https://ryanorban.com/categories/leisure/Recent content in Leisure on Ryan OrbanHugoen-usme@ryanorban.com (Ryan Orban)me@ryanorban.com (Ryan Orban)Ryan OrbanFri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000https://ryanorban.com/notes/bertrand-russell-in-praise-of-idleness/Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000me@ryanorban.com (Ryan Orban)https://ryanorban.com/notes/bertrand-russell-in-praise-of-idleness/<p><img src="https://ryanorban.com/images/notes/bertrand-russell-in-praise-of-idleness.png" alt="In Praise of Idleness" class="note-hero-img" loading="lazy" /> </p> <h3 id="summary" class="scroll-mt-8 group"> Summary <a href="#summary" class="no-underline hidden opacity-50 hover:opacity-100 !text-inherit group-hover:inline-block" aria-hidden="true" title="Link to this heading" tabindex="-1"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="16" height="16" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" class="lucide lucide-link w-4 h-4 block" viewBox="0 0 24 24" > <path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71" /> <path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71" /> </svg> </a> </h3> <p>Bertrand Russell published this essay in 1932, during the Great Depression, arguing that the modern world had an irrational relationship with work. His central claim: advances in technology and industrial capacity meant that, with rational distribution, the work required to provide everyone a comfortable life could be reduced to about four hours per day. But instead of using that productivity gain as leisure, industrial societies chose to keep workers working full time while others remained unemployed — distributing work unequally rather than reducing everyone&rsquo;s hours.</p>