Gain
A soap company establishes itself in Massachusetts, bringing better hygiene and employment to the community. But there is a negative side, pollution, and the victim is Laura, a woman suffering from cancer. A look at the pros and cons of progress. By the author of Galatea 2.2.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
4mentions
3people
2013–2020years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Read older books.
I became excited with Jordan Peterson's first videos and bought his book "12 rules" when it came out. I skimmed it and... I'm literally using it as a footrest. Peterson is a powerful speaker but has little content.
Older books:
(a) Have stood the test of time.
(b) Typically arose in a time where intellectual celebrity fermented in core intellectual circles first, and only then popularized.
Kahneman and Tversky have their share of technical contributions but were catapulted to thought leaders (and Nobel-Sveriges Bank prize winners) due to classic tokenism: someone from psychology or behavioral science had to win. The same just happen to someone two rungs below their level, Esther Duflo.
If she comes out with a popular book, don't buy it. Read Polanyi's "The Great Transformation", if inclined to left-ish ideas, or Richard Powers' novel "Gain", otherwise.
- This article reminds me strongly of a pivotal passage in the novel Gain, by Richard Powers (which I can't recommend highly enough, although it's a downer). In that passage he describes how a disposable film camera is made.
- In Richard Powers's novel GAIN, there's a scene where the CEO of a Johnson & Johnson type conglomerate tries to write down what's the purpose of a corporation:
"To make a profit. To make a consistent profit. To make a living. To make a profit in the long run. To make things. To make things in the most economical way. To make the greatest number of things. To make things that last the longest. To make things for the longest possible time. To make things people need. To make things people desire. To make people desire things. To give meaningful employment. To give reliable employment. To give people something to do. To do something. To provide the greatest good for the greatest number. To promote the general welfare. To provide for the common defense. To increase the value of the company stock. To pay a regular dividend. To maximize the net worth of the firm. To advance the lot of all stakeholders. To grow. To progress. To expand. To increase knowhow. To increase revenues and decrease costs. To compete efficiently. To buy low and sell high. To improve the hand humanity has been dealt. To produce the next round of technological innovations. To rationalize nature. To improve the landscape. To shatter space and arrest time. To see what the human race can do. To amass the country's retirement pension. To amass the capital required to do anything we want to do. To discover what we want to do. To vacate the premises before the sun dies out. To make life a little easier. To build a better tomorrow. To kick something back into the kitty. To facilitate the flow of capital. To preserve the corporation. To do business. To stay in business. To figure out the purpose of business."
- Reminds me of a passage from Richard Powers's novel "Gain" where the process by which a disposable camera is manufactured, packaged, distributed, ad sold serves to explain everything that is at once miraculous and broken about our world.
