Chapter 1: Why do we have to work? (part 1 of 6)

A discussion of Chapter 1 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."

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

Tags:

• ToddGates
• ToddAllenGates
• why
• work
• job
• money
• hunting
• gathering
• agriculture
• industry
• Toffler
• barter
• trade
• third
• wave

[papasmurfXXX]

About birth in ancient times, some anthropologist speculated that 30% of any human that has ever gone into existence died at their birth....

[ToddAllenGates2]

@papasmurfXXX

> some anthropologist speculated that 30% of any human that has ever gone into existence died at their birth

Yes, it's something many of us today just taken for granted (at least those of us in well-off countries).

[mm1k3y]

Our ancestors thought differently because back then they were 'just' animals trying to survive, now our minds have evolved to there maximum capacity (i believe) and we longer wish to be here, why do you think there is a national shortage of anti-depressants in my country (uk). You give a monkey a powerful mind like ours and it will not be long before it begins to say ''dude why are we sat in trees all fucking day, shall we just jump out and hope to land on our head''

[ToddAllenGates2]

@mm1k3y

> Our ancestors thought differently because back then they were 'just' animals

If you go back 2 million years, yes, our ancestors were just animals trying to survive. But go back only 30,000, and our ancestors were almost the same (check out the beautiful artwork of that era by doing a Google Image search on "cave paintings chauvet"). So from 30,000 to 8,000 BC, that was "us" living as hunters & gatherers.

[230205]

Hunter gatherers don't get cavities (no processed foods or refined sugar)

[ToddAllenGates2]

@230205

> Hunter gatherers don't get cavities (no processed foods or refined sugar)

True. But the point of this video series is not about how things are better now--it's more about (1) why the workday changed as a result of the revolutions of agriculture, industry, and the computer age, and (2) how the *essence* of the workday is the same as it was in the hunter/gatherer days: modern frills notwithstanding, it's still about obtaining food, clothes, and shelter.

[mm1k3y]

@ToddAllenGates2 we still are just animals being tricked like the monkey at the zoo (the lower class citizens anyway, which is about 80% of the total population) the only people that need to be alive are the guys at the top but with out the guys at the bottom there is no need for the guys at the top... lol there is no need for any of this its a fact that we wont last forever so lets have fun, why work? (unless your a doctor and the world needs you and other such jobs)

[ToddAllenGates]

@inactivism

I don't recall saying their lifestyle was "bleak"--I just mentioned that without highly-specialized labor, you don't have things like indoor plumbing or malaria vaccinations. But it's also true that hunter-gatherers probably didn't have many of the curses of "civilization": depression, obesity, alienation, etc. I cover this topic further in my video called "Chapter 4: Emperors & Emptiness--modern life's pros & cons."

I've read (& like) Jared Diamond: will check out the others.

[inactivism]

@inactivism In fact, agriculture based lifestyles (especially in early agricultural societies) were and are far more bleak in virtually every definable way. If you disagree and want to know why I say this I suggest reading "The Original Affluent Society" by Stanley Diamond, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond, and "Against the Grain" by Richard Manning for starters. If you're feeling adventurous try anything by Daniel Quinn. Further information won't be hard to find if you search for it.