Why do we work so much?

Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age
to the Age of Robots

Next Big Idea Club | James Suzman

Do you ever wonder why, in spite of all our technological advancement, we continue to work such long hours? Anthropologist James Suzman has a theory.

Vocabulary Preview

Here are some key words that will help you understand and discuss the article.

Instructions

Drag and drop each word to match the correct definition.

Why do we work so much in the age of technology?

Here are five key ideas presented in the article.

1. Suzman believes our hunter-gatherer ancestors actually worked far fewer hours than we do. Why, when have so much technology to make our lives easier, do we still spend so much time working? Suzman thinks it’s because we have infinite desires, so no matter how much technology advances, we’ll never be satisfied.

2. Humans are exceptionally good at working. While all animals “work”, we can perform a much broader diversity of tasks—and for a much broader diversity of reasons.

3. According to Suzman, everything changed when humans started farming. Hunter-gatherers could only keep their food for a short time, so there was no sense working more than necessary. Farmers, on the other hand, could invest in their future resource supply by working more in the present.

4. Our careers shape our social identities. When people began moving into cities, they stopped identifying so much with their geographical origins and instead began to identify with their professions.

5. We developed our mindset around work at a time when our main resource (food) was indeed scarce. But that’s no longer the case, and Suzman worries that our desire for more has consequences for society, now and in the future.

What do you think? There’s so much to discuss (and even more if you read the full article!). For now, pick your favourite of the five points and talk or write about your perspective.

Useful Phrases

Here are some of my favourite phrases from the article.

• a whole host of (a lot of)

• be traced back to (be connected to, originate from)

• by dint of (as a result of)

• bound to (committed to)

• just for the sake of it (for no good reason)

• made a living (earned an income)

Now practice using each phrase in context. The following sentences are direct quotations from Suzman’s article.

Instructions

Choose a phrase from the list above and type it exactly as it appears into the correct box for each sentence.

Idioms

Do you have these idioms in your language? What do you think they mean?

Instructions

Drag and drop each idiom to match the correct picture.

• cross a threshold / the promised land

  “We’ve crossed all the technological thresholds Keynes identified, so why aren’t we living in the economic promised land?”

  Explanation: We have achieved so many technological advancements, but we still don’t live the amazing lives we hope for.

• bridge the gap

  “We make and trade resources as a way to bridge the gap between our infinite desires and our limited means.”

  Explanation: We try to overcome the distance between our means and our desires by making and trading resources.

• square with

  “That may sound like a reasonable theory, but there’s a problem: It doesn’t square with what we now understand about our hunter-gatherer ancestors.”

  Explanation: It’s an interesting idea, but it doesn’t align with what we know.

• make hay while the sun shines

  “This meant that in contrast to hunter-gatherers, who took it easy during the most productive seasons, farmers had to make hay while the sun shone.”

  Explanation: Hunter-gatherers could still rest during times of abundant resources, but farmers had to work even harder because they knew they only had one chance to produce resources for future times of scarcity.

• forged at the anvil of

  “Still, it reminds us of the folly of clinging to ideas about the necessity of work forged at the anvil of scarcity when we live in an era of unprecedented abundance.”

  Explanation: Because our mentality toward work developed within a context of scarcity, it may be of limited use in a time of abundance.

Discussion

• Do you think technology helps us live more tranquil lives, or do our infinite desires make us constantly want more even while technology advances?

• Have you heard of “abundance mindset” versus “scarcity mindset”? What do you think this means?

• In what ways does modern civilization fetishize hard work and career development?

• Do you think prosperity is a universally shared value? What does it mean to you?