Current Events > Would you consider someone a NEET if they're developing a creative skill?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Say someone is unemployed, not training for a "real" job, and not in school, but they spend say, 6-8 hours a day practicing music or writing books or something that has not yet become a profitable venture for them. Would you consider that person a NEET or something else?

I'm not in this situation, nor am I asking for a friend. The thought just occurred to me last night so I thought I'd see what CE thinks.

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Yes.

mattymad posted...

Yes.

Most people work and practice those skills.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



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Not if they aren't an apprentice of some sort.

Making a living selling art requires skill, talent and tenacity. All skills NEETs usually aren't privy to.

I could see a shut-in NEET being a good programmer or some other field. They aren't lost causes.

I've just seen alot of lazy artists in my life and it really colored my perception of how hard a person must work to achieve their goals.

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But we agree they would be a different kind of NEET, right? Not the stereotypical basement dweller who is content on doing nothing with his life.

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

But we agree they would be a different kind of NEET, right? Not the stereotypical basement dweller who is content on doing nothing with his life.

I think a NEET and the person you are describing are two entirely different categories of people.

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mattymad posted...

No, because most of these NEET's will say they're developing a skill/hobby but rarely do they put much commitment in to it. Words are cheap. You need tangible output.

Even those I've seen that do and are great artists, are so insufferable that they haven't made a penny from it - demanding insane prices and spouting hateful comments so one one wants to do business with them.

An artists worse enemy is themselves. Not unlike the NEET?

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Wii_Shaker posted...

I could see a shut-in NEET being a good programmer or some other field. They aren't lost causes.

Says you.

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mattymad posted...

No, because most of these NEET's will say they're developing a skill/hobby but rarely do they put much commitment in to it. Words are cheap. You need tangible output.

I said this hypothetical person spends 6-8 hours a day developing their craft.

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mattymad posted...

They -say- they do. If someone really did that much, every day - then they should be skilled enough to be employable/selling work/etc. in a few months.

Or at the very least, an adept hobbyist.

Having a hobby (that isn't gaming) makes you a million times more interesting as a person.

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mattymad posted...

They -say- they do. If someone really did that much, every day - then they should be skilled enough to be employable/selling work/etc. in a few months.

I'm not talking about a real person who has told me what they do. I'm talking about a hypothetical person who DOES work on it for 6-8 hours because that's the hypothetical.

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

I'm not talking about a real person who has told me what they do. I'm talking about a hypothetical person who DOES work on it for 6-8 hours because that's the hypothetical.

What Wii_Shaker is getting at is that in this hypothetical example, you as an individual have no way of knowing whether they ARE putting in the effort or are just saying they do.

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Wii_Shaker posted...

I could see a shut-in NEET being a good programmer or some other field. They aren't lost causes.

Is this based on anything other than programmers are nerds, and neets are nerds, so neets must be good programmers?


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An_Actual_Chad posted...

I'm not talking about a real person who has told me what they do. I'm talking about a hypothetical person who DOES work on it for 6-8 hours because that's the hypothetical.

I would still say it depends.

There are plenty of skilled people who shelve their talents and skills due to foolish pursuits or just plain laziness.

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DK9292 posted...

What Wii_Shaker is getting at is that in this hypothetical example, you as an individual have no way of knowing whether they ARE putting in the effort or are just saying they do.

But as a hypothetical, we treat the abstract as if it is confirmed.

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g980 posted...

Is this based on anything other than programmers are nerds, and neets are nerds, so neets must be good programmers?

No because not all NEETS are good at programing and not all programmers are NEETs. I think you are drawing a false equivalency .

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

But as a hypothetical, we treat the abstract as if it is confirmed.

...that's not how a hypothetical works.

Wii_Shaker posted...

No because not all NEETS are good at programing and not all programmers are NEETs. I think you are drawing a false equivalency .

Can confirm.

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DK9292 posted...

...that's not how a hypothetical works.

It literally is. A hypothetical is a simple "If _____, then _____" statement.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

That's fine, but not everyone in here understands what a hypothetical is.

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mattymad posted...

Then we answered it in the first post.

They're still a hypothetical NEET.

What's the bigger question?

Is a NEET with any drive or will to improve itself even a NEET?

Or is it only once improvement has already been made does one shake the dreaded moniker?

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

It literally is. A hypothetical is a simple "If _____, then _____" statement.

And there's nothing there that says "the abstract is confirmed" or whatever you said.

You asked if someone practices for 6-8 hours a day, and we answered.

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Wii_Shaker posted...

No because not all NEETS are good at programing and not all programmers are NEETs. I think you are drawing a false equivalency .

I think youve misunderstood my question

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DK9292 posted...

And there's nothing there that says "the abstract is confirmed" or whatever you said.

You asked if someone practices for 6-8 hours a day, and we answered.

For the duration of this topic, the question has always been "IF they practice their craft for 6-8 hours a day, THEN are they considered a NEET?

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I would say "No", if they're actually training a skill that can one day be profitable.

"Not in Education, Employment, or Training" - if they're focusing on a trade, they would be training. Especially if it's art. There's a reason that there's a stereotype of the broke, starving artist.

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

For the duration of this topic, the question has always been "IF they practice their craft for 6-8 hours a day, THEN are they considered a NEET?

And your question is "are they CONSIDERED a NEET?"

And the answer is yes, they are still considered one because they're not in education, employment or training. Self-training doesn't count. I even asked my work coach about this back when I was unemployed, self-education isn't considered education.

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If you are not in employment, education, or training you are a NEET. It's a descriptive term.
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To not be a neet, your education/training needs to be formal e.g. a university course or a registered trainer or something.

Or you need to be making money

Staying at home just playing the guitar with the hopes one day you can make some money doesnt count. Unless you do start making money

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two NEETs I know write Pokemon fan-fiction as a hobby. This is like the lowest form of art I can think of.

You're really talking about two different things. Not being in employment, education, or training is literally what a NEET is. There's no way around that. What you're asking is if there's something more respectable/acceptable about a NEET who has worthwhile endeavors, which I think is totally up to interpretation. People who typically value all the things NEETs don't do and use that as the basis for their disdain for NEETs generally won't care if someone is an ambitious, talented artist or whatever. The income, clout, or even just the "proof of effort" by being externally validated in any way are without equal.


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