when you yourself have a C.S. degree, only because computers have been your passion since the age of 8.

My argument is that people should acquire a degree that enabled them to provide value to society.

> I would not want to spend the majority of my precious time on earth with something I do not like to do. And of course I think other people shouldn't either.

The later half of the 20th century is the first time it was possible for a large number of people to have even a hope of doing work that they enjoyed.

That said, ask the people who laid your sewer pipes, built your building, pave your roads, how much they enjoy being out at 4am in the rain and snow working.

Ask those mining the rare earth minerals that are used to build our technology if they enjoy their jobs.

Middle class Americans have this romantic ideal of jobs being something someone enjoys. We are all spoiled and need to admit to that. But hey, it is a nice goal to make it so that everyone can enjoy their job right?

So here comes the funny part.

We are automating away the miserable drudge work jobs, and people are now worried.

Because it turns out the middle class fantasy of singing joys at work and coming home to a giant house with 2 (or 3 now days) cars and all that other assorted crud is not maintainable on a large scale.

I don't have a solution to this, really no one does. But we have to accept that we have made our bed and now we are going to lay down in it.

> That said, ask the people who laid your sewer pipes, built your building, pave your roads, how much they enjoy being out at 4am in the rain and snow working.

I do not think that you can compare those kinds of jobs with modern jobs.

Modern jobs require intensive training. Sometimes studying the subject for multiple years only on a theoretical basis.

This does not work if you do not like what you do, in my opinion.

I myself have tried to obtain a degree in a field that I did not like. I failed miserably. It eventually made me depressed, something I do not wish upon anyone.