> They tell me I don't have a real job because I just tell the computer what to do, and I don't do the thing myself (to which I can't help but respond that they're absolutely right).

For most of computing history this has been the case, too!

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glhaynes 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Can't be doing rEaL woRk unless you're flipping front panel switches to input machine code instructions.

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2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

[deleted]

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lesuorac 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean what is real work anyways?

Like take finance where people just email broken spreadsheets around all day. If they stop doing that then farmers can't get loans to buy crops which means crops don't get planted and so on-so-forth.

Certainly emailing spreadsheets doesn't seem very "real" but there's actual value in providing liquidity it's just not physically demanding.

On the flip side, professional sports is very physically demanding but can you really call what kids do for fun "real work"?

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ryanmcbride 2 hours ago | parent [-]

From the perspective of these kids real work probably involves working with your hands. I don't think we need to get too upset over what people who have yet to enter the workforce have to say about "real work". They need to be employed for a few years before they learn the lesson that almost ALL work is fake work.

	▲	bombcar an hour ago \| parent [-]
		My definition of real work is - can I point at something and be proud of it? It might not even be something physical (but often is) and my involvement may not be obvious (say, managing the spreadsheets for a building project), but there it is, the thing I worked on.