The attitude towards learning really depends on what one is learning, what the experience of learning is like, and why one is learning it.
People tend to view learning very positively when they are learning something they are intensely interested in, that they feel is very important, and when the process of learning feels effortless and fun.
When learning is painful and frustrating, when it's learning of something one is not at all interested in, that one feels indifferent or even hostile towards, that one thinks is unimportant, and when one feels forced to learn because of economic or other considerations where the power dynamic is highly skewed against the learner, and where the learner has little control over what and how they learn, yes, people tend not to like that.
So even though you want what you are learning to be important. If it is TOO IMPORTANT the scale tips in the opposite direction.
In addition to the research, one seems to find many stories of exactly this happening.
Quite the opposite is true: people don't like learning UNLESS there is a clear reward. That's even true for the video game case, where it's simply that the reward is social rather than economical.
I love to learn a new level or video game characters future is at stake. Mario's death is not a loss that triggers great anxiety for me.
Needing to get certification in a field that I am not familiar with, so that my family can stay fed and not be homeless, tends to take the "joy" out of learning for me.
I knew another Computer Scientist who got his EMT certificate and worked in an ambulance service for two years, but ended up coming back to IT.
If I personally leave the work force again, it would be after getting funding for a PhD. I'd gladly take a greatly reduced wage if I could be on my way towards teaching and researching in a university.
Did they complain that they now had to learn a new way to hunt bison or perhaps a new way to find food entirely? Probably some of them did. Maybe they didn't like that they were forced by circumstances to learn something new. Still, nature doesn't care whether you like what you have to do to survive or not. Adapt or die. Such is life.
This isn't nature we're talking about here. It's other humans.
When I spend 20 or 30 years of my life specializing in a particular task, and doing it to generate a large amount of wealth for my employer, who passes a much smaller amount of wealth on to me, there are and should be strings attached to that from the employer's side.
In the US at least, there are already PLENTY of strings attached from the employee side. I can't see a doctor without a job. I can't borrow money without a job. I can't smoke grass, yadda yadda yadda. And I live in an "at will" state as well.
Sorry. This is not nature we're dealing with. It's humans exploiting other humans. The "adapt or die" philosophy is not justified.
> I can't see a doctor without a job.
I wasn't aware doctors ran employment checks before seeing patients. I haven't been to the doctor in a long time, though.
> I can't borrow money without a job.
Uh, yeah? People who lend you money like to see that you have some means of paying it back. How is that relevant?
> I can't smoke grass
Depends on the job, but that is a legal issue. I doubt most employers would care if the law didn't force them to.
> The "adapt or die" philosophy is not justified.
This is not a philosophy, it's a statement of the reality of the situation. Circumstances change due to forces beyond your control This will happen to everyone at some point. You can stamp your feet and whine and moan and demand that someone else (Who exactly?) put them back the way they were, or you can figure out how to deal with them.
Sounds callous and egotistical.
Driving, as a job, is going away. Not much is going to change that, nor should it. What is your advice for the drivers? "Sit on your hands, and hope that someone gives you some free money at some point"? Would they not be better served by taking some action to find a new line of work now?
I think it's called capitalism.
The adaptation here is not to switch or become the slave master yourself. It is to resist and fight the problematic system of exploitation in all available alternative ways.
The "job" system is enforced at as low level as getting or not credit based on whether you get paid regularly or by whom. It is enforced by preferential rated for insurance and taxes for employers. Etc.
Unfortunately the solution, which is organized resistance to these ideas, is easy to pervert or bribe away.
Just because we can adapt doesn't mean this transition won't be extremely difficult for society and have major consequences. Just look at the riots in Greece when people were told the age of retirement eligibility for state pensions was going from 61 to 63.