Comments on: What Is Work? And Why Does It Matter?

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:45:29 +0000

Yes, I think I see where you’re coming from here. And I agree that at its most basic, we can simply strip work back to our need to survive: our need for food, shelter, security, comfort, warmth, etc.

I also think we wouldn’t be full people — or happy people — if we didn’t have *any* sort of work to do.

By: ewrec

ewrec — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:48:20 +0000

When you were a child, you played, and is the childhood equivalent of working per this topic of discussion. Work and working merely is interaction and exchange of ideas, goods, labor, creativeness, humor, and so on. Everything can be looked upon as work, but somehow people misconstrue it with labels like, its my job, or what I do for a living. Money only ties into it because it's an efficient way to exchange our talents, labor, and desires, but money isn't necessarily the root of work. Work is a condition to the human existence. By this, I mean to say that we need stuff in order to function in a social society, after all, we are highly social beings. All other animals work too, how about ants, that carve tunnels, and beavers that build dams, they work, but there is no need in their society to have money because their work is for survival, as ours it too, but much more complicated. I wouldn't get too worked up about work and what exactly it is in relation to money, because you are always going to have to work either paid work or not paid. It's a matter of the life and the human condition. We are all doing work for all because it really is just a matter of survival. .-= ewrec´s last blog ..Dreams are your currency =-.

By: Ali

Ali — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:55:38 +0000

Good point about mechanical work — I think the technical definition is about the amount of energy needed to move something from one place to another. I’m interested by your description as of work as “an exchange of energy between people and society” — I’m not sure that that’s the entire picture for me, but it definitely ties in with ideas about money as reflecting social value.

By: ewrec

ewrec — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:06:22 +0000

Interesting topic, work is. It really can be a lot of different things for anyone. Think of the billions of people worldwide, doing billions of things called work, even someone in remote villages and such… they work (not necessarily a job) so work isn’t really about a job or money. You can also look at it from a mechanical point of view as well. A machine can do so much work, or a car can get so many miles per gallon, and electricity can be converted to do work. To define work, I would say that work is an exchange of energy between people and society. We work to “get-er-done”, because the human necessity is to survive and build shelter, and live in within a social society, therefore work is necessary for the human elements of life to transpire. Do other animals work? Yes. They have to hunt and get food. Therefore work really is simply survival mode for life, but us humans are highly complicated, creative, and ingenious with our work!

By: Ali

Ali — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:37:57 +0000

Great points, Kat — I definitely find that work and life aren’t separate categories any more. If anything, that makes it even more vital to have enough rest & relaxation time, to avoid burnout.

And yes, sometimes there’s drudgery which just has to be done … I think that’s important to recognise. It’s when *all* your work is just drudgery that there’s a problem.

By: Kat Eden

Kat Eden — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:42:24 +0000

I think for so many of us these days (at least in the online world) work is life is work is life is work. Which is fine when you find something you’re passionate about, although it does make it difficult to put a start and end time on your daily schedule. My thinking is that they key is not to worry about how much we do or don’t work or what we wish we were doing, but to simply stop for a moment each day and consider what the best use of our time would be in order to meet our various goals and values. Sometimes that might mean getting through mindless but necessary drudge; other times it means we get to engage in the things that make us feel and be our best. Whether that means work or life or both
.-= Kat Eden´s last blog ..The Shocking Truth About Pesticides In Your Food =-.

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:56:16 +0000

At the same time, I can understand the desire to dial down the intensity a bit as we age.
.-= Mark Dykeman´s last blog ..Someone stole your toolbox – what do you do? =-.

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:52:43 +0000

Interesting point. We have student funding here in the UK, but I’d not describe it as “paying” kids to go to school. I wonder what difference it would make if school was treated more like a job? (Would kids demand better conditions – e.g. more anti-bullying measures; would kids get a say in who taught them, etc?)

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:51:26 +0000

Thanks Mark. Yes, I think that as a society, we have our head in the sand a bit about retirement. The problem is that with people living longer and staying healthier (a great thing!) we really don’t need people to retire at 60/65.

My granny is 86 and still extremely active (and often quite bored, I think). I saw her over Easter, and she said she’d spent five hours working (baking and doing housework) before lunchtime. I think we need to recognise that the human need to do some “work” – something which makes us feel productive and useful – doesn’t vanish when we retire.

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:49:12 +0000

Great last sentence there, Walter! I’m definitely keen on avoiding the drone mentality…