Why are people in tech working such long hours, even though many of them don’t like their work? Wouldn’t working just as much as you need to, and then enjoying the rest of your time, be the rational way to use your time? Here is Aaron Horwath, writing in Noema Magazine:
The altruism in [tech] careers, then, is hard to find. So how does anyone do it without losing their mind?
That’s the true beauty of Workism: It is manufactured to distract people from the hole in their souls that a vocation would otherwise fill. It is the opiate of commuters in quarter zips. And it works. It keeps talented people showing up at the office to argue over reports and strategy documents and rebrandings with the seriousness of pediatric heart surgery.
But Workism has a weakness. Like religion, it relies on faith’s triumph over logic. What would happen, then, if something threatened that faith? A paradigm shift that broke the spell of Workism? A sort of enlightenment that caused Knowledge Workers to start asking tough questions of their organizations and themselves. And what would happen if Knowledge Workers awoke from the spell of Workism with no financially viable alternative?
Well, it seems AI might offer us the pleasure of finding out.
Nehaveigur 