Saturday, December 16, 2006
SBP's theory of work
There is hardly any job we do that will really make a difference in this world.
If we look at our ways to make a living so that we can provide ourselves and our family shelter, food, clothing and once in awhile purchase material goods that we really don't need, we are not really making a huge difference in society.
There is not many jobs out there that have the fortunate ability to influence society in positive ways. Take my work, for instance: I press buttons, I push pencils. I'm no one's role model or hero. Fact is most people's employment have as much influence as mine does.
I'm lucky in a sense that my work does not dictate my life. I work my 7:30am-3:30pm shift then it's home to do my bidding. It's very rare that I bring my work home with me; that is, I do not stress about it or pile up so much overtime that there's no time for myself.
With the industrial revolution, the world had a choice. We could either: a) work the same amount of time as before, producing more products and services that the new technologies allow, b) reduce the amount of time we work and keep the production of goods & services constant or c) increase the amount of time we work to further increase the amount of goods & services the new technologies allow. So in other words, we could have worked 1/2 the amount of time and produce the same amount of goods, but since the world chose option c, we now work twice as much to produce 10x the amount of products & services.
I bring this up because, as we head to work in our cubicle fortress, as we punch in our time card to flip another burger, we may realize there is little meaning in this but we do little about it. And if that is the case, why do we put so much time & effort into this meaningless work?
Why don't we take advantage of the technology we have and instead of stressing it to 100% capacity, use it to reduce the time and stress it now places upon us? We may have to wait 1 week instead of overnight to get that order from Amazon. We may have to wait 10 minutes instead of 2 before we get that Big Mac. But if these small packets of slight inconvenience means we can take more time for ourselves, our families, our friends, and at least make our own lives richer & fuller, wouldn't it be worth it?
I'd like to see that happen in my lifetime.
If we look at our ways to make a living so that we can provide ourselves and our family shelter, food, clothing and once in awhile purchase material goods that we really don't need, we are not really making a huge difference in society.
There is not many jobs out there that have the fortunate ability to influence society in positive ways. Take my work, for instance: I press buttons, I push pencils. I'm no one's role model or hero. Fact is most people's employment have as much influence as mine does.
I'm lucky in a sense that my work does not dictate my life. I work my 7:30am-3:30pm shift then it's home to do my bidding. It's very rare that I bring my work home with me; that is, I do not stress about it or pile up so much overtime that there's no time for myself.
With the industrial revolution, the world had a choice. We could either: a) work the same amount of time as before, producing more products and services that the new technologies allow, b) reduce the amount of time we work and keep the production of goods & services constant or c) increase the amount of time we work to further increase the amount of goods & services the new technologies allow. So in other words, we could have worked 1/2 the amount of time and produce the same amount of goods, but since the world chose option c, we now work twice as much to produce 10x the amount of products & services.
I bring this up because, as we head to work in our cubicle fortress, as we punch in our time card to flip another burger, we may realize there is little meaning in this but we do little about it. And if that is the case, why do we put so much time & effort into this meaningless work?
Why don't we take advantage of the technology we have and instead of stressing it to 100% capacity, use it to reduce the time and stress it now places upon us? We may have to wait 1 week instead of overnight to get that order from Amazon. We may have to wait 10 minutes instead of 2 before we get that Big Mac. But if these small packets of slight inconvenience means we can take more time for ourselves, our families, our friends, and at least make our own lives richer & fuller, wouldn't it be worth it?
I'd like to see that happen in my lifetime.
# posted by SBP : 11:52 PM
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