Andrew Kortina of Venmo and Fin on Technological Determinism and Work's Relationship to Dignity

TL;DR

Andrew Kortina explores the cultural inheritance linking work with human dignity, questioning whether that link remains useful as automation reduces the need for human labor. He argues that technological determinism makes the creation of useful technology inevitable, which raises doubts about individual agency and purpose.

Key insights

• The connection between work and dignity is culturally inherited (e.g., Protestant work ethic, American culture), not self-chosen, and is very difficult to change for an individual.
• As abundance increases and resource constraints diminish, the historical link between dignity and productive work may become dangerous because people unable or unneeded to work could be locked out of
• Technological determinism implies that any useful innovation will inevitably be invented by someone else due to necessity, so individual contribution is not unique; this can lead to a crisis of free w