Work Ethic
Was man designed to toil all of his life? Is work good for a man? If so, what amount of work would be reasonable? What about a 2 or 3 hour day? Would this ever be feasible or is an 8 hour day days a week about right?
Was man designed to toil all of his life? Is work good for a man? If so, what amount of work would be reasonable? What about a 2 or 3 hour day? Would this ever be feasible or is an 8 hour day days a week about right?
Einstein
Wasn't it Einstein who said they world could
with everyone working just 2 hours a day?
I reckon if we did away with waste, excess, status symbols, junk, rubbish and crap. We could make do with an hour a day. Then we could spend the rest of the time produicng and creating waste, excess, status symbols, junk, rubbish and crap. But at least we'd be doing it because we want to rather than because we have to!
All animals work
Man is an animal, animals work to survive, though man if one of very few animals who has a system of diversifying the work so that not everyone is doing every job needed to survive individually.
Some people could work just an hour a day to survive some would still need to work the entire day to just barely survive.
We do not exist to work but if we did not work what would be the point of existing? After all, everything is work, play is just work we enjoy - same as weeds are only those plants we do not want but they are still plants.
What was the question?
Work is just Play
Good point Solong,
May I call you Solong?
The only difference between work and play is that work is something we HAVE to do, whereas play is something we WANT to do. The trick is to make your work something you want to do. Then it is no longer work, it is play!
Agreed. It is remarkable
Agreed.
It is remarkable how many labour saving devices have been introduced in offices over the past 20 years - and yet our working hours have stubbornly stayed the same despite the introduction of fax machines, e mail, video conferences etc..........
About the only real change I have seen is the rise in people (usually managers) 'working from home' on Fridays. The idea that any of them are putting in a full 8 hour day is nonsense, yet people seem to get away with it.
And...
What's the problem if they get the same work done? The notion that work has to be grueling or unpleasant is an outdate one.
Unibomber
Have you read the Unibombers Manifesto Paul? http://www.ed.brocku.ca/~rahul/Misc/unibomber.html
1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in "advanced" countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in "advanced" countries.
You gotta admit, he had a point!
Technology and the Unibomber
You've got to ask yourself why we are working so hard and where are we headed?
What is the point of labor saving devices if the workload never lessens?
I used to think email would make my life so much better. I could get so much more done.
But now everyone's got email and the inbox has become an extra job I have to keep up with each day.
I suppose you've got to accept that life is laways going to be a bit life Sisyphus pushing that rock up the hill, only to have it come down again wating for him the next morning. It just doesn't get any easier. The solution I suppose is to become less ambitious, be satisfied and enjoy the simple things.
Unabomber
Yes I read it in the 1990s.
It is a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Somewhere in my files I have a photocopy of a letter he sent from prison complaining about how he had been betrayed by a US environmentalist activist, Theresa Kintz (she sold an interview with him, against his expressed wishes, to Penthouse) - he was pretty pissed off!
Work Ethic
Well it is good to do a certain amount of work. If you do nothing every day then you start to lack motivation and don"t even feel like doing anything. Balance is the key. Three day weekends would be better than two so partime work is best but unfortunately a lot of people just can"t afford it with the cost of living etc.
People are lazy? No.
But if we didn't HAVE to work, most people would be doing something anyway.
Even little children want to be involved, active and helping round the house. They just get told off when they don't do it up to standard. I don't anybody is really inherently lazy. Everybody has energy when it comes to their passions. Unfortunately, passions get knocked out of people, largely due to the purtian work ethic.
If work were abolished. I believe the planet would still
just fine. :)