Work Functions¶
Every job is a specialized way of routing exergy, or of building and steering the constraints that route it. Surface diversity, few physical roles.
Functions¶
| Function | Effect on flow | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Opens new or locked exergy sources | Farming, mining, energy generation |
| Convert | Turns exergy into motion, structure, materials | Manufacturing, construction, transport |
| Maintain (constraints) | Fights decay of built structures | Repair, operations, cleaning, healthcare |
| Maintain (information) | Copies and repairs stored constraint | Education, documentation, training |
| Steer | Small flow steering large ones | Engineering, management, software |
| Allocate | Decides which gradients open, where flow goes | Markets, finance, governance, strategy |
| Explore | Searches for new gradients and constraints | Research, R&D, entrepreneurship |
A work unit usually performs several functions; record the primary one and the secondary ones.
Why the market diversifies¶
- Larger flows need more distinct constraints. Steering ~5–10 kW per person needs more specialized roles than steering ~100 W of muscle.
- Machines took over conversion; humans moved up the leverage hierarchy (farming: majority of workers in 1800 → ~1–3% in rich countries now).
- AI continues the move one layer up: machines entering the steering layer.
W1. Labor shifts toward low-energy, high-leverage functions. [Framing]
Where it strains¶
- Efficiency work reduces dissipation for the same output. Fits a routing view, not a maximization view.
- Claim-moving work (redistribution, rent-seeking, much litigation) shifts who controls a flow without changing it: internal friction in the control layer.
- Care and art: tentatively maintain and steer humans as dissipative structures. Weakest link; test in Cases.
Money and metrics¶
- Money is a metrics system for claims on future routing, not a resource.
- Prices are compressed information about scarcity of gradients, constraints and capability.
- The physical base under the metric is not static (gradients open and deplete, constraints decay, capability changes), so the metric drifts relative to physical value even before anyone games it.
- Gaming the metric is a category error: treating the gauge as the engine.
- Deliberately not expanded further.
Hiring (applied example)¶
| Element | Physically |
|---|---|
| Organization | Constraint system routing a flow, with gaps or decay |
| Candidate | Carrier of embodied information + work capacity |
| Job description | Specification of a constraint gap |
| Interview | Costly measurement under uncertainty |
| Salary | Metric: estimate of flow the hire will steer (distorted by bargaining, scarcity, norms) |
Read JDs for the gap, not the proxies. Strongest interview evidence is demonstrated routing: a flow you changed, the mechanism, how you knew.