You Are A Useless Eater

"Useless Eater" changes over time.

In the middle ages, the most often cited qualification for a peasant to be elevated to Knighthood (and from there perhaps their sons could become noble), was to demonstrate the ability to "deal a mighty blow". IE. being really really physically strong.

At the dawn of the 20th century it had shifted to having high EQ. A person who could gather a group of people and get them to work together. Egg heads mattered, but alone an egg head couldn't do much. The people who ran the team were the superstars.

Late 20th century we see a shift toward raw IQ. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. Larry Paige and Sergey Brin. The internet and computers lessened the social requirement, and now nerds tend to want to work for other nerds.

.... so what is next?

We don't know. The qualification of a superstar changes. So also does "useless eater".

In the 1800's if you were some pencil neck that could solve physics equations, but had too many allergies to be able to help bring in the harvest, and couldn't carry heavy bushels around when you did, nobody would want you around. Now those kind of jobs are considered "unskilled", and machines do them.


If you are one of today's "Superstar" category, the wisest thing you can do is try to be nice to today's "useless eaters". Tomorrow they might be the ones calling the shots.