Exclusive Interview with FUEL Chief Growth Officer: Breaking Modularity Boundaries, All Chains Will Be Modular in the Future

Why are programmers the hardest hit area of 996? Why is it particularly easy for takeout delivery drivers to run red lights? Why not the other way around: programmers generally don’t run red lights, while takeout delivery drivers generally don’t do 996.

The reason is the same: an action becomes mainstream only if it brings additional income.

Delivery drivers find it hard to resist the temptation to run red lights, as time often means income for them. Especially when they are about to exceed the time limit for an order, their monthly bonus may depend on whether they can deliver on time. If it were us, could we resist the temptation to run red lights?‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

On the contrary, the output of programmers’ work can be obtained by increasing working hours. One hour at night, one hour on weekends, and one hour on weekdays all have the same output. Their work does not depend on the current needs of the client. So when there are two jobs on the market, one with higher intensity but higher income, and the other with lower intensity but relatively lower income, many people choose the former. This is not a daily choice, but it may be a choice that will be faced every one or two years.

By contrast, in the quiet of the night, or in the early morning, the delivery guys who stick to their jobs will be much fewer than during the day, because they cannot earn more income during the time when customers are sleeping, so delivery guys do not need 996 even more.

Similarly, when we observe social phenomena, officials are more prone to corruption, and athletes are more likely to take performance-enhancing drugs. It is rare to see a mismatched phenomenon. The number of officials using performance-enhancing drugs is as small as the number of athletes involved in corruption. This is because in each group, the behavior that is more likely to gain more benefits is different, and if there is a mismatch, there will not be similar gains. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

The different social phenomena exhibited in these different industries do not indicate differences in morality, but are simply phenomena caused by incentive mechanisms.

After all, in a civilized society, there are fewer and fewer “coercive” incidents, and what we call “being forced” is more often from “temptation”. We should also understand everyone’s behavior, as we ourselves, in similar situations, when faced with similar temptations, may also make similar choices.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍