We are told to 'do what we love' in life and our careers. Is that a fallacy? | Open thread

A recent commentary in Jacobin raises the question of whether young people are being fed a lie about following their passionMany 20 and 30-somethings (if not those older and younger than that) grew up hearing the advice that all you need to do in life is "find your passion". The implication is that if you "do what you love" (in shorthand: DWYL), success – and presumably happiness and money – would follow. People like Apple's Steve Jobs and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg were held up as examples (if not gurus) of this "DWYL" trend, alongside people who quit investment banking jobs to become cheese farmers, plumbers or yoga entrepreneurs. But writer and art history scholar Miya Tokumitsu argues that this romanticized notion of the working world is a dangerous fallacy. It's the modern-day equivalent of the emperor's new clothes myth.In a much shared commentary for Jacobin magazine (later re-printed on Slate.com), Tokumitsu writes:DWYL is a secret handshake of the privileged and a worldview that disguises its elitism as noble self-betterment. According to this way of thinking, labor is not something one does for compensation but is an act of love. If profit doesn't happen to follow, presumably it is because the worker's passion and determination were insufficient. Its real achievement is making workers believe their labor serves the self and not the marketplace.She points out that the vast majority of jobs have no place in the DWYL world because they are "done out of motives or... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Piatkus to publish 'Bridget Jones meets Neil Gaiman' love story

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Book closes as library centralisation and cuts hit

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books: Christopher Isherwood's love letters, Hollywood memoirs and more

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook needs to be more open about its hate speech policy

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[ Engadget | 2017-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HBO’s Sheila Nevins Is Loving Every Minute of Her Book Tour

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[ AdWeek | 2017-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Life is not fair’: How Salon regrouped after Facebook decimated its traffic

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[ Digiday | 2017-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Grisham Enjoys the 'Island' Life

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wizard opens new world to Jo Rowling

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's author brings books to life through augmented reality

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[ Stuff | 2017-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Pub Two Dollar Radio to Open Bookstore

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK’s Publishers Association Opens Its #LoveAudio Campaign Today

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WHS Travel to open 15 UK stores this year

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC opens BAME traineeship programme to non-graduates

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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