Domain of Demands

We treat the question ‘what do you want from me’ as an interpersonal one, and the question ‘what do you want to be in the world’ as a career choice inquiry. But both require that a person somehow has learned what the world wants done. That information is a predicate to selecting among the possibilities, and matching some of them to ones tastes and abilities. In this sense, learning the domain of demands is critical, yet how and when does this learning take place?

At a simple level of socialization one learns about demands that are patent: cashiers and fruitpickers and the like. This is the domain of demands with reference to which one must ordinarily organize ones abilities and energies. But less conventional markets may be discovered, and suddenly the question arises: why not?
What follows in the dialog are articulations of more or less conventional motivation categories -- money, satisfaction, challenge, gateway, necessity -- weighed against equally familiar objections -- danger, stigma, immorality, negative consequences. And this is where the character of these involvements as mere extensions of ordinary labor markets becomes completely obvious. The popular television ‘reality’ shows fit here. Just post a notice saying ‘we want someone to do X in return for Y’ and wait. For comparison I suggest a nice little book of photographs called “Odd Jobs.”