Being told "professional poker doesn't contribute to society."

[Tien]

You would need to re-write your definition of contribution to society by including not harming the planet / other human beings in the process.

You would wipe out entire industries of jobs if you did that.


There are is a huge % of jobs that contribute to society very purely like doctors and nurses and firemen, but there are also millions of jobs out there that provide you a product or service that was produced by destroying / killing something else.

It becomes hypocritical to say something about contributing to society when they turn around and support something that DOES NOT contribute to society positively.

When someone says poker players need to do something else and contribute to society I don't see them screaming for societal contribution when they go buy cigarettes / a hamburger / toilet paper / buying a brand new construction home / buying a shoe from Nike / buying diamonds that come from wartorn countries etc etc. Each of those purchases come at an expense or destruction from something else for their own personal enjoyment.

[mce86]

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How many jobs actually contribute to society?

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probably like 99% of jobs. off the top of my head, i can't think of a single "real job" that doesn't contribute. examples?

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Ok, I haven't read this whole thread but was going to respond without reading more but this quote is a perfect entry point.

Fundamentally I disagree with this. I work in the oil and gas world. I am engineer who helps design control systems that help oil and gas facilities run properly and run safely. I contribute to society, but I contribute in a negative way. I think a lot of our jobs that contribute to society contribute in a negative way.

I know I am going to need to expand on that, so I will. I am not an activist or an environmentalist but regardless of that I fully understand that the culture we live in is raping our planet and for what? Economics. So do I contribute to the economic foundation of society? Yes, I do. Does a poker player? No, he does not. Do I contribute to the environmental foundation of society? Yes, I do - in a negative way. Does a poker player? No, he does not - in anyway. So although poker players do not actively contribute to society they also do nothing to harm society either, so they are somewhat neutral.

As small of a distinction as that is I think it is an important one.

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So if the place you worked Blew up...thered be no effect? Gas and oil...dont countries go to war for this? I think its funny for people to downplay their lack of contribution...theres an awesome tradeoff...MONEY...lets you provide for your family. Theres just too many of you guys losing alot of money, and then to think it also is completely useless to society as a whole makes you feel even worse!

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Huh? Are you retarded or something? I make money at poker and always have.

I make money for oil and gas companies. If the place i worked at blew up and everyone died there would be some consequence - big oil companies would make a little less money until they found a replacement contract company to accomplish their plundering for them. There may be a little less money in the stock market - big deal.

Also, I dont' really understand what the [censored] you are talking about. Countries go to war over oil. that is not an argument that oil contributes positively to society. In fact, I would say that is a counter argument taht agrees with the thesis of my above post.

ps. BTW - wtf does jesus have to do with any of this?

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upset at losing in poker and life...sorry about your contribution in a negative way....meaning im actually taking away apology taht you dont negetively deserve,,,i mean that you absoltely would get just in a negative way

[AsydRayne]

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it's just the same as any professional sports player surely? pro snooker players, pro golfers, pro darts players, pro footballers. Non of these technically contribute anything to society, they just happen to have people watch what they do so it looks more acceptable.

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you don't think people get enjoyment out of watching the super bowl? or watching tiger woods on sunday at augusta? or watching their national team win the world cup of soccer? or do you just think that enjoyment isn't worth anything?


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You can't have it both ways stinky. People enjoy watching poker on TV too. And there are a lot of 'pro' athletes (minitour golfers come to mind) who nobody watches. Part of having a professional system is that there are a lot of midlevel players that don't tangibly contribute. But elevating other sports above poker and saying they are more productive doesn't make any sense to me.

[raptor517]

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And Raptor, are you some kind of hero for paying 44% of $2M yearly or whatever it is you make? Are you looking for a pat on the shoulder from fellow gamblers? Just think again and of the people you won that money from. Who is paying, them or you? Maybe, just maybe, you will wake up a little.

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i guess ur just mad u cant do it. what are u doing posting on an internet forum when you could be spoon feeding children in africa? ur lack of contribution to society while wasting time on an internet forum is unacceptable. go help people. also, i love your name, it fits.

[MarkD]

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How many jobs actually contribute to society?

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probably like 99% of jobs. off the top of my head, i can't think of a single "real job" that doesn't contribute. examples?

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Ok, I haven't read this whole thread but was going to respond without reading more but this quote is a perfect entry point.

Fundamentally I disagree with this. I work in the oil and gas world. I am engineer who helps design control systems that help oil and gas facilities run properly and run safely. I contribute to society, but I contribute in a negative way. I think a lot of our jobs that contribute to society contribute in a negative way.

I know I am going to need to expand on that, so I will. I am not an activist or an environmentalist but regardless of that I fully understand that the culture we live in is raping our planet and for what? Economics. So do I contribute to the economic foundation of society? Yes, I do. Does a poker player? No, he does not. Do I contribute to the environmental foundation of society? Yes, I do - in a negative way. Does a poker player? No, he does not - in anyway. So although poker players do not actively contribute to society they also do nothing to harm society either, so they are somewhat neutral.

As small of a distinction as that is I think it is an important one.

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So if the place you worked Blew up...thered be no effect? Gas and oil...dont countries go to war for this? I think its funny for people to downplay their lack of contribution...theres an awesome tradeoff...MONEY...lets you provide for your family. Theres just too many of you guys losing alot of money, and then to think it also is completely useless to society as a whole makes you feel even worse!

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Huh? Are you retarded or something? I make money at poker and always have.

I make money for oil and gas companies. If the place i worked at blew up and everyone died there would be some consequence - big oil companies would make a little less money until they found a replacement contract company to accomplish their plundering for them. There may be a little less money in the stock market - big deal.

Also, I dont' really understand what the [censored] you are talking about. Countries go to war over oil. that is not an argument that oil contributes positively to society. In fact, I would say that is a counter argument taht agrees with the thesis of my above post.

ps. BTW - wtf does jesus have to do with any of this?

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upset at losing in poker and life...sorry about your contribution in a negative way....meaning im actually taking away apology taht you dont negetively deserve,,,i mean that you absoltely would get just in a negative way

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I still, really, honestly do not know what you are talking about. It doesn't really matter though.

I'd suggest though, that if you want to contribute to a thread about contributions to society, that you learn how to write and intelligently convey your thoughts. If you could do that I might care what you said.

[stinkypete]

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You can't have it both ways stinky. People enjoy watching poker on TV too. And there are a lot of 'pro' athletes (minitour golfers come to mind) who nobody watches. Part of having a professional system is that there are a lot of midlevel players that don't tangibly contribute. But elevating other sports above poker and saying they are more productive doesn't make any sense to me.

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i'm not trying to "have it both ways". that would be clear if you had read my posts. i'm getting tired of responding to stuff that i've already addressed. i'm done with this thread unless someone posts something smart.

[Dima2000123]

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You can't have it both ways stinky. People enjoy watching poker on TV too. And there are a lot of 'pro' athletes (minitour golfers come to mind) who nobody watches. Part of having a professional system is that there are a lot of midlevel players that don't tangibly contribute. But elevating other sports above poker and saying they are more productive doesn't make any sense to me.

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i'm not trying to "have it both ways". that would be clear if you had read my posts. i'm getting tired of responding to stuff that i've already addressed. i'm done with this thread unless someone posts something smart.

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Same here. It's frustrating to post an insightful argument refuting a misconception, only to have it ignored, and then seeing the misconception repeated again and again as absolute truth.

[internetdonk]

Selfpleasure doest contribute to society but people do it every day, sometimes several times a day...

[Lyric]

[Dima2000123]

The last question is a close call. In theory, casinos contribute to society, since everyone who plays casino games knows the price, and decides to play anyway. Without casinos, they wouldn't be able to get the entertainment for which they're willing to pay a price.

On the other hand, just like with tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, it's hard to ignore the reality that a lot of people are incapable of making a rational choice in these matters, due to various "problems". All classical economic theory assumes rational behavior.