HISTORY OF IDEAS - Work

In the course of history, work has gone from being something people only ever did for money to being the source of ultimate meaning, creativity and identity. Satisfying work has become a democratic expectation.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Feel free to follow us at the links below:

CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with Mike Booth

[ennius]

This video is bang on. I'm at work, in the office now, watching this, because there is nothing else for me to do here.

[umbraunicorn]

"The career crisis." I feel better knowing there is a term for this terrible feeling.

[jameskerr]

I love the advert line: "You'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984." It gave me a good chuckle.

[billyk]

History of Education and History of Prison would be really great!

[molotovmafia]

Eden: Work is an unpleasant punishment.


Aristotle: Finding fulfillment and doing spectacular things is impossible when you're poor and have to earn money.


Early Christianity: Work is but we gotta do it anyways cuz God said so.


Renaissance: Money, ambition, joy and creative genius are best together.


Martin Luther: We shall use our talents for good. Even small ones are important and please God. Ordinary jobs are sometimes even better.


Enlightenment: The Encyclopedie, explaining things about different everyday jobs.


Marks: Boring, uneducational work that doesn't develop one's talents and personality is the worst capitalism does.


Veblen: rich people are lazy assholes.


1945: MBTI YAAAY! Also people make a cult out of work, which is not good. Cults aren't good as a whole. But it's great that they choose people by their talent and personality.


Now: We have very high expectations and are often unfulfilled by our work.


(don't mind me, this is the most convenient way to take notes)

[kaptan]

The amount of research and work that goes into these videos is absolutely amazing.

[betterpositiveu]

This video was really interesting. It reminds me of a quote by Mark Cuban. Cuban says something like "Don't bother yourself too much with finding a job you love right away. Just work hard enough that you become great and your job and therefore love to do it from then on."

[just_an_account_]

I'm meant to serve my McDonald's employers as if they were my kings, for the glory of their logo and to feel that sense of community and pride when I work 10 hour shifts feeding the ever-whining maw of the customers outside. My job is to churn out fatty foods and sugary drinks that actively damage my community, but make money for the CEO who doesn't get out of bed. All in pursuit of the necessary number in my pocket that keeps me from being filthy, hungry and ignored.

[xXSellizeXx]

I'm terrified that I won't enjoy my work, that I won't make enough money to live comfortably, that I won't be able to meet the demands placed on me.


I don't know if I'm fit for living in this world.

[abanaszewski]

why is this the best channel on youtube?

[mediamedia]

lol Apple. So much for not becoming like the 1984 commercial.

I'm sure the Chinese factory workers would have something to say.

[lradmclovin]

I recommend reading "In Praise of Idleness" by Bertrand Russell. It's a brilliant, short essay of only a few pages.

[georgiana]

This concept of meaningful work is beautiful but very hard to apply in real life for most of the world. While I currently have such a job, I achieved that by lowering expectations on other aspects of my career, like money and prestige. For me it's a very good trade off that I found after years of struggle to identify successful combination. I also remember how ok I was with being a waitress in my teenage years before having ideals of fulfilling work. What I find worrying is that there are a lot of people with a lot harsher jobs which they chose on the basis of making a living and how deeply disturbing it is/will be for them to consider their situation from this "meaning work" point of view. In truth, this criterion is still hard to apply as a general rule. However, we are the closest we've ever been to that possibility due to the prospect of robots taking over the repetitive and mechanical jobs and thus leaving mostly fulfilling options. I'm very keen to see what new kinds of occupations people will take on when the current industrial revolution style 8h work day will (finally) become obsolete.

[okthennone]

I made my own work. I love it. I flopped around from job to job for years and I finally realized I would need to make my own work. Best decision I ever made.

[GodDamnit]

Please don't hire an American narrator. I love your voice!

[jorgeastiazaran]

Great video!
My thoughts: work has become the standard way to become useful to our community. Most of us would find great satisfaction in being useful.

The problem is that most of us think of work as a personal struggle to survive, we fail to see how our work benefits others.
A probable reason for this might be the "division of labour" and globalization. If I'm in charge of pouring plastic pellets into a machine that makes plastic buttons which in turn will be sold to another company which will assemble it into an electronic component which then will be shipped to a car assembly plant, then, it will be very hard for me to "feel" the value of my effort, and my job might feel useless.

[quintessenceSL]

Germany 1990s: "Work is stupid."- slogan of the German anarchist party.

It's not so much that I mind work, but often it is merely the mindless bidding of idiots.

Even the slaves in Egypt could look upon the pyramids and say "I helped build that".

[AMITROY-vgrx]

Watching this, sitting on a overcrowded bus, on your way home from Really transport you to a whole new weird place of introspection and self pity !

[AskTorin]

Great and thoughtful video, as always. I can't get enough of your style of graphics. Turning the apple logo into the forbidden fruit in the hands of Eve was an incredibly strong, symbolic feature. Mighty clever.

[ashleybertschinger]

Believe it or not the thing that brought you the most pain in life, and the creative alleviation of that type of pain in others is a great place to start for fulfilling work. The money will just be a plus. Dig deep there for the soil is rich!