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Comment by redleggedfrog | Hacker News Reader

I think the article makes some really good points about the bullsh*t jobs and their effect, but I ponder the final two paragraphs in which this is said:

"Just think what kind of culture, music, science, ideas might result if all those people were liberated to do things they actually thought were important."

Would this really be true? I've heard that an artist needs something to struggle against, something to constrain the medium they're working in, to inspire the creation. Just having it be wide open is not optimal.

I think it's much the same for any field. You have to be challenged to have your spirit moved to take action. You have to have a focus for your intent.

Just having copious amounts of free time might not be the cornucopia of wonderful ideas and creations proposed in the article.

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“Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.”

Carl Jung

I share the same thinking. Innovation and art are the product of many things, and not just free time. I won’t claim to know what those things are, but to suppose free time alone is enough seems to be a shallow insight.

I can't speak for everyone, but for me and I imagine some others, free time is a difficulty in of itself. I can't stand sitting idle for long, I'd try just about anything to fill it up.

I make art. I have very few struggles. I've had a few, sure, but so do other folks that don't make art.

If i want to fuel my creativity, all that is really necessary is learning about things. More stuff in, more stuff out. Simple life experience is enough for some folks. Simply getting out of one's comfort zone is enough. I'd hardly call this stuff struggling, though, as one can thoroughly enjoy every minute of this stuff.

I'm also at a point where I'm only working seasonally.

Some folks will create things, some folks won't. It depends on what their own drive is and whether or not they have the money to do the things they are interested in. Lots of folks have stories, few are authors and are usually not interested in actually writing. Same with art and music and science.

I used to think it was true, but with the rise of YouTube/SoundCloud/DeviantArt the internet I no longer think it’s true. Most people really don’t have that much interesting to say. From a social perspective I don’t think we are missing out on great art. People would be happier though.

No? But all those sites are filled with great art of various sorts. The combination of easy publishing and relatively easy lives has created the sort of "millions of people being creative and doing art" that utopians always imagined.

There are some good artists in there, mixed in with the rest. But also consider, most artists on these platforms (minus maybe YouTube) are doing it to build portfolios to be seen by potential employers. That skews most of them towards commercializable styles and forms, which aren't going to tend to be groundbreaking.

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