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> wouldn't want working parents to spend time with their kids instead of doing mundane household chores Whether we experience a net gain in saved time for the
by lo_zamoyski 4y ago
> wouldn't want working parents to spend time with their kids instead of doing mundane household chores
Whether we experience a net gain in saved time for the more important things is dependent on more than just the straightforward subtraction of chores as they exist now. A lot of factors influence that, so you cannot perform simple extrapolations in that manner because the "system" is dynamic. People didn't have washing machines 100 years ago, but they often had more time than we do or claim to do.
The introduction of a labor saving device introduces consequences. Markets and culture respond to the supposedly liberated time. Automation introduces new costs like the need for maintenance. Social activity and arrangements organized around certain activities evaporate and are replaced with new ones. The medium is the message, so to speak.
- altacc 4y agoYou bring up the notion that the wide spread introduction of washing machines might not have had an effect on how people use their time. Go and read up on that because the the introduction of labor saving devices had a MASSIVE effect of how people spent their time, especially women. It's often quoted as one of the greatest inventions and something that had a big impact on advancing equality. Indeed how people use their free time varies greatly but that is not a reason to limit people's free time.