Business Studies... Pah!

Playfulness is under-rated as a tool for "getting on" in life... :) If 2 people do the same thing, but one does it desperately seriously and the other with an underlying sense of fun and frivolity, who's the better off? pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Bukh: "There's a lot of creativity and thinking involved in business." Please do enlighten me, Bukh! :) I have mentioned elsewhere about this book... http://www.amazon.com/Bonjour-Laziness-Hard-Work-Doesnt/dp/1400096286 ...which is written by an ex-economist who speaks of things which I strongly suspected were true anyway - that the world of business - well, big business, anyway - is so endemically full of blather, thinking about thinking, having meetings about meetings, creating useless processes and systems to make people believe they are doing something useful, and wrapping it all up in a jargonised, acronym-ised language which most people can't understand and those who do have an inkling of understanding only resort to such overblown business-speak because it makes them feel useful and important. This is, I don't deny, a blatantly cynical perspective. But would anyone who has had some experience of the cogs and cobwebs of big business deny the essential truth of it? I don't have a problem with people wanting to learn, in some context, about the processes and practicalities and even "intellectual" theory of business, but I am saddened by how central such studies seem to have become to our educational system. Abstract thought is useful! Play is useful! Philosophising and talking about all those things which aren't directly related to the day-to-day practicalities of life... is human! And therefore useful, necessary and - I would even go so far as to say - essential if we are to preserve our soulful, spiritual, playful, artful humanity! Are the girders and concrete blocks of Capitalism so deeply enmeshed into our Western culture that we can't percieve that there is anything more important and central to our society than the pursuit of profit? pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Hoorah to Yan and Passerby! :-))) Oh and by the way... markbrown: "Sorry, fathead was a bit harsh." Yes, Mr B, it was... Disagree with me all you like, but I honestly thought such personal insults were beneath you. However, I accept your apology. pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Bukh: "I've read Bonjour Laziness. It's a fun read but I'm not sure how much it tells you about business in a general sense. It probably tells you more about France." I was surprised, considering it is largely from a French perspective, how close it comes to the English experience - at least from my personal standpoint, which is all anyone's ever really got to go on, isn't it? Ewan: "I think what worries people is the intuitive feeling that for every creative : (read doctor, nurse, soldier) there are 2 accountants (managers, facilitators, civil servants) take your pick)." That's it in a nutshell, Ewan! :)... It's not the fact that people study business, it's the overbalanced ratio of these sorts of studies. It seems to be another example of the de-valuation of the arts and other career choices which have some meaning beyond the pursuit of profit. Rokkitnite: "Actually think about the position you're routinely advancing before being so glib." I think about it frequently, Rokkit! I don't, however, always espouse a viewpoint or an opinion within the context of all my other viewpoints or opinions... I don't want to write an essay every time I say what I think! Rokkitnite: "I'd love to see an article where smug twats like Tom Hodgkinson were made to explain their views about how we should all work less and spend our afternoons pruning azaleas to a single, working mother of three, and then print her two-word response." One word... oversimplification! A few more words... I think perhaps there is a danger, with Tom's books, of mis-perceiving terms like "Idle" and "Idler"... My view of what Tom and his ilk are saying is that it's not about just sitting around "pruning azaleas" etc... It's about really thinking about priorities and what we are working for. Obviously he is espousing a viewpoint which is not for everyone, but he does talk about things which probably anyone can benefit from thinking about. Rokkitnite: "Peps - are you working in the Arts? If not, then why not shut up and do something instead of all this tedious McMarxist posturing." C'mon, Rokkit, you should know me better than that - do you really think I'm going to shut up because someone tells me to?... ;) In answer to your question, no I'm not "working" in the arts. I do actually do things, but funnily enough, on a forum which is about expressing opinions, I like, rather than talking about what I do, to talk about about what I think! Rokkitnite: "If business is so boring and unworthwhile, then quit..." It's not unworthwhile... to me! I've got to have something to complain about! Besides which, I do have a bit of a laugh with my colleagues. It's the larger system which I have the issues with... and the studying of Business Studies! Rokkitnite: "...you spineless toad." Oh dear, more pointless personal insults. Can't we just be nice in how we disagree? Oh and finally... what's with the McMarxist? pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Bukh: ""If all the people who did serious jobs seriously suddenly stopped doing them and stayed in bed, I reckon the idlers would soon lose their sense of joy at the world they were left with." Well yes, maybe if all the people who did "serious" (*ahem*) jobs stopped doing them, but the point about what the likes of Maier are saying (and which I percieved before reading her book, by the way, in case anyone thinks I'm just living vicariously through the viewpoints of others!) is that far too many people who think they are doing useful work are actually doing nothing truly useful at all... We in the West are good at producing waste - do you think "work" is not one of the things we produce wasteful quantities of? pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Me: "I do actually do things, but funnily enough, on a forum which is about expressing opinions, I like, rather than talking about what I do, to talk about about what I think!" Bukh: "Are they not connected?" Connected, but distinctly different. Too often, in "real" life, one is judged on what one does rather than who one is or what one thinks... I prefer, in the online community, to focus on the latter. Patmac: "Perhaps people should spend more time on the swings." Hurrah! :-))) pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

So much truth and clarity in your words, Passerby (and not just because you appear to be agreeing with me! ;)...), that I can add nothing further to such, except to say... hear, and very much hear!! :-))))) ......... Regarding previous items of commentary, however... ......... Most of the time, these days, I can’t be bothered explaining, defining and justifying every word and semantic nuance I write, but what the hell, I’m in the mood to do so today, and it’s a good mental/creative/philosophical exercise, is it not? So here goes… Rokkitnite: “‘Too often, in “real” life, one is judged on what one does rather than who one is or what one thinks... I prefer, in the online community, to focus on the latter.’ = 'I say one thing and do another…’” I would suggest that your logical deduction is ill-founded. Firstly, it is a little like comparing an avocado to an aardvark. Thinking and doing, although doubtless connected and one may lead to the other, are conceptually disparate modes of being. In purely physical terms, to think is a verb, so when I am thinking, I am doing something, but beyond this incontrovertible fact, thinking is of a different quality to other, more directly physical forms of doing. Given the above, although (A) what I am thinking at any particular time may bear no direct relation to (B) what I am doing, on account of the qualitative different between the two forms of action, there is no logical reason to presume that (B) contradicts (A). Where regards what/who I am… this opens up a whole other vast landscape of philosophical discourse, the scope of which I do not wish to go into here! Rokkitnite: “…and expect people to take me seriously.’” I’d be mortified if I thought people took me seriously! Rokkitnite: “The fact that you put real life in quotation marks speaks volumes…” Does it? How? My intention, in doing so, was to suggest that life, as it exists in an online context, is no less real than that as it exists elsewhere… thus alluding to an age-old philosophical conundrum which, in a nutshell, asks: What is real? However, please feel free to explain what you thought I meant… :-) Rokkitnite: “Good gravy.” Hmm, I’ve not had any “good gravy” for a while… thank you for reminding me of this most hearty and versatile of condiments! ;-))) ……… Maddan: "I'm going to hold up my hand and admit that in the past I've judged Pepsoid on what he does (write asinine drivel on message boards)…” Lovely phrase that, “asinine drivel”… I may borrow it off you for some future purpose, if you don’t mind! :-) Maddan: “…not on who he is (Prince Phillip for all I know)…” You got me there! I am indeed the “better” half of our beloved monarch! Off with your head! Maddan: “… or what he thinks (I'd always just assumed he didn't).” No, of course I don’t think, Maddan… All this “asinine drivel” I write is mindlessly channelled from the departed spirit of John McJimminy, the fabled Village Idiot of the lost medieval village of Flibnobfurtlewyck. ......... One last observance which I have observed, before I slink off to do some “work” (or something)… Business Studies has the same initials as Bull Shit… …well fancy! :-)))))) pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Well hello there, Neil, I thought this topic was dead! ;) Nice to "hear" your thoughts... My underlying thoughts on this kind of topic are that there seems to be a general feeling (perhaps not so much amongst people who think more about these things, but rather amongst the "general" public) that the Vast Global Capitalist System arose as a matter of inevitability and it is the only and the best way of doing things... I put it to all who may listen that it is not! Alternatives, though... well, that will take a little more thought... :-/ pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Nutshell, Yan! ;) Problem is, most people can't see the chains... :/ pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

Win what? **remains seated** pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?

The world needs more pointlessness! pe ps oid What is "the art of tea"? And what does an "odd courgette" look like?