It's mentioned in the article, but Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber is an excellent book about this and proactively addresses the counterpoints/alternative explanations made in this article. It's a fascinating read and well worth your time. Pointless work is a plague in our society that has gone ignored for decades
this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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Sociology
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I've been reluctant to read it out of the fear it'll make me even more cynical about my job. I've been recommended it a few times.
If it's any consolation, the book relies heavily on dialogue between the author and people who self describe as having bullshit jobs. There's a decent amount of time spent on how people cope and find ways to do something meaningful during their bullshit jobs. I work in the medical field, and while I can empathize and draw similarities in my own work environment, my job isn't necessarily bullshit. I'm not sure what you do or what leads you to think you have a bullshit job, but you will probably find it even more enlightening than I did. And it could encourage you to seek out something you find productive or helpful rather than lead you down a path of cynicism
My job isn't pointless, just boring and mind-numbing. So yay?