There was a time when being human meant being capable. The Renaissance human could paint, invent, cook, build, fix, debate, and maybe even write a sonnet before lunch. Self-reliance wasn’t a lifestyle choice; it was the baseline.

Fast forward to now, and we’re not Renaissance humans—we’re project managers of our own helplessness. We don’t do things. We hire out things. Life has turned us into general contractors, except the house is us, and the subcontractors are Uber Eats, TaskRabbit, Amazon, Instacart, and whatever YouTuber we’re using to figure out how to change a lightbulb.

From “I Can Do It” to “Who Can I Call?”

Cooking dinner? Contract that out to delivery apps. Fixing the sink? Call a plumber. Teaching kids math? Outsource it to YouTube or an AI tutor. Want to remember a fact? Outsource that to Google. Want to form an opinion? Scroll TikTok until the algorithm hands you one.

We’ve gone from “I can do it” to “who can I call?” so seamlessly that we don’t even notice anymore.

Specialization as Job Security for Everyone Else

Sure, the modern world is too complex for anyone to be a full-spectrum Renaissance human. But instead of pushing ourselves to stay versatile, we lean into fragility. Everyone specializes in one tiny slice of work—and then acts shocked when every other aspect of their life requires a subcontractor.

We’re all self-employed managers of our own incompetence.

Technology: The Ultimate Subcontractor

Our phones are basically 24/7 foremen. They schedule the subs, order the supplies, and tell us what we’re supposed to think, eat, and buy. Without them, the whole construction site collapses.

Unplug the Wi-Fi and most people wouldn’t last two days before hunger, boredom, or a poorly assembled piece of furniture takes them out.

What Gets Lost in the Contracting Model

The Renaissance human defined themselves by what they could learn and do. The modern human defines themselves by what they can delegate. Our pride used to come from competence; now it comes from convenience.

We don’t flex our skills, we flex our subscriptions. We don’t say “I built this.” We say “I hired someone on Fiverr.”

The Bottom Line

We’re not less busy than Renaissance humans—we’re just busier managing everyone else doing things for us. We’ve turned life into an endless subcontractor arrangement, where self-reliance has been replaced by logistics.

So the question is: Are we living smarter—or are we just middle-managing our way to helplessness?