They don’t really mean love, they mean identity, but we don’t have good ways to talk about this stuff.
Obviously you can’t love an abstract entity. But you can let it come to be part of how you see yourself, which also happens when you’re in a relationship. So often we talk about that feeling of love when we’re talking about parts of our identity - jobs, hobbies, music interests, etc.
I disagree with your notion that a person is not or cannot love an abstract entity however I do not care enough to explain or elaborate in this comment, feel free to enquire if you’re curious
Sure, make your company your identity when it’s your company - i.e. you built it and have at least a say on were it goes to - but otherwise you’re just getting attached to something were you have little real power and others tell you what to do to serve their ideas and their interests, not yours.
Frankly the only type of situation were I would see it as healthy to become so entwinned with a company is when it’s a tiny thing were you are indeed an irreplaceable member and have a genuine say over at least some of it, and that’s not going to be the case with a behemoth as Google were “you’re a valued employee” is something that comes on e-mails starting with “dear sir/madam”.
Mind you, I’ve been involved in Tech and Startups on and off since the 90s and the whole “getting employes to bind their identity with the company so that you can make them sacrifice themselves for the company” has been a purposeful strategy used by Tech companies (Google standing out by being unusually heavy users of that HR technique), all the way since the original Internet boom.
(It’s a bit like what’s done in the Military all over the World, but at least in those the Greater Cause is supposedly one’s nation, whilst here the Greater Cause is delivering more profits to some individuals who don’t give a rats ass about you)
Having your identity entwinned with your profession itself is understandable, but having it entwinned with a specific employee for whom you’re but a “human resource” is incredibly naive and not at all healthy.
Having a pathologically vicious organization like a corporation as part of your identity seems incredibly unhealthy to me as well, about on par with having a religion as part of your identity. Only nations are worse.
Incidentally, Stockholm Syndrome doesn’t exist, it’s an artifact of the rich warping justice. It was made up by Hurst’s lawyers to override his daughter’s wish to face the legal consequences of her being an active member of a left wing militant group.
They don’t really mean love, they mean identity, but we don’t have good ways to talk about this stuff.
Obviously you can’t love an abstract entity. But you can let it come to be part of how you see yourself, which also happens when you’re in a relationship. So often we talk about that feeling of love when we’re talking about parts of our identity - jobs, hobbies, music interests, etc.
I disagree with your notion that a person is not or cannot love an abstract entity however I do not care enough to explain or elaborate in this comment, feel free to enquire if you’re curious
I love this response.
That’s all a bit Stockholm Syndrome.
Sure, make your company your identity when it’s your company - i.e. you built it and have at least a say on were it goes to - but otherwise you’re just getting attached to something were you have little real power and others tell you what to do to serve their ideas and their interests, not yours.
Frankly the only type of situation were I would see it as healthy to become so entwinned with a company is when it’s a tiny thing were you are indeed an irreplaceable member and have a genuine say over at least some of it, and that’s not going to be the case with a behemoth as Google were “you’re a valued employee” is something that comes on e-mails starting with “dear sir/madam”.
Mind you, I’ve been involved in Tech and Startups on and off since the 90s and the whole “getting employes to bind their identity with the company so that you can make them sacrifice themselves for the company” has been a purposeful strategy used by Tech companies (Google standing out by being unusually heavy users of that HR technique), all the way since the original Internet boom.
(It’s a bit like what’s done in the Military all over the World, but at least in those the Greater Cause is supposedly one’s nation, whilst here the Greater Cause is delivering more profits to some individuals who don’t give a rats ass about you)
Having your identity entwinned with your profession itself is understandable, but having it entwinned with a specific employee for whom you’re but a “human resource” is incredibly naive and not at all healthy.
Having a pathologically vicious organization like a corporation as part of your identity seems incredibly unhealthy to me as well, about on par with having a religion as part of your identity. Only nations are worse.
Incidentally, Stockholm Syndrome doesn’t exist, it’s an artifact of the rich warping justice. It was made up by Hurst’s lawyers to override his daughter’s wish to face the legal consequences of her being an active member of a left wing militant group.