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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Amazon to open new Cambridge development centre

Amazon is opening a new development centre in Cambridge this autumn and recruiting "extensively" for highly-skilled people in the area. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Promising a Platform for Interaction, Nigeria International Book Fair Opens Monday

Regulatory issues, the state of reading, and distribution questions are to figure into discussions held during Nigeria's fair next week in Lagos. The post Promising a Platform for Interaction, Nigeria International Book Fair Opens Monday appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S and HC celebrate Philippa Gregory's 30-year career

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NewFronts publishers see an opening with recent YouTube, Facebook ad crises

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[ Digiday | 2017-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gay readers are for life, not just anniversaries

Matt Cain, novelist and editor-in-chief of Attitude, asks where the publisher-led LGBT+ initiatives are?  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Borough Press opens submissions to un-agented literary novels

The Borough Press will open submissions for un-agented literary novels on Monday (1st May), offering one stand-out author a book deal worth £10,000. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life After Print for Mental Floss

Q&A with EVP, Publisher Amie Deutch and Editorial Director Ethan Trex. The post Life After Print for Mental Floss appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2017-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus launches Little Ways to Live a Big Life series

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Careers Website Ladders Inc. Surveys Workplace Millennials

Heidi N. Moore has been in the journalism game for 20 years now. She started out in the spring of 1997 as an editorial assistant at Hearst Magazines and, over the years since, has occupied a number of impressive positions including Wall Street Journal reporter, Marketplace Radio New York bureau... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Timely' book on moral courage in public life to JKP

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to open retail presence in Australia

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Opens Second Bookstore In Massachusetts

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fate of the Furious breaks Star Wars box office record with $700 million opening

Star Wars, Harry Potter or indeed the almost century-old comic book legends Batman and Superman may have sprung from a rich creative well, but in a stunning twist all of them have been banished to the box office naughty step. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair Opens Advance Sales of Weekend Tickets

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The UK’s Sunday Times / PFD Young Writer Competition Opens to Trade Authors and Indies

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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8 Books About Love and Obsession

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JP Delaney's next thriller to examine love and obsession

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Opening Second NYC Bookstore

Amazon has confirmed that it will open a bricks and mortar location at 7 West 34th Street this summer. The new outlet will be the second New York City store for the company, its 11th nationwide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Opens Nominations for Star Watch

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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