Ch 6: Pursuit of happiness (re: work, wealth & success) 1 of 4

A discussion of Chapter 6 of my book "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" - http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Gathering-Videogames-Allen-Gates/dp/1601450443/...

A chapter-by-chapter summary of "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" (and thus an overview of the entire video series):

PART I: WHY DO WE HAVE TO WORK?

Chapter One
*Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames* gives a historical overview of why we've always had to "go to work," tracing the common link between the workday of the prehistoric hunter and gatherer, the first millennium B.C. farmer, the first century A.D. pottery-maker, the nineteenth century assembly line worker, and today's videogame programmer.

Chapter Two
*Surgery & Dental Floss* spells out the complications of bartering, and explains why communities with multiple goods and services always end up using some form of money (be it beads or dollar bills) to solve their trading problems.

Chapter Three
*Penguins & Peacocks* is about why the changes in our workday--the transition from hunting and gathering to the ages of agriculture, industry, and information--took place, even though some aspects of these changes were for the worse. It looks at the parallel between the history of our workday and the way evolution works in nature: how change is driven by the demands of the immediate environment, not by concerns for future repercussions.

PART II: WORK, WEALTH, & HAPPINESS

Chapter Four
*Emperors & Emptiness* gives an overview of three drawbacks of our modern work system: the alienation, the perception of deprivation that can come from being in a society overflowing with goods and services, and the way our increased number of career options has opened up a large window for failure--particularly when we tie our occupation to our identity.

Chapter Five
*More vs. Enough* offers an alternative to the unattainable American financial goal of "more is better" by outlining a flexible but precise definition of how much income is "enough." Level 1: enough to pay for all your daily, monthly, and yearly expenses. Level 2: enough beyond Level 1 to pay off your debts (e.g., credit cards, college loans) Level 3: build and maintain a reserve fund equal to about six months of living expenses Level 4: enough to make steady investments for large future expenses (e.g., a down payment on a house, retirement, and children's college tuitions)

Chapter Six
*Measuring Success* contrasts our culture's guideline for happiness--the wealth, status, and identity we derive from our careers--with a guideline that instead aims for a balance of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions.

Category:

Education

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