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0 pointstoyg3y ago0 comments

> Everyone is just a mercenary.

That simply mirrors corporate culture. For all the chest-beating to the contrary, the overwhelming majority of companies are not "families" or "bands of friends" - they're groups of people there to make money. When the company has no loyalty or compassion towards employees, employees will do the same to the company.

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7 comments · 2 top-level

PeterisP3y ago· 5 in thread

People don't form loyalty or compassion towards the organization, but they inevitably do towards each other. If you put a bunch of people together on a task, then no matter how they got there - for money, for fame, or forced to do so - they generally do develop shared bonds and do things because of their teammates. Heck, in war when push comes to shove, soldiers aren't really motivated to die for their country but rather for their squadmates - even if they were simply placed there randomly as recruits some weeks earlier, and even if they are literal mercenaries.

So for most neurotypical people simply being on at a job for some time is sufficient to form a shared local culture and camaraderie. But that does not happen remotely, not unless people go out of their way to build similar bonds explicitly; the natural process requires being physically close and communicating during routine activities, not just to exchange strictly necessary information.

Lio3y ago

That's not been my experience. I've worked both in offices and full time from home for a long time.

You most definitely do share local culture and camaraderie with others working from home. I constantly spend my time on chats, calls, meetings and in pair programming sessions.

We definitely have private jokes, productivity tips and everything else that would go on in an office setting.

This whole argument just stinks of people in private offices wanting the plebs in a shared space so they can maintain status.

There's quantified evidence that shared office spaces suck for productivity. If Altman, Igor and the rest want to force people back into offices they should gather some hard counter-evidence. Right now it just sounds like excuses for micromanagement.

seti0Cha3y ago

I agree with your overall point, but I think you're framing it too strongly. It absolutely is possible to form a shared culture remotely. Many open source projects have demonstrated this as well as various forum and chat communities. However, it requires a different kind of socializing, one that not everyone is adept at or interested in.

toygOP3y ago

> that does not happen remotely, not unless people go out of their way to build similar bonds explicitly

Why should companies get to benefit from a process, when they do nothing to foster it? Just because they could exploit it before?

Clubber3y ago

>being on at a job for some time is sufficient to form a shared local culture and camaraderie. But that does not happen remotely

You can certainly get these task shared bonds remotely, think of any guild/clan based video game.

someweirdperson3y ago

The amount of time people spend with their guild/squad, and especially the years they spend with the same persons exceeds the time/duration they spend at the same place of work.

senttoschool3y ago

Everyone is even more of a mercenary.

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