If earnings were capped, the work week might slacken some. If a CEO and execs won't get more out of it, they can only grow the company with the extra productivity, but won't care as much if it doesn't make them wealthier. However, as long as full-time is 40 hours per week, and that's when benefits kick in, there's not much chance a boss is going to ask you to work less. Personally, I think a 32 hour work week would suffice, and probably would lead to a healthier society. However, it should be said that not all jobs allow you to put in 8 hours at a time in any meaningful way. As far as research goes, I am busy some days, not busy others. The work involves a lot of moving parts that results in peaks and lulls. Work is a social construct. The need for productivity is not 40 man-hours per week times the population. Not even close.
:-) Punctuation matters. Why work? As we know, it may be immoral. Why work, as we know it may be immoral? Why work (as we know it) may be immoral.
I don't know if you can accurately compare modern creative developments to those in other time periods such as the Renaissance. When looking back at these times, only the best art is noted because that was what made a difference. There was plenty of mediocre work. Dramatic improvements in communication allow for rapid sharing of work. There is so much creative output currently, and society is still working out what makes a lasting impact. I believe in the future people will see the true creative advancements of this time period. But there is always room for improvement.
Less work was tested in germany in some small town. Something around 4 days a week and 25 hours.
The results were not that great. People were having a lot a psychological issues, and the psychiatrist there got a lot more work to do. (if a German around here can confirm) Economically speaking working 40h a week is stupid and less productive. But you got to give the sheep something to do or they loose their mind. We're are not used yet to spend our time with what we really want... So we shall work like robots as long as we keep thinking like them.
kleinbl00 had some great comments on this mentality that I can't currently find. As I recall the gist of it was, we do this to ourselves. Ain't no one forcing you to work 40 hours a week. I work 15-20 hours a week on top of my coursework, but when I graduate you can be damn sure I'm going to be working 40 hours a week in some form or fashion. I'll work more if they'll let me. Why? Because while I could live easily on 15 hours a week in the shithole that is Norman, Oklahoma, I want to live somewhere interesting, and I don't want the first major health problem I have to cripple me. That's my personal reason, others probably have their own.And yet in all the time that’s passed since Fuller made that statement — and all the technological advances since then — we’ve clung stubbornly to a 40-hr workweek.
You're looking for this comment. The article above is specious at best - it puts forth as "convincing" some nobody's-ever-heard-of-you AD who lives downtown and pretends to commute everywhere by bus and Metro. So really, the "oh yeah you can save money and time" is really "oh yeah you can save money and spend 5 hours a day on your smartphone but not talking to anyone because there's no wifi in the tunnels." Nick Redding argues convincingly in Methland that amphetamines are a peculiarly American drug to abuse because they actually push you closer to the ideal American ethic of hard work and success. Not saying he's right, but from a fundamental standpoint, disorder is entropy, entropy is death and doing something is actively pushing the Grim Reaper away. A syllogism that fundamental is not going to just evaporate because some hippie says "work is immoral."
I'm glad that more people are starting to write about this sort of thing. The 40-hour work week is so unnecessary for a lot of positions. There is no reason to make somebody work 40 hours a week for something they could do in 25. At the same time, cubicles are among the worst things ever created. I absolutely despise cubicles and the work environment that they typically foster. But that's another story. The arts and creativity are vastly underrated in a lot of industries.