Intrinsic value of human beings

The video Why This Japanese Man Gets Paid to ‘Do Nothing’: The Economics of Human Value by Louis Zhao (41.7K subscribers) seems to argue that the service that Shoji Morimoto provides proves that human beings have intrinsic value, not as a philosophical, religious or moral principle, but empirically. I find this argument difficult to follow.

At 13:42 I was thinking, no, he is not selling his intrinsic worth as a human being, he is fulfilling a range of psycho-social needs for his customers and asking money for that.

At 15:41 I was thinking, no, Morimoto is very productive, the difference with his previous job is that he now has a job that aligns with his abilities and temperament. But he still has to deliver. He has to show up, and be in the space, doing the minimal activity, that his customer hired him for. He can’t just leave and go to home.

16:32 lots of people are in that position already. For example, retired people, or otherwise people with lots of free time. What I find interesting is that there seem to be many solutions to this “problem”. Two of them are even completely opposite. For example, the most fulfilling thing for many people is to hike in the wilderness, enjoy nature, and have minimal polite interactions with other people, while on the other hand, there are those that focus on volunteering or other social activities.

16:55 some people have more “psycho-social value” than others; some may have none. So much for intrinsic human value. I suspect that it remains a philosophical or religious notion, and bringing this idea in practice can be difficult, for example with people that need 24/7 care, or with people that are difficult to deal with for some other reason.

17:47 recently I tried to understand the motive of people who had sprayed ugly, definitely not aesthetically valuable graffiti tags all over the interior of several trains in my region, making the experience of everybody riding those trains a bit unpleasant. One of the possible motives that I came up with was that they were not valued by society and wanted to strike out as a result of that.

18:14 in my country for sure. Even some (how many?) rich people seem to go out of their way to be productive or contributing members of society at large (beyond their own family and social circle). Is this a cultural trait that comes with economic systems like capitalism? In some cultures, India for example, there seems to be room for people to do almost nothing, perhaps like the Sadhus (they have to conform to cultural expectations of these Hindu ascetics) or Babas or Fakirs, etc.

18:56 In my country there is a cultural taboo on people who do nothing but get an income from social services; they might be called a parasite. On the other hand, normalcy is in my country a cultural norm. There are sayings and words that are untranslatable to English.

For example: “uitslover”: Someone who tries too hard to impress others or to stand out, in a way that annoys “normal” people; overachiever; show-off. “Doe normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg”, translates literally as “Just act normal — that’s already crazy enough” - reflects a cultural norm of modesty, restraint, and conformity, discourages excessive behavior, arrogance, or trying to stand out too much.

Politicians are likely to emphasize normalcy (sometimes contrasting it with “the elite” or “academics” other times with “the rich”).

22:30 I think there are too few collaborations in writing books (and similar projects) and I suspect two motivations for people to prefer to do it alone (even thought two know more than one), firstly, ego: this is MY book, I want the credit; secondly, the (felt) need for money (don’t want to share the proceeds).

25:18 it’s no longer: hire a normal person, more like: hire a famous person to hang with. Ironic. Again, no intrinsic value here, but added social value. I’m not ready to accept the conclusion that Morimoto proved we have intrinsic value, it looks more like a moral principle to me.

I can see how people might like the service of Morimoto because it comes without strings attached. Especially in Japan, at least traditionally, every favor comes with a price (義理). In the West it might be less problematic relationally (it varies), but you are still taking up someone’s time, which means they might think that you are a bother (迷惑をかける in Japan sounds even worse). But I don't think that this proves Morimoto’s “intrinsic value”, it shows that people appreciate him as someone who does not burden them with social complications.

I’m inclined to look at it this way: Morimoto fulfills specific psycho-social needs for this costumers because he has certain attributes (inconspicuous, normal person, with no strings attached) and he is valued because of those attributes; someone who lacks those attributes can not take his place. To me this shows that what makes him valuable is not his “intrinsic value” as a human being (defined as a universal property of all humans) but his specific attributes and skills.