New essay traces work and identity from 1760s weavers to 2026 mathematicians
soumitrashukla9 · x · 2026-10-30
Boaz Barak boosts a new Substack essay by Alex Olegimas and Soumitra Shukla, a historical overview of technological change and job anxiety 'from the weavers of the 1760s to the mathematicians of 2026.' The piece argues work is never just income minus effort costs, as in economic models — identity, meaning, and agency are bound up in jobs. Building on Ezra Klein's column on his mathematician father and Fukuyama on AI and recognition, it offers historical perspective on how tech disruption shakes identity and meaning.
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