The problem is that our society is so terrible about choosing leaders (in academia or business) that its only resolution is to understaff, to generate busywork, and to load people up with artificial stress until most of them crack. It's an idiotic war of attrition. Usually, the "brick wall" is a low-level mental illness (anxiety, depression) in a previously healthy person and it often goes away in a year or so. Sometimes, it doesn't. This is why those of us who have real neurological anxiety or mood disorders can never expect genuine accommodation. Our disease is the culling agent that, with enough stress, will also flare up in the normal and be attributed (God of the Gaps) to "personal weakness".
We have this fucked-up culture of "powering through" that malaise. When it's a hard biological issue (i.e. an infection or cancer or mental illness) it refuses to play by our rules. It's not going to go away by "downshifting" at work or when we get that reward for being the last one standing. It's imminently dangerous. But, in our culture of "power through it and get the prize", most people don't get the help they need until it's too late.
I would argue, though, that there's no value in this war of attrition. We have enough resources to give everyone a good life and autonomy over their work, and it's only getting better. Why do we set up these health-destroying tournaments of fools in the first place? If we need to pick leaders, it will happen naturally. If we don't, then why not have a looser arrangement where everyone has some autonomy?
This attrition game that we use to fill the corporate and academic upper ranks doesn't pick good leaders. The military has known this for a long time. There are 2% of people who don't have the stress-sensitivity of the other 98%. They can be placed in danger or have to kill others and they won't get PTSD, and they don't get the context-driven anxiety and depression disorders that most people get from overwork. They're neurologically insensitive. Not all of them are bad people (some are very good people, if neurologically indistinguishable from murderers, because morality won't show up on an MRI) but half of them are psychopaths. You want people from that 2% (at least, the good ones who have a sense of morality and conscience; but the bad ones are often directed toward things like running POW camps) doing elite and dangerous work (they often enjoy it) but not making general-level decisions that affect thousands.
> I would argue, though, that there's no value in this war of attrition. We have enough resources to give everyone a good life and autonomy over their work, and it's only getting better. Why do we set up these health-destroying tournaments of fools in the first place?
Didn't the tournament of fools get us to the place where we can feed everyone?
> If we need to pick leaders, it will happen naturally. If we don't, then why not have a looser arrangement where everyone has some autonomy?
I am reminded of the tyranny of structureless.
> some are very good people, if neurologically indistinguishable from murderers, because morality won't show up on an MRI
This is implying a large amount of certainty about neuroscience knowledge that we simply do not have.
> We have this fucked-up culture of "powering through" that malaise. When it's a hard biological issue (i.e. an infection or cancer or mental illness) it refuses to play by our rules. It's not going to go away by "downshifting" at work or when we get that reward for being the last one standing. It's imminently dangerous. But, in our culture of "power through it and get the prize", most people don't get the help they need until it's too late.
I can agree here: our culture does a terrible job of helping people become emotionally adjusted individuals. I do really hate the phrase "hard biological issue" when used to describe mental illness though. It seems so defeatist, like telling someone they will never be a pro athlete or something. Even if it is true, my reaction will be the same: to continue trying.
We have this fucked-up culture of "powering through" that malaise. When it's a hard biological issue (i.e. an infection or cancer or mental illness) it refuses to play by our rules. It's not going to go away by "downshifting" at work or when we get that reward for being the last one standing. It's imminently dangerous. But, in our culture of "power through it and get the prize", most people don't get the help they need until it's too late.
I would argue, though, that there's no value in this war of attrition. We have enough resources to give everyone a good life and autonomy over their work, and it's only getting better. Why do we set up these health-destroying tournaments of fools in the first place? If we need to pick leaders, it will happen naturally. If we don't, then why not have a looser arrangement where everyone has some autonomy?
This attrition game that we use to fill the corporate and academic upper ranks doesn't pick good leaders. The military has known this for a long time. There are 2% of people who don't have the stress-sensitivity of the other 98%. They can be placed in danger or have to kill others and they won't get PTSD, and they don't get the context-driven anxiety and depression disorders that most people get from overwork. They're neurologically insensitive. Not all of them are bad people (some are very good people, if neurologically indistinguishable from murderers, because morality won't show up on an MRI) but half of them are psychopaths. You want people from that 2% (at least, the good ones who have a sense of morality and conscience; but the bad ones are often directed toward things like running POW camps) doing elite and dangerous work (they often enjoy it) but not making general-level decisions that affect thousands.