We live in a hustle culture where if you are seen as a failure, you simply haven’t put in the fucking effort.
People wear their busy-ness as a badge of honour, each trying to outdo the other with how much work they do, where the answer to “How are you today?” is not “Good” or “Not Bad”, but “Busy!”
Being busy impacts other parts of our lives as we only have so much time in the day.
We can start to neglect our health, postpone things like education, and worse still, be less attentive to our partners. Nothing has impacted people fucking more in history than a lack of free time.
Of course we have to do some work, so there’s the flip side where we don’t work enough and are too leisure-focused.
This lifestyle is called ‘hedonism’, where pleasure is the greatest good.
Epicurus, who lived just after Plato, was the philosopher who coined the term, but the current definition is not what he actually meant.
Epicurus was critical of over-work and believed we should do only as much as we need to satisfy ourselves, because any further effort starts to have a smaller and smaller impact.
For instance, work only as hard as needed to be able to afford a bed comfortable enough to sleep on and have enough food not go hungry.
Double your work and you don’t double the bed’s comfort or twice as much enjoyment from your food.
Working any harder is also a waste because the time saved can be spent on what Epicurus regarded as the two highest forms of good – friendship (Epicurus was all for communal living, if you know what I mean
) and chatting about philosophy.
He believed this so strongly that he said working too hard without friendship and philosophy risked the threat of mental illness – how strangely modern this 2300-year-old piece of advice is!
That’s why activities like camping are important.
Not being busy, or doing as little as possible, has surprising philosophical value.
The philosopher Pascal believed the root of man’s evil was in the fact that he can’t sit still and do nothing.
Russell believed the modern negative take on idleness was a cause of much unhappiness, as we work meaninglessly away.
Things are pushed deeper with Deleuze claiming that work, a form of repression, forces us to express constantly without due consideration.
Idleness for him is an important time when we can effectively shut up, and when we do talk, it is from a place of thought-out meaning.
Finding inspiration while silently staring into a campfire
, and throwing around questions and answers as they come
, are important creative collaborations and a source of human happiness for Deleuze.
Have a look at your lifestyle and if there’s room for change, make spending time doing nothing with your partner a priority over working simply to have shinier things.
Idle hands are the devil’s work because boredom is often the start of something unpredictable but joyfully creative.
And what better place for the devil’s work than the pleasurable privacy of the bedroom?
![PXL_20240925_040832634~2.jpg]( "PXL_20240925_040832634~2.jpg")
People wear their busy-ness as a badge of honour, each trying to outdo the other with how much work they do, where the answer to “How are you today?” is not “Good” or “Not Bad”, but “Busy!” Being busy impacts other parts of our lives as we only have so much time in the day. We can start to neglect our health, postpone things like education, and worse still, be less attentive to our partners. Nothing has impacted people fucking more in history than a lack of free time.Of course we have to do some work, so there’s the flip side where we don’t work enough and are too leisure-focused.
This lifestyle is called ‘hedonism’, where pleasure is the greatest good. Epicurus, who lived just after Plato, was the philosopher who coined the term, but the current definition is not what he actually meant. Epicurus was critical of over-work and believed we should do only as much as we need to satisfy ourselves, because any further effort starts to have a smaller and smaller impact. For instance, work only as hard as needed to be able to afford a bed comfortable enough to sleep on and have enough food not go hungry. Double your work and you don’t double the bed’s comfort or twice as much enjoyment from your food. Working any harder is also a waste because the time saved can be spent on what Epicurus regarded as the two highest forms of good – friendship (Epicurus was all for communal living, if you know what I mean) and chatting about philosophy. He believed this so strongly that he said working too hard without friendship and philosophy risked the threat of mental illness – how strangely modern this 2300-year-old piece of advice is!That’s why activities like camping are important.
Not being busy, or doing as little as possible, has surprising philosophical value. The philosopher Pascal believed the root of man’s evil was in the fact that he can’t sit still and do nothing. Russell believed the modern negative take on idleness was a cause of much unhappiness, as we work meaninglessly away. Things are pushed deeper with Deleuze claiming that work, a form of repression, forces us to express constantly without due consideration. Idleness for him is an important time when we can effectively shut up, and when we do talk, it is from a place of thought-out meaning. Finding inspiration while silently staring into a campfire, and throwing around questions and answers as they come, are important creative collaborations and a source of human happiness for Deleuze.Have a look at your lifestyle and if there’s room for change, make spending time doing nothing with your partner a priority over working simply to have shinier things.
Idle hands are the devil’s work because boredom is often the start of something unpredictable but joyfully creative. And what better place for the devil’s work than the pleasurable privacy of the bedroom?
