One thing I find enormously difficult doing my 9-5 is switching to “normal life”, doing *my own* thing, especially, after the working day. The weirdest about it is it’s even worse on the weekend. I rarely write on weekends (usually only edit / publish) because somehow I want to do nothing. Is it tiredness or just a particular desire of rest? I don’t know. All I know is combining 9-5 with writing is difficult but I’m trying to find a proper time for it.
But anyway, great essay as always, Tom. I wish you all the best on your full-time-man-of-letters endeavours. Cheers!
The idea of work bringing purpose is, obviously, controversial, because of the connotations around the word "work", but you're right. And it's because of that, I do wonder about a future where AI, technology and robotics are so advanced that they can effectively and sufficiently provide for the human race, thus leading to us needing some sort of universal basic income etc etc.
But if people live in a world where their basic needs are met (which is obviously great) but they don't have the mindset / context / education / guidance to pursue a task that provides fulfillment... then what will we become? We'll just digest all the cheap dopamine ever more with our increasingly free time.
Some years ago, I published a long essay with discussion questions called Why Can't I Bring Myself to Work? (still on Amazon). I was working through my own anger and resistance to work. In particular, I felt that the work-to-survive imperative meant that valuable human activities were not being done because they could not be monetized or profitable. I felt the unfairness of being born with a skill that was valuable to the world but that no one would pay you to do, then doing something that you had less ability to do just to survive. In the end, however, I did go to work because of something that Marx said: we work because of our love of other people.
One thing I find enormously difficult doing my 9-5 is switching to “normal life”, doing *my own* thing, especially, after the working day. The weirdest about it is it’s even worse on the weekend. I rarely write on weekends (usually only edit / publish) because somehow I want to do nothing. Is it tiredness or just a particular desire of rest? I don’t know. All I know is combining 9-5 with writing is difficult but I’m trying to find a proper time for it.
But anyway, great essay as always, Tom. I wish you all the best on your full-time-man-of-letters endeavours. Cheers!
The idea of work bringing purpose is, obviously, controversial, because of the connotations around the word "work", but you're right. And it's because of that, I do wonder about a future where AI, technology and robotics are so advanced that they can effectively and sufficiently provide for the human race, thus leading to us needing some sort of universal basic income etc etc.
But if people live in a world where their basic needs are met (which is obviously great) but they don't have the mindset / context / education / guidance to pursue a task that provides fulfillment... then what will we become? We'll just digest all the cheap dopamine ever more with our increasingly free time.
Just things that keep me up at night.
Some years ago, I published a long essay with discussion questions called Why Can't I Bring Myself to Work? (still on Amazon). I was working through my own anger and resistance to work. In particular, I felt that the work-to-survive imperative meant that valuable human activities were not being done because they could not be monetized or profitable. I felt the unfairness of being born with a skill that was valuable to the world but that no one would pay you to do, then doing something that you had less ability to do just to survive. In the end, however, I did go to work because of something that Marx said: we work because of our love of other people.