Are Creative and Tech Workers the New ‘Blue Collar?’ | with Maxim Jago
About Episode
Up until maybe the last three to five years, when hearing the term “Blue Collar” one would immediately picture a coal miner, a steel worker, people working in factories, or other types of physically demanding manual labor jobs. But as our society has progressed so rapidly due to advances in technology, a common question that has begun to arise is, “Are tech workers becoming the new ‘Blue Collar’?”
While working in a coal mine or a steel factory might sound imminently more dangerous than sitting behind a computer, it actually isn’t.
“The typical seated office worker has more musculoskeletal injuries than any other industry sector worker, including construction, metal industry, and transportation workers. Today, the World Health Organization ranks physical inactivity—sitting too much—as the fourth biggest preventable killer globally, causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths annually. In just the last 20 years, the simple act of sitting has leapfrogged to the top of the health killer charts globally.”1
I dive deep into this concept of tech workers and creatives like us who spend endless hours chained to a computer becoming the next blue collar with my guest today, the brilliant Maxim Jago, an award-winning filmmaker, editor, teacher, and futurist. This episode was inspired by an article in Wired Magazine titled, “The Next Big Blue Collar Job Is Coding.”
Episode Highlights
- How having a sedentary job can be more unhealthy than working in a mine
- The game-ification of personal development
- Ways the mind influences physical healing
- The relationship between cognitive function and activity
- How expressive creativity affects physical and mental health
- The implications of a highly-automated future
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- How important is your emotional response to your work?
- Creation as necessity rather than commodity
- Changing your perspective of monotonous work from boring to meditative
- What will labor look like in twenty-five years?
- The importance of pursuing work that invigorates you
Useful Links
About Guest
Maxim Jago speaks on wide-ranging subjects exploring lessons learns from his work as a filmmaker, futurist, author, and media technology expert.
He proposes an optimistic-realist attitude to future technologies and opportunities for growth in society, and in ourselves. As an award winning filmmaker and screenwriter, Maxim is currently engaged in three feature film projects that include true VR storytelling elements.
As an Author, Maxim writes the official Adobe Premiere Pro Classroom in a Book – the standard text used by film schools all around the world.
Episode Credits
This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Jakin Rintelman. Special thanks to Krystle Penhall and Sarah Furie for helping to spread the love!
The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).