Bullshit Jobs
David Graeber · An argument that much modern work is pointless and psychologically damaging, with proposed solutions.
2 people say it helped them, in their own words on Hacker News.
What people said
it really resonated with me at the time I read it. I think it was the thing that pushed me to find a different job.
"Bullshit Jobs" had a profound change on my outlook in the tech industry.
Description from Open Library
*Bullshit Jobs: A Theory* is a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber that argues the existence and societal harm of meaningless jobs. He contends that over half of societal work is pointless, which becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth.
Read the full description
Graeber describes five types of bullshit jobs, in which workers pretend their role isn't as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. He argues that the association of labor with virtuous suffering is recent in human history, and proposes universal basic income as a potential solution.
What people got from it AI summary
Best if you feel stuck in a pointless job, especially in tech, and need a push.
- Pushed a job change
- Shifted tech-industry outlook
- Resonated with job dissatisfaction
Style
Big-picture thinking · 392 pages
The one-line description under the title is written by AI. Quotes are copied word for word.