A SOCIETY OF KEYBOARD TYPERS
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the how we’ve evolved as a society over time. Yes, prepare yourself for mass generalizations in this post.
We consider ourselves to be evolved as a society and as a race. Many people around the world earn their living by working in offices and sitting at computers. High-tech devices including computers, cell phones, Blackberries, laptops, and of course the internet have enabled us to communicate faster, work faster, and save us time.
So why do we have so little free time?
I read a book a few months ago that spoke about a CEO of a large corporation who moved to a remote part of Hawaii and began his life anew. He lived in a small hut, lived off the ocean and the land, and surfed every day. He didn’t need to make any money because he didn’t need to spend any money. Although this kind of life isn’t for everyone, it sounds amazing to me. Too good to be true, almost.. but I realize this is a pretty extreme example.
Why is it that we require so many “things” in life to be happy? I feel like we’re all running a rat race and we’re not really gaining anything.
How is it that we have all this amazing technology and incredible advances in so many aspects of our lives but we can’t find much time for ourselves, or even for our loved ones?
Many of us don’t live wholly off the land; we go to the supermarket. Many of us don’t do manual labour for work… we don’t build or hunt or even defend. The most “physical” “jobs” in the world are perhaps professional sports, and we revere these incredible athletes. But they’re just playing a game. Why are manual labour jobs considered so inferior to typing on a keyboard in a concrete high rise? If this were pre-historic times, all of us keyboard typers would be dead!
So despite all these devices that are supposed to save us time, why are our work hours getting longer? Why do we work from home and on the weekends? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? We’re all spending so much money on expensive mattresses, sleep therapy, psychiatrists, fitness centres, all-inclusive resorts, self-help seminars and books, spa treatments, house cleaners, personal assistants, and different pillows that can solve our sleep problems. The promise of being happy, healthy, and relaxed is so elusive. Despite all this, we find ourselves busier, poorer, and more stressed just trying to afford the things that may be the magic fix.
I wonder if I’m just idealistic for hoping that someday society in North America can come to a compromise where people can have more time. More time to travel, more time to be with family, more time to sleep, more time to meditate, more time to enjoy nature, more time to be ourselves.
Is this dream ever possible? Or as a human race, are we always going to be trying to run so fast through life that we run ourselves into the ground?
Tags: advances, evolution, happy, high-tech, manual labour, office workers, society, Surfing, technology, thoughts
![[Valid RSS]](http://vancityallie.com/images/subsribe.jpg)
eheh, im’ kinding, the red...
January 15th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I believe that it is possible. However, we have far too many distractions and people telling us what they think is best for us. I call them marketers. They exploit our inner greed and desire to place value on possessions.
Just take a look at what goes on in 3rd world countries. They have nothing in terms of luxury but if you were to visit them as I have you will find the happiest people on the planet. All they need is each other and they’ll be fine. Funny thing is they don’t know that they are happier than most people in the developed world.
We want to be happy and the people in 3rd world countries want television and other electronics. Whose happier? If you ask me they are, but I’m pretty happy as well. I want things but I realized along time ago that things don’t equate to happiness. Its the people you surround yourself with at home, work and play. That is what makes you happy. Hope that wasn’t too confusing :S
January 15th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I definitely agree with you on a lot of levels about what you said. However, for me it’s not so much about the things.
What I really value is time. And I have a hard time seeing that become less of a luxury in our society in the future. And that’s what I think is the problem.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I’m applying for this job: http://www.islandreefjob.com
It is exactly where I want to be.
I’m with ya Allie. Mike and I, once our loans are paid off, are leaving the city and beginning from the ground up, our sustainable community. Skills are necessary but not Blackberries.
People spend too much time doing things that they really don’t enjoy. If you can put that un-enjoyable (I made a word up!)time into some that you love, can you imagine how happy you would be?! Bouncing happy.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Haha yeah I am applying for it too
Well let me know when you start your sustainable community because I am IN!
January 15th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Time is scarce that is for sure, especially in our go, go, go society. I think during the winter months time is even more scarce as it is gets darker outside and we tend to want to sleep more.
What are your typical weekly work hours, 40, 50 or more? Time management is key, but thats hard and not everyone can do it. Also at the same time, coordinating with others is difficult in our society. Perhaps we should have 4 day work weeks, 10 hours a day!
January 15th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
UD, for me it is.. who came up with this rule about work days anyway? Often I feel like I can accomplish my tasks in 4 hours instead of 8. Most people draw out their days just because that is the set amount of time.
My typical work week is 40 hours a week, but I know many (especially in the video game industry) that have to work much more than that. Lots of mandatory overtime.
I don’t believe that we are more productive with 40 hour work weeks, no matter which way you cut it! I think our society would be happier and potentially more productive if say, 20 hour work weeks were the norm.
Did you know that in Canada we are one of the countries with the least number of statutory holidays?
Ugh.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Allie,
I don’t know the answer to this. I ask the same questions myself a lot. The world does not necessarily make a lot of sense. I’m working from home and I’m going to school to learn more about running businesses. Seems like an odd triad. If I was doing school things at work that would complete the cycle I think.
One of my instructors learned that I was planning on doing my MBA, and he knew I was working full time and going to school at night. He said “Don’t wait too long.” Do I have a choice? Certainly I do. I could plunge head first into debt and spend decades paying it off. I don’t like that idea, but it works for some folks. So his statement stressed me out a bit, it still is right now. I’d do it if life and the world around me were different, but I have to be realistic about cost and really, paying the rent.
All this said, my days are long when I am working full time and going to school at night. If I leave with less energy than I showed up with, that is a bad sign. Beginnings of terms are frequently like that though.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Yeah I here ya. I finish my work in like 4 or 5 hours tops. I spent most of the time chilling in my office, just so people don’t think I’m slacking. Truth is i’m just more efficient than the rest of them
jk. However, If I were to start leaving early they’ll just throw more work my way. Forget that noise, how am I gonna trade stocks while working then 
January 15th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Geez, I don’t know where to even start with this one.
First, let me say thanks, I wish there would be more posts like this. Topics like these get my noggin going way more than any potential trade in the market. I’m still the only commerce/philosophy double-major I’ve ever known, so questions about the market and mortality interest me in equal measure.
“I wonder if I’m just idealistic for hoping that someday society in North America can come to a compromise where people can have more time. More time to travel, more time to be with family, more time to sleep, more time to meditate, more time to enjoy nature, more time to be ourselves.”
You may, or may not know it, but questions like this started as soon as the West started to become industrialized. It’s a question of how people can actually be genuine in a world were nearly everything is processed, replicated, and mass-marketed. The first one to really form these questions in a legible way was Soren Kierkegaard. John Paul II wrote a lot about modern identity as well. Both are worth reading, but be warned, existentialism and theology can be tricky subjects.
But I won’t get that technical…I’ve been known to rant.
What it comes down to is that we’re all east of Eden so to speak, that is, we all have to earn our keep, and that takes sweat. But somewhere in that process there’s arisen a large confusion about ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. You’ve heard this want/need thing before, I’m sure, so I won’t drag it out.
Instead I’ll get to my point.
What we all want is to be happy. And, whadda ya know, what we all need is to be happy too. That’s the cool thing about true happiness, it’s both a want, and a need (and I’d say even a right).
But here’s also where it gets confusing (and profitable).
While we want and need to be happy, because being happy is the natural state of a human person (you know anyone that was born grumpy?), we currently live in an intensely capitalistic and consuming society in which what we’re told will make us happy doesn’t actually make you happy, instead all it really does is make someone money while making you feel good for a little while. It’s a lot like the lust/love comparison – one (lust) can make you feel good, the other (love) makes everything feel good.
I’m not blaming Capitalists, that’s just the Capitalist response to the human want/need for happiness.
Marxists try to answer it by sharing everything, which also fails because happiness for everyone is as diverse a thing as everyone is.
Neither completely solve the problem – and I’d argue it’s because the problem can’t be solved by inventing something new. The last time I checked the things that make people happier than anything are amazingly cheap, accessible, and sustainable – family, children, laughing until it hurts, good conversation, falling in love, playing sports, listening to an amazing story, playing/listening to music you love, enjoying nature, having true friends, etc. etc. etc. These are the things that build a happy life, and no matter how much Hallmark may try, they can’t be imitated.
Whether or not North America can come to a compromise over it, I doubt it. You and I are still young enough to be optimists, but history doesn’t have as rosy an outlook. What we can do is concentrate on these truer things, the things that time and money can give or take away, and make them central to our lives.
All that said, I have some very pronounced personal beliefs on what happiness truly is, beliefs I’ve only alluded to here, beliefs that are best summed up by Augustine, but I’m not here to proselytize because that’s freakin annoying.
Geez, sorry for the rant, but in another life I came pretty close to never getting a ‘real’ job – instead I almost went for the academic life which would let me make music instead of market trades (it may still happen)
Great. Freakin. Post.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Sorry, Allie, another comment, you got me going on this one.
He’s probably too technical, but he’s a great start while we’re on the subject.
Charles Taylor
January 15th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I hear you on the whole working is a vicious cycle kind of thing. In fact, I’m just taking a breather from work while at the office right now.
Also, is that a menu of pillows? Chrysanthemum pillow? Nice.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Heh, interesting subject, and pretty heavily debated… Now I’m a geek, and a lucky guy to be doing a job that I love to do, so I am in the position where I am not counting how many hours a week I’m at work. But in addition I’m also really content with my lifestyle; doing art, watching DVDs/Movies, playing games, visiting friends, going to the gym, snowboarding – a little bit pricey at times, but I live well within my means, and don’t have a “void” I’m desperately trying to fill. As the first comment here mentioned, it’s those foul marketers and magazines/media exhorting thinner, faster, richer, etc’er as being not just the ideal, but the ONLY way to be “justifiably happy.”
So you end up with a culture of people constantly comparing themselves with this percieved ‘ultimate’ and seeing that they don’t match up, which leads to being unhappy as well as thinking “well if I work more/take this higher paying job that I hate, I’ll be happy,” as if it was just a straight equation. Of course Capitalism couldn’t exist if people were smarter than that; and the unfortunate thing is that repeat a message often enough – even if you totally hate it and disagree with it, that message will eventually ingrain itself into your thoughts/judgements. In other words, you have to exert a considerable amount of active will to counteract all the “you must be like this digitally-retouched celebrity to find happiness” messages out there.
Another thing is that it’s just the fact of life that most people don’t ever figure out what they’re true calling/passion is – sometimes they just don’t have one; so they’ll never truly be “happy with their job.” And there’s not really anything that can be done with that – you could try and take those people and stick them in some hippie commune, and they’ll still be unhappy.
I’m a geek (second time I’ve mentioned that), and I’d love to do away with this archaic not-quite-24-hours clock system and just move to a Universal Time Clock with no time zones to get in the way of the unsleeping Internet or living in space. And when you’ve divorced that, you can bring in the awesome bliss of 30-hour days; being able to sleep for 10 hours a night, and still having a productive day AND leisure time would be fantastic.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Well put m’dear.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
[...] But it’s Friday, so buck up. There’s always hope when you keep to heart what’s really import… [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
20 hour work weeks and 6 months abroad a year.
It can be done! Don’t let those green backs be a barrier to follow your wildest dreams and wishes.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:31 am
It’s because of the mass belief system that North Americans have agreed to. We were born into this world, and into a particular culture, and when we were young we had beliefs programmed into our mind by everything that was around us, not only those closest to us, like our family. Now most of us have grown up and settled to just accept those beliefs, because we chose not to explore the potential of ourselves.
And it’s when we can begin to discover the potential that lies within our very self is the exact moment we can break away from any family beliefs, society types, or cultural codes, and when we do this – we can change our world.
Keep at keeping at your bliss, and success will find you.
January 16th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Admirable train of thought here.. time can certainly be fleeting, especially in the rat race that many of us 9-5ers have gotten caught up in. For those of a more simple nature but nurtured in cities, I think often times we just try to grow up so fast that by the time we realize what we’re doing, we’ve forgotten the original reason and got lost in the undertow.
I was actually semi-plugging a book in my last comment (”The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less” by Barry Schwartz), but it seems relevent to this post as well. Everything that modern tech. does- information, communication, ie, globalization.. it all just turns us into a sponge, not too different from The Riddler in the final act of Batman Forever (couldn’t think of a better metaphor haha). Although I would say most times society ends up on the quantity [vs. quality] side of the scale when it comes to the knowledge that we typically soak in.
It is a big post-modern world though, and there is of course much good to be found, if not good to be taken at least. How we perceive things and what we take from each experience is a technique that most develop over the course of their entire lives, and I think it makes all the difference. My Taoist-style mantra for a long time now has been to have a ‘balanced perspective,’ and I think it’s been guiding me well so far.
(if I had more TIME, I should totally get into blogging again. That way my comments here would be much shorter haha)
January 16th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Unfortunately, I don’t see North America coming to any type of compromise in our lifetime to allow more time over work. Our generation, and our childrens generation are completely conditioned to be workaholics. This is due to a dominating media in todays society. We are raised to be consumers and there is not much we can do about it except for fight the system, however by the time you realize there even is a “system” there is too much to sacrifice to rebel against it.
Everyone situation is different, some are more trapped than others. I find myself to be a generally happy person and I do love my life. I have come to terms that I need to work to provide for my family but can still enjoy life at the same time. I work 40 hour weeks and a little less if I can. I would rather make less money and have the time to relax and go out than make more money to afford a nicer car, clothes, etc. However, I am lucky enough to have a job that allows for a certain level of living comfort at only 40 hours, some are not so fortunate and in today’s economy the future looks bleak..
Your absolutely right though, true happiness does not come from idealistic things, and that will never change.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:01 am
There’s plenty of time. Here’s a couple steps to make your life easier:
1. Get a job where you’re not trying to prove yourself to anyone. Commit to working 8 hours a day, and not a single minute more.
2. Live near your destinations. If you can get to work and the places you visit via either walking, bicycling, or taking rapid transit..and cut your commute time down to 60 minutes total (for the day), then you’re on your way to being happier. Drivers who are stuck in endless traffic in an attempt to have their 10m x 10m square patch of grass in suburbia are often angry and over-stressed.
3. Learn how to say “no”. “No, I cannot make 2 parties this weekend.” “No, I cannot work extra hours.” “No, I will not help you move to a new apartment.” etc..
4. Eat healthier. Pretty obvious, but diet does affect all aspects of your life.
5. Yeah, it may be a waste of time….but commit to a schedule and sleep when you should. Don’t stay up and play video games or watch porn….it’ll be there the next day.
Historically, humans aren’t meant to live on islands away from society. We have a drive to improve ourselves, and our society. I’m certain there’s only a small percentage of the human race who could move to an island and be content there.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
But I like my keyboard
I don’t understand this romanticised notion of the past. The past sucked. Life expectancy was half of what it is now, or less. People frequently died of all kinds of nasty diseases, and unless you happened to be lucky enough to be born into one of the upper classes you were basically screwed.
Living off the land might seem like a peaceful, quiet existence. It’s not, however. For starters, you still have to earn your keep. Food isn’t just magically going to appear on your plate, so you’ll have to work for it.
There’s also a lot less security. If for some reason I were to catch a cold and not go into work for a week I’d still be able to put food on my table because of sick days and savings accounts and supermarkets. Living solely off the lands means giving up tons of options.
Then there’s the social factor. Would you honestly want to live away from society forever? These kinds of articles always mention our hectic modern lives and how IMing and emails are to blame for god knows what. But I like IMs and emails. They let me keep in touch with people, and I suspect that I’m not the only social creature here who needs to communicate with others. Case in point, your blog – you’re communicating your thoughts to people.
Not sure where I was going with this except to say that I feel that a lot of these rants – society is going downhill, hectic modern live, less time for each other, focus on what’s important – seem to ignore the many good reasons why we’re doing all this stuff in the first place.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:24 am
I moved to Colorado to snowboard. Sometimes I would get confused and think that my job was my life. I would sit at my computer with little that needed to be done – spending my 8 required hours at a keyboard – watching the snow slowly fall outside my window… knowing intrinsically that something was horribly wrong.
I parted ways with my job in April determined to find change. Over the next many months, things started to change. I moved out of my large apartment into a single basement room. I gave piles of stuff to friends and to good will. My left over belongings consisted of:
– a bedroom packed a bit full including my consolidated ‘home office’
– the home entertainment equipment (LCD, Wii, PS2) which I ultimately planned to sell
– my snowboarding gear – more than I need but I like to have loaner equipment
– a small storage shed full of toys (i.e. tent, sleeping bag, snow shoes, toolbox, fishing poles, etc.)
– A small pile of boxes in a friend’s basement – mostly left over kitchen items.
– My 06 Nissan Xterra
And that, even know, accounts for all of my belongings. I spent the summer doing a fair amount of travel. I saw Mexico, Alaska, and Burning Man. Still, the lust to detach from all responsibilities burned and I was not satisfied.
I built a new job for myself. I was doing social media marketing. I could work from anywhere. And I did:
http://flickr.com/search/?q=mobileoffice&w=84516076%40N00
I could take my job anywhere and I’d already ditched most of my stuff… so I wanted to take it further. But then things went wrong.
I tried to sell my Xterra on Craig’s list. I posted it 3 times. However, bad economic conditions combined with high fuel prices meant I couldn’t find a buyer.
By the time the fall came, I’d burned through most of my savings from the previous job. However, it was time to bill the client, collect, and find the next social media gig. That’s when it got bad. A larger company bought my client out. To date, they owe me nearly twice what my burned out savings was and seem to have no intention of paying.
I started scrounging for work and sipping on what unemployment benefits I could draw. That time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is always thin anyway – but with the state of our economy – it was bad.
By 2009, it was clear. Little monthly charges such as my cell phone bill and truck payment were killing me. I suppose I could have fallen completely off of the grid. I could have ditched the phone, sold the truck for much less than it was wroth, and somehow figure out what to do with all of my belongings so I could get out of my rental agreement. I could have sized everything down to one pack and hit the road – like all those vagabonds you see spanging.
But I didn’t… I’m writing this post from a climate controlled office where the windows don’t open – not that I’m near one in my little cubical space. Sure, I’ve got dual wide screen monitors and a nice wallpaper up… but it’s not the same.
Did I make the right decision? I’m still not sure… but in an hour and a half I’ll be driving over to the doctors office to see what happened to my back. Something went wrong the last time I was snowboarding and it’s progressively gotten worse this past week. This is also the first time I’ve had health insurance since last April.
I want out. I want out so bad that I think about it every single day of my life. I wanted to build a company around that social media stuff. I wanted to build a culture of people – like myself – that worked together but from anywhere in the world we wanted to be…. Digital Nomads…
Maybe I’ll get another stab at it some day… Maybe I’ll try a different approach… But as I sit here in this cage, although I may be free to walk out the door any time I wish, I feel I am a slave.
I know I live in a country where I have great influence over my own life and I have great opportunities to find wealth – be it financial or otherwise.
However, in a society as greedy as ours, I’m finding it so very hard to live a simple life of enjoying the many wonders that are all around us – just on the other side of these office walls.
Sometimes… sometimes I think that if this is it… to spend 50+ hours a week making money I won’t have time to spend… for the next 30 years of my life… squeezing in short trips on the weekends or on those brief little windows of time we call vacations… if that’s it… I don’t think I really want to play this game anymore.
Maybe.. just maybe… I shouldn’t have read “Four Hour Workweek”…
~Scott