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Scientists and engineers are only useful in a society that's building for the future.
USA until recent years was the best or second best destination for scientists and research but they were still making bad wages then
I know the quality and standards of life is a joke compared to the wealth but in terms of actual institutions and infrastructure support it's the best or second best in most industries due to how much capital there is here
I lightly begrudge some of these kids who quite literally play games and poke mess at others and live a millionaires life. I have a hard job. I have boomer thoughts every now and then and complain about how said kids couldn't hack it at my job. And then I remember that worth isn't tied to a job, and then I think fuck it. Go get that money however you can I guess. Nothing matters anymore anyway. I know where I'll be in fifteen years; either dead or standing in shit, plumbing.
Scientists, engineers, teachers, librarians, etc all give something to society that is permanent.
With the exception of activists, influencers take from society.
an influencer's wage comes from monetizing the trust they have with their fans.
It makes sense to pursue a career that lets you live comfortably without having to go into massive debt or spend years of dedicated training to do it, but I can't help but see it as a bad thing for society that kids are more incentivized to become influencers, than actually fill the roles that make society function and sustain life.
That's not the kids' fault for responding to incentive structures though, and obviously society faces greater existential threats that what careers the kids want to explore. But basically I still hate that shit, whatever. My boomer take.
Nobody wants to contribute to society and help sustain life when society doesn't contribute back to you and sustain your life
It's smart to not want to be a selfless martyr if you're not religious
Self-interest isn't intrinsically intelligent.
Humans are collective and social by nature because it helps for survival
That is becoming less and less the case for Americans
Kids have always wanted cool jobs and not uncool jobs. Before they wanted to be rock stars, movie stars or models. Kids who did wanna be scientists or whatever tended to have a very fantastical idea what those jobs are like, a lot wanna be vets until certain realities of that gig set in, same with teachers cause its one of the people you see doing their job everyday. The ones who arent nerds want glamorous media jobs. Kids have no idea what the reality of working most jobs is like, asking them what they wanna do isnt a useful way to measure anything aside from the ignorance that comes with being a kid, which I think has remained steady.
I wanted to be a caveman as a kid and when I found out thar wasn't a profession I went with Inventor cause I figured id be basically Robin Williams in Flubber
I wanted to be a scientist because I thought all I had to do was mix colorful fluids together. My little sister wanted to be a cow.
It isn't because kids are smart or thinking things out, its because the tech industry platforms streamers, youtubers, and influencers, making them famous, so that now they're the culturally hegemonic "figures to emulate". This is entirely the fault of techbros.
This isn't a positive development.
Because this isn't the 20th century anymore
We need tradespeople, scientists, mathematicians, doctors, nurses, engineers more than ever. These professions in some form are as old as recorded history.
Kids weren't exactly lining up to try and be the next Michael Jackson or Taylor Swift in the past when other career paths were still viable
We shouldn't impute too much life-wisdom on kids with respect to wages and quality of life. They generally want to grow up to be whatever society looks up to and considers prestigious.
In the past actors, musicians, and sportsball stars, were held up right alongside useful professions (or their prestigious equivalents) like teachers, doctors, astronauts, rocket scientists, bridge-builders, etc.
Its a late-stage capitalist development specific to liberal countries that no longer values the useful professions, and even looks down on them. This isn't the case in many other countries like the PRC:
China has tons of popular influencers, and they're also incredibly online too
It's because those other paths actually seem possible to be happy and financially secure in
I think there's a qualitative distinction in how much of a casino the influencer role is. Like who can hope to be Mr. Beast? Literally anyone. Where's any moment in any of his videos that has kids thinking "that couldn't be me?" For Michael Jackson, that could be any 5 seconds of him dancing and for Taylor Swift, I guess "I knew you were . . ."
nah wanting to be an "influencer" is just the modern wanting to be a rockstar or actor
It's not particularly smart due to the low chance of success... But it sure as hell makes sense. They're inheriting a world where none of the other options are particularly appealing.
Exactly, if they're likely to end up unemployed, broke, and/or unhappy, they may as well try to achieve their dreams
It makes sense. Would you rather work a job where you still make no money, or do something where you make no money but have a 0.00000001% chance of getting huge?
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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