What is the purpose of work?
The Purpose of Work: Scaling Human Connection Through Technology. For thousands of years, survival has relied on the law of mutual dependency—solving each other's problems. This blog explores why work is fundamentally about helping others, and how modern technology gives us the superpower to scale that impact.
For thousands of years much of humanity, and it’s suvival has been based around work. Whether it’s farming, forging weapons, teaching, working a corporate job, or running a business, these are forms that have been a means of providing humans, in exchange for money or some form of return, the need to acquire food, clothes and so onto help in its survival.
In its simplest form, work or labour is basically that, the provision of some form of service to another human(s) in exchange for some form of payment. And, the service that is provided must be a need/want for the person who is willing to pay for it. The need/want is the problem that we are willing to pay others for to solve. This is the basis of work, to solve other peoples problem. If you go to the supermarket and buy an apple, maybe someone halfway around the world planted and harvested it and packaged it to be sold, and you have the buying power to acquire the apples. You wanted to eat apples (the problem), and someone halfway around the world solved that problem for you (in this scenario, the economics behind this is a little more complex, but, in its simplest form it boils down to this).
If we look at nature, a similar sort of exchange also takes place. Different organisms, species, or systems rely on one another to survice, reproduce, or thrive. For example, plants need pollen, and bees need nectar and pollen. A bee gets pollen stuck on its body when it lands on a plant for food, and when the bee flies away, it spreads pollens to other plans (a process called pollination). One organism solved the problem of another, whether directly or indirectly. Humans solve other humans problems, whether directly or indirectly. This is called the law of mutual dependency.
No organism exists in a vacuum, inluding you and I. The problems that we have is another persons opportunity to solve. In other words, work is problem solving, whether you percive that or not. This is the purpose of work, to provide a solution or to help someone solve their problem. Its not about being employed by someone or making alot of money, though this would be really nice. It is fundamentally about helping people, or building things that help people.
In our modern world, much of the problems people have, have been increasingly solved by techonology. In the simplest definition of what technology is or what a machine is, it is this, to make poeples lives easier. Just like how a broom helps us sweep and collect dirt and dust, computers help us make very difficult calculations and commicate with others halfway around the world in real-time. Technology/machines solves problems for us.
In the right hands, technology can be used to solve big problems and many problemns. The amount of people that can be assisted with computers can be easily scalable (grow and manage increased demand or workload) and still work efficiently.
This is why engineers and technologists are paid well, because they solve the hard problems and many problems. They are able to help alot of people, and it is a great super power to have.
It turns out, we depend on eachother. And it also turns out that, in this day and age, we need technology to help eachother.
This is the purpose of work, to help and serve our fellow human beings.