How quickly we accepted that it’s normal to pay someone to go get our groceries for us. To drive us around when public transportation is available. To run errands for us. To bring us fast food.

Covid capitalized on it.

People don’t want to give up that luxury now that they’ve had it. Even if it makes things cost 2x-3x as much.

Even when we all know its exploitive labor.

It’s true delivery and driver services have been around for hundreds of years but now instead of companies with full time employees (with benefits) , the gig employee gets paid less while taking on risk that aren’t compensated by the employer (car accidents, gas, car repairs, injury or attacks).

Gig work is a much worse thing than maybe a lot of people realize. And it’s also making more people servants to others.

It’s moving full time employees with benefits and using company property to no benefits and using their own property that they have to pay for.

  • daannii@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    2·
    13 hours ago

    Many people/news outlets present genetic data as “effects” or as percentage of a trait.

    Like if someone scored 80% on a trait, people say genes determined 30% of that score.

    Which is incorrect. But this interpretation is pushed all the time. I see it a lot with intelligence IQ score. Yes intelligence is genetic but only 30% of variability is predicted by genetics.

    And if you think about it. That’s only for people with an IQ of 70 to 130 (1 standard deviation).

    For the really smart people and the really dumb people, genetics has a lower ability to predict variance.

    The reason genes aren’t as predictive as you would think they would be , is just like my example of height.

    If the environment doesn’t allow for potential to be fulfilled, it won’t be.

    Human development has what’s called “sensitive periods” . Where if some function isn’t learned by that age, it likely will never be mastered. Because the brain does a lot of pruning at young age. If you aren’t using it, you lose it. This is why learning a second language is hard as an adult and easy as a child.

    So taking that into account. You can see how limited genetics are for determining an outcome of a random child.

    It certainly has an impact. But it is limited by the environment.

    How many amazing geniuses are born every day in 3rd world countries that have the potential to solve big world problems who will never reach that level because the stimulation they need to reach that potential is unavailable to them?