The vast majority of people working very long hours aren't pushing any frontiers. They are just trying to become partners in a law firm or get promoted at McKin

The vast majority of people working very long hours aren't pushing any frontiers. They are just trying to become partners in a law firm or get promoted at McKinsey. (Or, if we look outside our middle class bubble for a moment, they are working in kitchens and cleaning apartments for below minimum wage.) I'm not convinced that a significant number of people actually do object to other people working long hours. It's only a problem if unreasonable expectations become the norm – in which case you don't have to attribute malicious motives to people ('tall poppy syndrome') to explain their objections. They object simply because they don't want to spend all their time working, which is easy enough to comprehend.