4 ms·

I really feel like work would be quite tolerable at 4 days a week. 5 days plus commute has always felt suffocating to me.

throwawayboise 5y ago
Consider that people used to work every day. Farming, hunting, subsisting. When organized religion and cities started to spread, you had one day a week as the day of rest. The industrial age and unionization brought us 5 days, which is now "suffocating." So if 4 days is the norm, that would start to feel suffocating also. Then it would be 3 days. Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?"
- thot_experiment 5y ago
  > Then it would be 3 days. Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?" I think you hit the nail right on the head there my guy. Also once the agricultural revolution happened peasants likely had much more unallocated than the typical office worker in the united states, probably by at least an order of magnitude. I'm not claiming it was a better life but there was a greater amount of self determination which is absolutely something we should strive toward.
- alar44 5y ago
  They may have worked every day, but not all day, and not through every season. Yes farming is hard work, but you don't work from 6-6 every day. Also your slippery slope argument is silly.
- q3k 5y ago
  … you do realize farming isn’t a whole year thing at most latitudes, right?
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  > Consider that people used to work every day. Farming, hunting, subsisting. I would be surprised if individuals in a hunter/gatherer tribe used to work more than 8 hours every single day. Most people also used to be in survival mode for their entire lives. That shouldn't be what we are aiming for today.
- t0mas88 5y ago
  Maybe that becomes possible at some point? A long time ago we needed 7 days a week to farm or hunt enough food to survive. With technological advancements we may be at a point where we need near 0 work days to feed everyone and create a comfortable life. Then doing work isn't needed to survive anymore but instead only because you want to achieve something. That could be many different things for many people.
  - EMM_386 5y ago
    > With technological advancements we may be at a point where we need near 0 work days to feed everyone and create a comfortable life. Who builds the houses? Who handles the power generation? Who maintains the roads? Who builds, and who flies, the airplanes in case people would like to travel? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of work goes into a functioning society.
    - Handytinge 4y ago
      That's true. But a hundred years ago, different questions were there. We've largely automated and optimised many jobs into minimal work or non existance across industrial production, agriculture, all sorts of areas. There's no reason not to think we don't keep automating to solve the problems you've mentioned.
- InCityDreams 5y ago
  "Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?"" Crap! And i thought i was anonymous here.
- wahnfrieden 5y ago
  This is a bs narrative, ahistorical. Try Graeber/Wengrow’s recent research/book
- ausbah 5y ago
  I mean yes? trying to get society to the point where no one has to work to survive (food, clothing, etc) sounds really awesome. less stress and more time to spend on what really matters to someone personally

throwawayboise 5y ago

Consider that people used to work every day. Farming, hunting, subsisting. When organized religion and cities started to spread, you had one day a week as the day of rest. The industrial age and unionization brought us 5 days, which is now "suffocating." So if 4 days is the norm, that would start to feel suffocating also. Then it would be 3 days. Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?"

thot_experiment 5y ago
> Then it would be 3 days. Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?" I think you hit the nail right on the head there my guy. Also once the agricultural revolution happened peasants likely had much more unallocated than the typical office worker in the united states, probably by at least an order of magnitude. I'm not claiming it was a better life but there was a greater amount of self determination which is absolutely something we should strive toward.
alar44 5y ago
They may have worked every day, but not all day, and not through every season. Yes farming is hard work, but you don't work from 6-6 every day. Also your slippery slope argument is silly.
q3k 5y ago
… you do realize farming isn’t a whole year thing at most latitudes, right?
bluefirebrand 5y ago
> Consider that people used to work every day. Farming, hunting, subsisting. I would be surprised if individuals in a hunter/gatherer tribe used to work more than 8 hours every single day. Most people also used to be in survival mode for their entire lives. That shouldn't be what we are aiming for today.
t0mas88 5y ago
Maybe that becomes possible at some point? A long time ago we needed 7 days a week to farm or hunt enough food to survive. With technological advancements we may be at a point where we need near 0 work days to feed everyone and create a comfortable life. Then doing work isn't needed to survive anymore but instead only because you want to achieve something. That could be many different things for many people.
- EMM_386 5y ago
  > With technological advancements we may be at a point where we need near 0 work days to feed everyone and create a comfortable life. Who builds the houses? Who handles the power generation? Who maintains the roads? Who builds, and who flies, the airplanes in case people would like to travel? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of work goes into a functioning society.
  - Handytinge 4y ago
    That's true. But a hundred years ago, different questions were there. We've largely automated and optimised many jobs into minimal work or non existance across industrial production, agriculture, all sorts of areas. There's no reason not to think we don't keep automating to solve the problems you've mentioned.
InCityDreams 5y ago
"Then, when work is the thing you spend the minority of your time on, you start to ask yourself "why am I doing this at all?"" Crap! And i thought i was anonymous here.
wahnfrieden 5y ago
This is a bs narrative, ahistorical. Try Graeber/Wengrow’s recent research/book
ausbah 5y ago
I mean yes? trying to get society to the point where no one has to work to survive (food, clothing, etc) sounds really awesome. less stress and more time to spend on what really matters to someone personally