思考与写作harpers.org编辑精选
论闲散（In Praise of Idleness）
In Praise of Idleness (1932)
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导读
这是罗素 1932 年发表于《哈泼斯》杂志的经典散文《赞美闲暇》。他主张现代社会把'工作即美德'奉为信条，造成了大量无谓的劳作，而技术进步本应让人们把四小时工作之外的时间用于闲暇与思考。文章多次登上 Hacker News 首页，至今仍引发关于工作意义的热烈讨论。
为什么经久不衰：近百年前对'忙碌崇拜'的批判，在自动化与 AI 时代反而更加切中要害，每次重读都能引发对工作与生活边界的反思。
HN 评论精选
罗素与富勒这样的杰出人物都反对'人人必须谋生'，反工作运动并非懒惰者的借口。
我逮着机会就引用这篇文章。看到如今社会完全走向了相反方向，罗素若泉下有知定会气得打滚。这里再分享一句我喜欢的巴克敏斯特·富勒的话：'我们应该摒弃人人都必须谋生这个彻头彻尾的谬见。如今我们中每万人就有一人能做出足以养活其余所有人的技术突破。今天的年轻人完全有权利认清'必须谋生'这套鬼话。我们不断发明工作岗位，只因这种错误观念——仿佛人人都得从事某种苦役，因为按马尔萨斯-达尔文理论，他必须证明自己存在的权利。于是我们有了检查员的检查员，还有人为检查员制造工具去检查检查员。人们真正该做的，是回到学校，去思考在有人跑来告诉他们必须谋生之前，他们本来在想什么。'这两位都不是懒汉，而是杰出人物。反工作运动声势渐起，媒体大概觉得可怕，但它绝不是一群白吃白喝的千禧一代。
cupcake-unicorn查看英文原文
I cite this paper every chance I can get. Bertand would be rolling in his grave now about the current situation where we've gone completely in the opposite direction. Here's a Buckminster Fuller quote that I also like to share: "We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian Darwinian theory he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living." ― R. Buckminster Fuller Neither of these guys were "slackers" and were brilliant men so it's probably a bit scary for the media that the antiwork movement is gaining steam and no, it's not just a bunch of freeloading millennials. I made a comment to a friend tonight about how odd it is that workplaces seem to be acting irrationally by just demanding more of people and trying to increase their grip, when I realize it's honestly just like an abusive relationship. It would rationally help the business to foster loyalty and cooperation in this type of market but instead the narrative is "NO ONE WANTS TO WORK" and people who have been loyal in positions for many years are just being treated like dirt because their control and narrative is being questioned...and that's pretty much exactly what happens in an abusive relationship when someone tries to leave, the abuser cracks down harder. Utterly bizarre to see such irrational behavior though.
一位'工作美德论'信奉者的自我反思：勤奋究竟是不是一种美德，其实很难论证。
我一直坚定地站在'工作是美德'的阵营，但最近受到了挑战。不工作时我会焦躁不安，有目标给我方向感，努力工作给我价值感。可如果价值不来自辛苦工作，又来自哪里？我一直把'勤奋'当作'善良'一样不言自明的好品质，但被追问时却无法像其他美德那样论证它。它对社会有益吗？勤奋本身有道德内涵吗？是我个人看重却不该强求于人的东西吗？我没有答案。勤奋是美德，但我说不清为什么。相信它是坏事吗？不确定。不是。是。有时是。
rnoorda查看英文原文
> I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached. I have been solidly in the "work is virtuous" camp for a long time, and still am, but I've recently been challenged on this. When I'm not working on something I get antsy, and stressed. Having a goal gives me purpose; working hard gives me value. If my value isn't from hard work, where do I get it from? I have always considered "hard-working" an undoubtedly good thing, like "being kind" or "not stabbing random people." But when pushed on this, I can't quite justify it the same way as other virtues. Is it good for society? Is there something inherently moral about hard work? Is it something that I value, but is unreasonable to expect from others? I don't really have answers on this. I consider hard work a virtue, but I'm not sure precisely why. I'm sure there's all sort of cultural/familial/etc. reasons, but that's what makes me me. Is it a bad thing to believe? Not sure yet. No. Yes. Sometimes.
从开发者实践看，闲暇与休息反而带来更好的技术产出，过度工作只会制造 bug。
作为开发者的经验是：每当我表现得'懒惰'（休假、长周末、不去想工作），甚至只是在家办公日里散个步、游个泳，我往往就能解决棘手的技术问题，或对某个问题理解得更透彻。把编码工作搁置一段时间，常常带来更好的产出，有时当周就能看到效果。有时在家状态不佳、心不在焉，我就去做别的事，事后良心说'这不算完整的一天工作，可能得补上'，但同时也惊叹'多高效的一天啊——原来不把自己累垮反而给雇主创造了更多价值'。据说科技行业每周 27 小时是最优的，超过 40 小时你产出的就是负价值和 bug。所以结论是：适度的闲暇讽刺地反而更有利于生产力！
nickd2001查看英文原文
In my experience as a developer, nearly any time I behave "lazily" (holiday, long weekend, time off work without thinking about it), or even just in the middle of a WFH day go for a walk, swim, other leisure activity, get ahead on 10 mins worth of chores etc, then I tend to solve a tricky technical problem , or learn something / understand it much better. The times where coding work gets pushed aside for a while often lead to to better coding output, results even viewable that same week. Sometimes at home I'll have a day when I'm not really into it, distracted by other stuff, so I go and do something else, then later my conscience says "Hmm that wasn't really a full day of work , you might need to make some up", but at the same time "Wow what a productive day, turns out not tiring yourself out actually delivers more value to your employer". It is said that 27 hours a week is optimal in tech, less than that you could get more done, but more than that you add no extra value, over 40 you produce negative value/bugs. So , moral = some idleness is ironically actually better for productivity !
闲暇孕育了人生中最重要的灵感与相遇，但努力与强迫之间的边界难以划清。
这个故事很重要，我正需要这样的提醒。我生命中所有的'魔法'都发生在闲暇里：最大的灵感、生命中重要的人，都来自闲暇。可如今的我，却在试图'优化'哄五岁孩子睡觉、送他上学的时间。孩子们仍保有闲暇感：他们没有'赶时间'的概念，觉得把事情做得更快、朝目标优化路径毫无意义。他们四处张望，看到花就摘，过程中可能完全忘了最初的目标，也许之后回来，也许干脆去做完全不同的事。他们的每一天都是冒险。设定并坚持目标大概没什么错，但某处存在一条边界——那里有匆忙、恐惧或强迫，我们把自己变成了他人或某种观念的对象，换句话说，不再是有意识的行动者。也许问题就在于：这条边界究竟在哪里，实在太模糊了。
leobg查看英文原文
This is an important story. I really needed that reminder. Idleness is where all the "magic" in my life has happened. Idleness is where the biggest ideas came to me. And the important people in my life, too. And yet, here I am, trying to "optimize" the time I need to bring my 5 year old to bed in the evening, and to pre-school in the morning. Kids still have this sense of idleness. They have no concept of hurrying. They see little sense in doing things faster, or optimizing your path towards a goal. They always look around, and if there are any flowers, they'll pick some. In the process, they might totally forget what their initial goal was. They might come back to it later. But they also might do something totally different instead. And every single day, for them, is an adventure. There's probably nothing wrong with picking goals or sticking to them. But there is a boundary somewhere. Somewhere where there is haste involved, or fear, or coersion. Where we make ourselves the object of either someone else, or of an idea. Where we, in other words, cease to be a conscious doer. Then again, there's that concept of flow. Being "in the moment". Is that good, or is that bad? A child at play can be in "flow". But a compulsive gambler can be, too. So year. Perhaps part of the problem is that it's so unclear where the boundary lies.
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