Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Profession

Each person is entrusted with a role and responsibility to the society. But more often, we always find that some jobs which are very valuable (which can be compared in terms of intrinsic value) but are sometimes thankless (in terms of recognition).

For example :-
1. Consider Clint Eastwood, a film actor.
2. Consider C.A.R.Hoare or Djikstra, a mathematician and a computer scientist.
3. Consider an unknown NGO teacher who goes into the depths of Africa to distribute food.

C.A.R.Hoare has invented quicksort because of which many sorting programs may have become efficient. Djikstra has done so many things in the field of computer Science.But nobody bothers whether they are dead or alive (Okay some of their own folk do bother). But it is such a difficult task to do!!!! Who appreciates that ?

Why is it like that ?

Somebody can shoot to instant fame just because of one of their work of art. Some guys write one best seller and they are already millionaires. But there is no such concept called "instant fame" for many jobs in science/tech etc.Some jobs may have so much value which may be disproportionately unrewarding.

A serious of thoughts are going on in my head after I read this quote by Warren Buffet :-

I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned. If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil... I work in a market system that happens to reward what I do very well - disproportionately well. Mike Tyson, too. If you can knock a guy out in 10 seconds and earn $10 million for it, this world will pay a lot for that. If you can bat .360, this world will pay a lot for that. If you're a marvelous teacher, this world won't pay a lot for it. If you are a terrific nurse, this world will not pay a lot for it. Now, am I going to try to come up with some comparable worth system that somehow (re)distributes that? No, I don't think you can do that. But I do think that when you're treated enormously well by this market system, where in effect the market system showers the ability to buy goods and services on you because of some peculiar talent - maybe your adenoids are a certain way, so you can sing and everybody will pay you enormous sums to be on television or whatever -I think society has a big claim on that.

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