Economics of Human Energy

Thoughts about how money and human energy relate

The faster the experimentation cycles, the faster the learning, the more of an advantage you have over established people and companies.

Leo Guinan • The Build In Public Manifesto

speed wins

Workers of the world... relax!

Bob Black • The Abolition of Work

I don’t want to wait for the world to change.

I want to live it.

How I’m Planning to Defeat Global Ecosystem Collapse (By Living the Alternative)

This is the secret to time travel. You have to be the first one to the be the example that others can follow.

For better thinking, stop thinking.

Forty percent of the workforce are white-collar workers, most of whom have some of the most tedious and idiotic jobs ever concocted.

Bob Black • The Abolition of Work

Finally, we must do away with far and away the largest occupation, the one with the longest hours, the lowest pay and some of the most tedious tasks around. I refer to housewives doing housework and child-rearing. By abolishing wage-labor and achieving full unemployment we undermine the sexual division of labor. The nuclear family as we know it is... See more

Bob Black • The Abolition of Work

Damn…

Creativity is not a process. creativity is not scripted.

One of the most salient traits of creative visionaries like Walt Disney and Steve jobs is the absence of process.

Process is an organized way of doing things. But they didn’t have a process. They just did the work. No strict adherence to budget or timelines. Just figure things out on the fly.

Creativity timelines aren’t predictable, so why do we try to put creative professions into timelines?

Doubtless we all need a lot more time for sheer sloth and slack than we ever enjoy now, regardless of income or occupation, but once recovered from employment-induced exhaustion nearly all of us want to act.

Bob Black • The Abolition of Work

Sloth isn’t the default state; it’s the state that is a result of energy sucking activities.

It's hard to sit there complaining about paying money if you can see it costs $300 get the accountant to file that thing we need, and that the person you enjoy talking to gets paid this much. Seeing it all transparently is quite powerful.

Divya Siddarth • Building Capacity for Exit to Community

Money spent that goes to people you like makes it easier to spend money