I am an engineer and have this same thought about the speed of work when drawings were done by hand and not on the computer and that was way less than 200 years ago.
Agreed. And cyclists should show the same respect for pedestrians that they expect from motorists. The ones who silently race by from behind are entitled assholes. And the ones who turn around to argue after being called out confirm that label. Former cyclist, walked my bike on sidewalks. 😇
The older I get the more I understand Calvin's dad. And that's cliche to say but like all of him, right down to the sadistic glee at sabotaging corporate intentions and the inexplicable bouts of manic rage at how terribly and obnoxiously we've built society
Little did Calvin's dad know, he could actually start his peanut butter review and comparison channel on YouTube and people would actually subscribe and watch 😂
I understand him a lot more now than when I was first reading the comic as a kid, definitely. He still has that boomer “suffering instills character” mentality I hate but no one’s perfect, and I suspect if Calvin were my child I’d have a different outlook.
Honestly even that I feel less brittle towards. When teenagers get really haughty and puff up and tell me about how scared and stressed they are, I really do just want to drop the condescending little nugget.
The Luddites were correct.
Technology is fine, but it needs to be used in service to humanity, not a few assholes at the top who think they should own the universe.
There's a thesis that I read once and have not been able to find again about how our systems slowly improved until the computer revolution was able to paper over massive inefficiencies by making things Go Very Fast instead.
I knew someone who used the macro feature in an early electronic office system to keep things moving on the screen to maintain the appearance of keeping busy.
The problem isn’t the more efficient machines. It’s the deployment of the more efficient machines. They should increase our leisure time, but they don’t because our bosses just demand double productivity for the same pay. The machines aren’t bad. Capitalism is bad.
A very polite drive-thru worker at Taco Bell once apologized because my order took five minutes - my heart goes out to those who must deal with that pressure 😊
also true of household appliances - the washing machine and vacuum cleaner resulted in elevated standards of cleanliness, not any saved time for the housewife! (Perhaps the refrigerator and freezer save time on grocery shopping, since food can be kept fresh longer? but otherwise...)
Washing machines probably still save time depending on the individual, but they also let people wear clothes that would never have survived a washboard.
Old timey sports clothes were all white because it was impossible to keep colors on clothing you washed regularly.
Considering that laundry used to be a nearly two-day task just to wash a few garments, I'd say it saved quite a bit of time. But in the spirit of Efficiency(tm), that just meant you've got more time to do more tasks.
The issue is that we now wash clothes far more often, which isn't good for them, wastes water, and can create more microplastics. You didn't get those mountains of endless laundry when everyone spot cleaned to avoid stains and washed their clothes only when dirty
Refrigeration helps food last longer, which prompts a lot of people to spend entire Saturdays at warehouse-style stores buying extraordinary amounts of food that may largely end up in the trash or compost bin, so there's that.
If you haven’t already and would like to immerse yourself into a brilliant investigation of this graph, read (or as I did, listen to) Daniel Markovitz’s “The Meritocracy Trap.” It explains where the money is going, and why, and much else about Our Current Condition.
Same has happened with housework. I remember an article I read years ago about the way every "advance" in domestic technology has lead to higher standards for the housework. (In the West. No idea about anywhere else.)
This is why I don't like WFH/ having a work laptop you're expected to bring home with you. There's something very liberating about not being in email range.
I began practicing law shortly before faxing became common. Fax and email changed the practice of law adding a lot of stress. Clients expected immediate answers. It was exhausting.
